Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness is the largest national research institute devoted to homelessness in Canada. The COH is the curator of the Homeless Hub.
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The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness is the largest national research institute devoted to homelessness in Canada. The COH is the curator of the Homeless Hub.
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Author(s): Natasha Slesnick, Jing Zhang, Xin Feng, Allen Mallory, Jared Martin, Ruri Famelia, Brittany Brakenhoff, Tansel Yilmazer, Qiong Wu, Jodi Ford, Eugene Holowacz, Soren Jaderlund, Irene Hatsu, Ellison Luthy, Laura Chavez, Laura Walsh, Kelly Kelleher
Publication Date: 2023
Young mothers experiencing homelessness often contend with high rates of substance use and low self-efficacy. This study examines how housing and supportive services can be beneficial to this population.
Author(s): Edith England
Publication Date: 2022
There is a significantly increased risk of homelessness among trans people, yet services poorly meet their needs. This article explores how community support, anchored in queer praxis and concrete utopian thinking helps trans people to survive homelessness.
The findings serve to:
Highlight the importance of showing how shared precarity produces practices of care
Offer strategies to address inequitable service failures
Demonstrate the relevance o...
Author(s): Tycho Vandenburg, Shiloh Groot, Linda W. Nikora
Publication Date: 2021
Globally, trans and gender diverse people contend with day-to-day exclusion, discrimination, and marginalization, often culminating in experiences of poverty and homelessness. To gain a better understanding of this issue, this article examines the existing literature to propose a path toward conducting meaningful research with trans and gender diverse people experiencing homelessness.
Author(s): Alexa R Yakubovich, Alysha Bartsch, Nicholas Metheny, Dionne Gesink, Patricia O’Campo
Publication Date: 2022
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the leading cause of women's homelessness, but there is limited knowledge about what works best to respond to the needs of women experiencing IPV and homelessness. This study examines the impacts of housing interventions on the physical, psychosocial, and economic wellbeing of women experiencing IPV.
Author(s): Peter K. Mackie
Publication Date: 2015
Abstract
The paradigm shift in international homelessness policies towards a prevention focus has resulted in proven benefits to society and most importantly to individuals at risk of homelessness. Across the developed world, homelessness prevention is being pursued with vigour alongside existing homelessness interventions and yet there has been no pause for a systematic evaluation of how prevention fits alongside existing systems. Wales provides...
Author(s): Michaela Rogers, Anya Ahmed, Iolo Madoc-Jones, Andrea Gibbons, Katy Jones, and Mark Wilding
Publication Date: 2020
Abstract
Rates of homelessness and poor mental health present significant challenges across the globe. In this article, we explore how these intersecting issues have been addressed in Wales through Part 2 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 through a paradigm shift towards a prevention model. This article reports findings from a study (conducted between 2016 and 2018) which evaluated the processes and impacts of the Act against the backdrop of welfar...
Author(s): Peter K. Mackie, Ian Thomas, and Jennie Bibbings
Publication Date: 2017
Abstract
Homelessness prevention has become the dominant policy paradigm for homelessness services across the developed world. However, services have emerged in a piecemeal and selective manner, often restricted to particular towns and cities, with no requirement on local authorities to intervene. Wales is the first country where the government has sought to fully reorient services towards prevention and to make services universally available. A...
Author(s): Peter K. Mackie
Publication Date: 2014
Abstract
The United Kingdom homelessness legislation was enacted in 1977 and since its inception it has been highly regarded across the world for the right to settled accommodation which it bestows upon homeless households deemed to be in priority need of assistance. However, many criticisms have been laid upon the legal framework, particularly in relation to its selectivity – households deemed not to be in ‘priority need’ are owed no meaningful...
Author(s): Caroline Gorden, Kelly Lockwood, Iolo Madoc-Jones, Sarah Dubberley, Caroline Hughes, Karen Washington-Dyer, Mark A Wilding, and Anya Ahmed
Publication Date: 2022
Abstract
Under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, prison leavers are among those who are no longer considered a priority need. This article draws on interviews conducted with 17 women prison leavers and 10 professionals that formed part of a Welsh Government funded evaluation of homelessness services to adults in the secure estate (Madoc-Jones et al., 2018). The findings in this study lend support to previous research that indicates women who come in...
