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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Publication Date: 2021
This special edition journal on homelessness features new research on the structural forces that drive homelessness, the effectiveness of housing and homelessness interventions, trajectories and transitions, new perspectives and methods — and more!
Author(s): Abe Oudshoorn, Tracy Smith-Carrier, Jodi Hall, Cheryl Forchuk, Deanna Befus, Susana Caxaj, Jean Pierre Ndayisenga, Colleen Parsons
Publication Date: 2021
Based on an analysis of a Housing First program this study explores the principle of ‘consumer choice’. Housing First is a model aimed at rapidly ending experiences of housing loss. Based on interviews with 4 program staff and 7 Housing First recipients, this analysis brought to light complexities in ‘consumer choice’ . The provision of consumer choice can be constrained when housing markets are tight, or when consumers seek congregate living whe...
Author(s): Sindi Addorisio, Mostafa Mamdouh Kamel, Jean Nicolas Westenberg, Amber Heyd, Tala Maragha, Mohammad Abusamak, T. Cameron Wild, Kerry L. Jang, R. Michael Krausz
Publication Date: 2021
Purpose
Individuals experiencing absolute homelessness have complex needs but limited access to services, contributing to high rates of morbidity and mortality. The aim of this article is to describe the perceived unmet service needs of individuals experiencing absolute homelessness, identify their barriers to care, and examine factors associated with specific unmet service needs.
Methods
Using a cross-sectional survey, 150 individuals experienci...
Author(s): Cheryl Forchuk, Gordon Russell, Jan Richardson, Chantele Perreault, Heba Hassan, Bryanna Lucyk, Sebastian Gyamfi
Publication Date: 2021
Background
Canada, a key player in global humanitarian affairs is faced with enormous challenges in relation to housing and homelessness. As international migration continues to occur, homelessness among immigrant families is increasing worldwide; a situation that needs urgent attention and action.
Purpose
We designed this study to explore the needs of homeless families, identify risk factors associated with family homelessness, and to find strat...
Author(s): Jordan Babando, Danika A. Quesnel, Kyler Woodmass, Arielle Lomness, John R. Graham
Publication Date: 2021
Considering the recent COVID‐19 pandemic, we recognised a lack of synthesis amongst the available literature pertaining to the intersections of homelessness and pandemic response and planning. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to identify relevant peer‐reviewed literature in this area to thematically produce evidence‐based recommendations that would inform community planning and response amongst homeless populations. Although this review...
Author(s): Sean A Kidd, Shakoor Hajat, Mariya Bezgrebelna, Kwame McKenzie
Publication Date: 2021
Climate change affects human health and wellbeing with differential impacts on populations and regions. For example, climate change disproportionally affects girls and women and can amplify conflict and violence in resource-deprived environments. The way climate change exacerbates economic and social disparities underscores the role of migration in response to climate pressures. Movement or staying in place, whether forced or voluntary, have impo...
Author(s): Sean Kidd, Shakoor Hajat, Mariya Bezgrebelna, Kwame McKenzie
Publication Date: 2021
Climate change affects human health and wellbeing with differential impacts on populations and regions. For example, climate change disproportionally affects girls and women and can amplify conflict and violence in resource-deprived environments. The way climate change exacerbates economic and social disparities underscores the role of migration in response to climate pressures. Movement or staying in place, whether forced or voluntary, have impo...
Author(s): Chris Herring
Publication Date: 2021
This article argues that the expansion of shelter and welfare provisions for the homeless can lead to increased criminalization of homeless people in public spaces. First, I document how repression of people experiencing homelessness by the police in San Francisco neighborhoods increased immediately after the opening of new shelters. Second, I reveal how shelter beds are used as a privileged tool of the police to arrest, cite, and confiscate prop...
Author(s): Tara Kiran, Amy Craig-Neil, Paul Das, Joel Lockwood, Ri Wang, Nikki Nathanielsz, Esther Rosenthal, Carolyn Snider, Stephen W. Hwang
Publication Date: 2021
Open-access journal article.
Background: It is unclear what the best strategy is for detecting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS- CoV-2) among residents of homeless shelters and what individual factors are associated with testing positive for the virus. We sought to evaluate factors associated with testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 among residents of homeless shelters and to evalu- ate positivity rates in shelters where testing...
Author(s): Milad Parpouchi, Akm Moniruzzaman, Julian M. Somers
Publication Date: 2021
Open-access article.
