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Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness Press
Publication Date: 2018
The book contains four sections covering a range of topics that service providers inquire about most often. Part 1: Approaches and Interventions describes specific approaches to addressing the mental health and substance use challenges of youth experiencing homelessness. Topics include the community reinforcement approach and motivational enhancement therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy, mindfulness approaches, trauma-informed care, ecologicall...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2017
There are many ways to think about what policy can and should achieve, and what its role should be in furthering public interests at the government, community and institutional levels. If the goals of good public policy include justice, the defence of human rights, and the enhancement of inclusion, respect and well-being for individuals and communities, a question to be asked is how does—or, more importantly, how should—policy address the needs a...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory On Homelessness
Publication Date: 2016
In the context of growing concerns about the seeming inevitability of an influenza pandemic, all levels of government in Canada, as well as a broad range of institutions, have been working to develop disaster management plans. The H1N1 pandemic of 2009–2010 put such plans to the test in many ways, as governments, institutions and community agencies had to respond, either through rolling out existing plans, or by developing ad hoc strategies. Home...
Publication Date: 2015
We need to not only bear witness to the words of people who have experienced homelessness but also act against cultural indifference. We need to listen and learn about the endurance needed while contending with the violence of the system…the deaths—or more accurately—murders. As ex-homeless/academic I have to think that there needs to be an audience for these words so that i/we/you can work against the indifference that perpetuates homelessness....
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2015
Think about the child who spins madly in order to make themselves dizzy or experience euphoria; the student who says “I can’t face this class without another big cup of coffee;” the professional who ends the day with a glass (or two) of wine or bourbon. Engaging in practices that are pleasurable, mind altering or stimulating—including the use of substances—is not unusual in any society. For most people, and this includes the majority of individua...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2013
The evidence for the success of Housing First as a strategy for addressing homelessness is well established by extensive research in Canada and elsewhere. Housing First clearly works, even for the most challenging, chronically homeless individuals and families. Yet in spite of the apparent success of Housing First in many communities, there are barriers to buy-in and implementation. Claims such as ‘It's a fad or a trend’, or ‘It’s an American mod...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2013
Key Messages:
The staff team has been documenting the key lessons learned in the implementation of a Housing First program. A set of 10 lessons are included in this case study.
Several experts in Housing First –from Canada and the US– have informed the development and adaptation of the model in Lethbridge.
Lethbridge was one of the first cities in Canada to develop a Plan to End Homelessness in 2009 and are coming up to the end of the initial fi...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2013
Key Features of the Calgary Homeless Foundation model:
Provides a detailed look at “systems-response” and integrated services.
Has one of the longest histories in Canada of supporting housing first programs.
As a foundation it supports a number of Housing First programs but doesn’t provide direct service delivery.
Has some of the most robust data on successes due to the length of history and foresight.
Messages clés :
L’étude trace un portrait...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2013
In recent years, Housing First has emerged as a key response to homelessness in many parts of the world including the United States, Europe and across Canada. It is considered to be a highly significant policy and practice innovation that has had a dramatic impact on how homelessness is addressed. As the popularity of Housing First grows and takes deeper root across Canada, there is a growing interest in understanding how it works, and how it can...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory On Homelessness
Publication Date: 2013
The thought of ending youth homelessness can feel like an impossible task given the overwhelming scope of the problem and its apparent complexity. However, a lot is known about effectively responding to youth homelessness. In this concluding chapter, we will focus on the role of prevention. And by prevention, we mean doing what we can to stop young people from becoming homeless in the first place, and when this is not possible, to ensure that the...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory On Homelessness
Publication Date: 2013
In this chapter we draw on research conducted with 244 homeless youth and discuss the frequent interactions these young people have with law enforcement officials in Toronto and the effect this has on their experiences of being homeless in the city. We argue that the current response to homelessness – that is, one that focuses on emergency services like shelters, drop-in centres, and food programs – does little to prevent and/or move people out o...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory On Homelessness
Publication Date: 2013
In this chapter, we ask a key question: What is the role of employment training programs in helping young people move off the streets? More and more communities struggle with how to enhance the employability of homeless youth, often knowing that traditional employment training programs and supports have not always successfully engaged the most marginal of youth populations.
Our understanding of youth homelessness and employment is drawn from wha...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2010
The study examines the relationship between chronic food deprivation and food acquisition practices among homeless youth in Toronto. The authors found that the ways in which homeless youths endeavoured to manage their food needs reflect a “hand-to-mouth” existence, characterized by the use of a wide diversity of strategies to obtain small amounts of food for immediate consumption. Many of these strategies were stigmatizing and unsafe; some were...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2009
What is the nature of discharge planning in provincial correctional facilities in Ontario and British Columbia? What are the key similarities and differences between the prison population and the homeless? How is discharge planning experienced by inmates and releasees? This chapter seeks to answer these questions, drawing on interviews with inmates, recently released ex-prisoners (housed, underhoused, or homeless), and those responsible for disch...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2009
This chapter explores how income creation among homeless youth from Toronto varies according to gender. Using questionnaire and interview data, the authors show that, in relative terms, young men are involved in the more financially lucrative sectors of the street economy compared to young women. The authors frame the analysis of the findings in terms of broader discussion of how homelessness is gendered within the spaces and places homeless yout...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2009
Street youth are much more likely than domiciled youth to be victims of a broad range of crimes; in particular, young women who are homeless face increased vulnerability to violent crime, including sexual assault. While background variables (a history of violence), lifestyle, and routine activities theories have been used to explain criminal victimization, the author argues that the conditions that place street youth at risk are connected to thei...