Author(s): Edith England
Organization: Cardiff University
Publication Date: 2020
Summary
The Housing (Wales) Act 2014, introduced amid rising homelessness inter- nationally, required Welsh local authorities to provide (nearly) all home- less and soon-to-be homeless applicants with timely, meaningful help. Prior to the Act, a minority considered particularly at risk from homeless- ness were afforded a globally near-unique right to state-provided housing. However, most received minimal help, generating increasing concern for t...
Author(s): Anya Ahmed, Iolo Madoc-Jones, Andrea Gibbons, Katy Jones, Michaela Rogers, and Mark Wilding
Publication Date: 2020
Abstract
Devolution presented an opportunity for the Welsh Government to introduce changes to housing and homelessness policy, and the subsequent homelessness reforms are seen as one of the best examples to date of the Welsh Government using its powers. However, devolved governments in small countries face a number of challenges in terms of realising their housing policy ambitions. In this article we argue that there is inevitable dissonance bet...
Author(s): Anya Ahmed & Iolo Madoc-Jones
Publication Date: 2020
Abstract
In this article – a review article preceding a series of articles in this themed section considering specific aspects of the impacts and implementation processes of the Welsh legislation – we contextualise the introduction of the prevention agenda in Wales by defining homelessness and highlighting the shift towards prevention policy in an international context. We consider the nature of prevention, and examine related theoretical debates...
Author(s): Anya Ahmed & Iolo Madoc-Jones
Publication Date: 2020
Introduction
Although enforceable rights to settled housing for homeless people are unusual outside of the UK, across the developed world there is a growing interest in developing and exploring ways of addressing homelessness (Shinn et al., 2001; Crane et al., 2006; Busch- Geertsema and Fitzpatrick, 2008; Pawson and Davidson, 2008; Culhane et al., 2011; Mackie, 2015). To date however, there is little evidence of how preventative policies may con...
Author(s): Chamari I. Kithulgoda, Rhema Vaithianathan, Cameron Parsell
Publication Date: 2022
Self-reported surveys are commonly used when prioritising clients for homelessness services. However, when relying on self-reported historic vulnerabilities, one needs to be concerned about the degree to which clients might feel stigmatised by these questions and report inaccurately. This study examines the differences between self-reported experiences of mental health, healthcare, incarceration etc. and what is observed in administrative data.
T...
Author(s): Lilian Robinson, Leeann Trevors Babici, Alissa Tedesco, Donna Spaner, Trevor Morey, and Naheed Dosani
Publication Date: 2022
Health navigators are healthcare professionals who specialize in care coordination, case management, navigating transitions, and reducing barriers to care. This study explores the impact of health navigators on community-based palliative care for people experiencing homelessness.
Author(s): Justine Levesque, Jordan Babando, Nathaniel Loranger, Shantel Johnson, David Pugh
Publication Date: 2022
Thisi literature review explores the spread of COVID-19 in homeless shelters and hostels as well as the infection, prevention, and control practices in these settings. These findings reaffirm that homelessness prevention is key to limiting disease outbreaks and the associated negative health outcomes in shelter populations.
Author(s): Jesse I. R. Jenkinson, Stephen W.Hwang, Carol Strike, Erica Di Ruggiero
Publication Date: 2022
To understand the hospital discharge process for people experiencing homelessness, researchers in this study interviewed hospital staff, shelter staff, and key informants about their experiences when unhoused patients are discharged from hospitals to shelters.
The findings indicate that discharged patients are not adequately supported to transition into the community. Two systems failures are at the core of this issue:
Barriers to accessing publ...
Author(s): Nick Kerman, John Ecker, Emmy Tiderington, Amanda Aykanian, Vicky Stergiopoulos, Sean Kidd
Publication Date: 2022
This study examines the factors affecting workplace mental health among service providers to people experiencing homelessness in Canada, with the aim of understanding how work-related challenges cause distress.
Author(s): Naomi S. Thulien, Alexandra Amiri, Stephen W. Hwang
Publication Date: 2022
This study explores whether youth exiting homelessness who received rent subsidies and adult mentorship experienced more socioeconomic inclusion (measured through community integration and self-esteem) than youth who received only rent subsidies.
Author(s): Amanda Noble, Benjamin Owens, Naomi Thulien, Amanda Suleiman
Publication Date: 2022
Research has shown that youth experiencing homelessness (YEH) face barriers to social inclusion and are at risk for poor mental health. With the COVID-19 pandemic threatening the health, well-being, and economic circumstances of people around the world, this study aims to assess the impacts of the pandemic on YEH in Toronto, Ontario, as well as to identify recommendations for future waves of COVID-19.