Researchers have pointed out the paucity of research investigating long-term consequences of experiencing homelessness in childhood or youth. Limited research has indicated that the experience of homelessness in childhood or youth is associated with adverse adjustment-related consequences in adulthood. Housing First (HF) has acknowledged effectiveness in improving housing outcomes among adults experiencing homelessness and li...
Author(s): Maryann Roebuck, Tim Aubry, Ayda Agha, Stéphanie Manoni-Millar, Lisa Medd, John Sylvestre
Publication Date: 2021
Open-Access journal.
Successful implementation of Housing First requires a good supply of affordable housing. Since 2002, the Canadian Mental Health Association, Ottawa Branch, has purchased 40 condominium units in regular buildings scattered across Ottawa, Canada, to rent to their clients with severe mental illnesses who have a history of homelessness. Seeking to share their experience of this approach that creates affordable housing for Housin...
Author(s): Drew Kaufman
Publication Date: 2021
In the last 30 years, researchers have increasingly examined (im)mobility to understand why homelessness continues in the Global North. Studies consistently identify how people experiencing homelessness are excluded and displaced. However, the relationship between social and spatial marginalization is not well understood. In this article, I argue that a more complete understanding of mobility requires joint attention to social exclusion and spati...
Author(s): Marta Gaboardi, Massimo Santinello, Marybeth Shinn
Publication Date: 2021
Integration is one of the main goals of homeless services. Despite the growing research on integration and homelessness, few studies start with the perspective of people experiencing homelessness. Integration is often measured as participation in a list of standard behaviours. This process assesses behaviour in accordance with social norms but ignores people's own feelings and understanding of integration. The main aim of this study is to explore...
Author(s): Amy J. Youngbloom, Krystan A. Farnish, Elizabeth A. Schoenfeld
Publication Date: 2021
Housing First programs, such as rapid rehousing, are a well-established approach to addressing homelessness among adults, yet there remains a lack of research demonstrating the ability of such services to effectively promote housing stability among youth. Given the paucity of work examining the factors associated with housing stability for formerly homeless youth, the current exploratory study was conducted to determine the characteristics associ...
Author(s): William N. Evans, David C. Phillips, Krista Ruffini
Publication Date: 2021
Homelessness may be both a cause of and one of the more extreme outcomes of poverty. Governments at all levels and private organizations have a variety of tools to combat homelessness, and these strategies have changed dramatically over the past quarter century. In this paper, we catalog the policy responses and the existing literature on the effectiveness of these strategies, focusing on studies of individual‐level effects from randomized contro...
Author(s): Michelle Firestone, Jessica Syrette, Teyohá:te Brant, Marie Laing, Steve Teekens
Publication Date: 2021
While urban Indigenous populations in Canada are increasing and represent many diverse and culturally vibrant communities, disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people’s experiences of the social determinants of health are significant. The Mino Kaanjigoowin (MK) program at Na-Me-Res (Native Men’s Residence) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, supports Indigenous men who are experiencing homelessness or are precariously housed and who have co...
Author(s): Paula Mayock, Sarah Parker, Andrew Murphy
Publication Date: 2021
The role of family environments, where conflict—ranging from disagreements between young people and their parent(s) or carers to home‐based circumstances where violence and/or abuse is present—is well documented in research that has examined the causes and correlates of youth homelessness. However, far less attention has focused on how young people themselves frame and understand the significance of family ruptures. This paper examines the family...
Author(s): Michael Liu, Stephen W. Hwang
Publication Date: 2021
Open-access journal article.
A growing and diversifying homeless population faces tremendous social burdens and structural barriers to health care that contribute to high morbidity and mortality. Health care for homeless people must address intersecting health and social challenges through a combination of health-related and social interventions.
Author(s): Hazel Blunden, Kathleen Flanagan
Publication Date: 2021
Domestic and family violence is the leading cause of female homelessness, yet social housing provision has declined in Anglophone countries like Australia and housing policy responses favour demand-side subsidies to assist with rental payments. We examine the consequences of ‘choice-based’ approaches in competitive housing markets, applying a theoretical discussion of how the neoliberal subject is supposed to respond to external shocks in an adap...
Author(s): Xuyang Chen, Ian Cooper, Jacqueline Rivier
Publication Date: 2021
Primary and secondary prevention initiatives stop people from becoming homeless and help them exit quickly when they do. This study uses administrative data from emergency shelters in Canada from 2010–2016 to compare homelessness pathways and housing outcomes between first-time and recurrent shelter users. It uses a multinomial logit model to identify factors that influence the likelihood of exiting into housing following a shelter stay. The find...