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Publication Date: 2013
Street-involved and homeless youth experience more health problems than non-homeless youth, and particularly high rates of addiction and mental health problems. Despite this, use of available substance use and mental health services tends to be low among street-involved youth. This lack of service access may worsen already poor health and contribute to chronic homelessness. There is currently little understanding on the implications of co-occurri...
Publication Date: 2013
The economic boom that occurred in Alberta in the mid-2000s drew people to the city of Calgary, putting greater pressure on affordable housing and social services, and increased the number of youth on the streets. The number of homeless people in Calgary went up 32% between 2004 and 2006, and the youth homeless population grew at an even faster rate than the adult homeless population. For youth and health service providers in Calgary, the issues...
Publication Date: 2013
It is widely known that mental health challenges are common in youth who are street-involved, and include depression, hopelessness, self-harm, as well as issues with substance use. There is also a clear relationship between the stress of homelessness and emotional distress, such as depression and suicide. Futhermore, the mental health challenges of street-involved youth may interfere with their ability to access services to improve their overall...
Publication Date: 2013
Many jurisdictions in Canada and the United States have responded to the growing visibility of homelessness with measures that have sought to restrict the rights of homeless people to occupy and inhabit public spaces such as street corners and parks, and prohibit behaviours such as sleeping in public or earning money through begging or squeegee cleaning. This serves as the basis for what has come to be known as the criminalization of homelessness...
Publication Date: 2013
The primary goal of most harm-reduction approaches is to meet individuals where they are at and not ignore or condemn the harmful behaviours, but rather to work with the individual or community to minimize the harmful effects of a given behaviour. Canadian policy on substance use has been moving in the wrong direction since its 2007 National Anti-Drug strategy, which excluded harm reduction. Harm reduction is an important public health initiative...
Publication Date: 2013
Immigrants have become a major presence in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), with some estimates suggesting approximately 50% of Toronto residents are now foreign born. It is important to understand their needs, particularly as immigrants are more likely to be vulnerable to housing insecurity and homelessness compared to those born in Canada. In addition, some research has shown that homeless youth from minority groups may be more reluctant than wh...
Publication Date: 2013
The childhood favourite “Where’s Waldo?” can teach us three lessons. The first is that in public spaces we are nearly always seen, even when we do not want to be – homeless youth understand this, trying to blend into the background at certain times, while drawing attention to themselves at others. Second, where one stands largely determines whether one will be seen – in some places and spaces favoured by homeless youth, like parks, social service...
Publication Date: 2013
The role of colonization continues to negatively impact Indigenous Peoples today. Legislation and policies such as the Indian Act, residential schooling, harmful child welfare practices, and the ongoing marginalization of Indigenous Peoples has left a lasting legacy and resulted in historical trauma. Today there are three times as many Indigenous children in the child welfare system than there were in residential schools at their peak in the 1940...
Publication Date: 2013
LGBTQ youth disproportionately experience homelessness in Canada. Living with an unsupportive family can directly lead to homelessness, and without many services or any shelters specifically equipped to meet the needs of LGBTQ youth, many turn to the streets due to fear of homophobic or transphobic violence. There is a need for more research to document the complexities of coming out, forming one’s sexual and gender identities, as well as the add...
Publication Date: 2013
Solutions to homelessness are often considered to be the responsibility of NGOs, government, and the individuals experiencing homelessness. Yet as homelessness affects everyone in society, it can be argued that solutions require action across all sectors. In short, homelessness is everybody’s business. Raising the Roof, a national Canadian charity, has embarked on a multi-year Private Sector Project, aimed at engaging a sector that has traditiona...
Publication Date: 2013
Many homeless youth do not have a high school diploma for a variety of reasons, such as frequent moves between home and school, significant life stress, and a lack of family support. Without a basic education, homeless youth are at risk of limited employment opportunities and poverty during their adult lives. Yet despite experiencing homelessness, some youth are able to continue participating in school, demonstrating resilience. Educational resil...
Publication Date: 2013
Young people who are homeless face considerable barriers to obtaining and maintaining employment. These barriers are best understood through the concept of social exclusion, or the degree to which individual experiences and histories overlap with certain social, political and economic conditions such as poverty, unemployment, inadequate housing, sexism, racism and homophobia. These factors can restrict young people’s access to spaces, institution...
Publication Date: 2013
Canadian law and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child define sexual exploitation as the exchange of any sexual activities by someone 18 years of age or younger for money, drugs, food, shelter or other goods and services. Giving a young person money or other things in exchange for sex is a form of sexual abuse and a violation of their right to freedom from sexual coersion. Homeless youth are at serious risk of sexual exploitation. Approxim...
Publication Date: 2013
Adolescence is an important developmental period associated with a need for increased nutritional requirements to foster growth and development. Chronically poor nutrition during adolescence can have negative health impacts over the lifespan and is associated with an increased risk of infections. Poor nutrition can also worsen conditions such as depression, substance abuse and sexually transmitted diseases. Homeless youth face extreme nutritional...
Publication Date: 2013
Motherhood during adolescence carries its own set of challenges for those who are homeless including physical and mental health problems, risk of abuse, and suicidal behaviour. Teen pregnancy also carries higher risks for the newborns such as birth complications, and physical, neurological, and nutritional problems. Very little attention has been directed toward understanding the particular needs of homeless mothers. They are marginalized by soci...
Publication Date: 2013
There is an abundance of research on homeless youth that looks at the causes and consequences of homelessness. Findings have been quite consistent in revealing that youth become homeless as a result of familial conflict, abuse and trauma, poverty, addictions and mental health concerns, and involvement in the child welfare system. Less is known about how youth are able to exit street life, leaving the picture incomplete. It is equally important to...
Publisher: The Homeless Hub
Publication Date: 2013
Food and proper nutrition are critical for a functioning society and a healthy work force. A healthy labour force leads to higher life expectancy, higher labour productivity, lower health costs, and an overall higher standard of wellbeing. Food prices, in Ontario, have been increasing at a faster rate than social assistance benefits, forcing recipients to spend a greater portion of their allowance on food. Today, many Ontarians face poverty and...
Supportive Housing for Addicted, Incarcerated Homeless Adults - Homeless Hub Research Summary Series
Publication Date: 2013
Studies have shown that at least half of the homeless population suffers from mental health issues, almost half of homeless people have substance use issues, and inmates who have a mental health problem are twice as likely as those without to have been homeless in the year before incarceration. Taken together, these factors make it extremely difficult for homeless persons with multiple needs to maintain housing. Housing services for homeless peop...
Publisher: The Homeless Hub
Publication Date: 2013
Poorly planned public housing developments tend to segregate and isolate poor people from the rest of society. Concentrated poverty is damaging to the health of cities and tends to produce high crime rates, violence and unemployment. Segregation limits the rights people to space, not only physical, but also political, social and economic space. Additionally and despite widespread housing policy implementation, it is unrealistic to assume that the...
Publication Date: 2013
Changes in political, social, and economic practices over the past few decades (referred to in this chapter as neoliberalism) have shaped the way government and society at large view and address youth homelessness. These practices include reduced social support, increased individual accountability, particularly in regards to maintaining employment and managing personal finances, and greater reliance on the private sector to provide shelter, food...