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): Bill O'Grady, Stephen Gaetz
Publication Date: 2002
Three hundred and sixty homeless youth in Toronto, Canada were asked to report how they made money in order to survive. Income generation among this marginal population was conceptualized by fusing theory and research in the fields of the informal economy and the "underclass" and sociological criminology. While economic activity was found to be flexible, our analysis also reveals that work on the street is stratified on the basis of worker backgr...
Author(s): Kristy Buccieri, Stephen Gaetz
Publication Date: 2013
The manner in which limited vaccines are distributed during a pandemic is an ethical issue. The utility principle has been used to argue priority be given to certain individuals based on factors such as the epidemiology of the spread of disease and maintaining the functioning of society. The equity principle has been used to encourage fair practices that account for the economic and social costs of all decisions made. We argue that both principle...
Author(s): Stephen Gaetz
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...
Author(s): Bill O’Grady, Stephen Gaetz, Kristy Buccieri
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...
Author(s): Stephen Gaetz, Bill O’Grady
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...
Author(s): Stephen Gaetz
Publication Date: 2012
Ce rapport résume ce que nous savons sur le coût de la résolution du problème de l’itinérance en examinant la littérature essentielle issue du Canada et des États-Unis.
Author(s): Jack Lee, Stephen Gaetz, Fred Goettler
Publication Date: 1994
Author(s): Stephen Gaetz
Publication Date: 1992
A weakness in the approach to community-based youth services in Cork (Ireland) involves viewing the terms "youth" and "community" as though they represented homogeneous categories. Ethnographic data highlight the difficulties of monolithic classification by describing the experiences of three distinct categories of young people. (SLD)
Author(s): Naomi Dachner, Stephen Gaetz, Blake Poland, Valerie Tarasuk
Publication Date: 2009
Over the past two decades, Canada has witnessed a proliferation of community-based initiatives providing charitable meals to homeless and under-housed individuals. The existing research has raised concerns about the ability of such initiatives to meet users' nutrient needs. As part of a study of Toronto meal programs, open-ended interviews with program coordinators and observations of 16 meal programs were conducted to provide insight into the nu...
Author(s): Stephen Gaetz
Publication Date: 2008
As the homelessness crisis in Canada has worsened over the past 15 years, it has become increasingly apparent that we need to re-evaluate our approach to this critical issue. There is no doubt that we are in the midst of a crisis. The numbers of people who can be found panhandling on streets or sleeping in parks in major cities throughout the country is testament to this. At the same time, homelessness has become much more visible in suburban are...
Author(s): D. M. Kulik, Stephen Gaetz, Cathy Crowe, E. L. Ford-Jones
Publication Date: 2011
Homelessness has reached epidemic proportions in Canada. Canadian children and adolescents are the most vulnerable because youth comprise the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. A systematic literature review was undertaken using MEDLINE, Web of Science and the Homeless Hub (www.homelesshub.ca) to encompass the time frame from January 1990 to June 2009. The following terms were used as key words: 'homelessness', 'homeless youth',...
Author(s): Bill O'Grady, Stephen Gaetz
Publisher: Knowledge Mobilization at York University, ResearchImpact
Publication Date: 2010
The public often sees homeless youth as criminals who use crime, violence, and intimidation as a way to make money and support drug habits. In reality, homeless youth use flexible economic strategies that include a number of legal, deviant, and illegal activities to meet basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing. Most homeless youth prefer a stable job, but are forced to turn to crime for their income.
Author(s): Stephen Gaetz, Bill O'Grady, Kristy Buccieri
Publisher: York University's Knowledge Mobilization Unit
Publication Date: 2010
Compared to youth who have homes, street youth are much more likely to be victims of crime. Young homeless women are particularly vulnerable.
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Author(s): Stephen Gaetz
Publication Date: 2010
FREE Access to Full Text: This editorial discusses approaches to ending homelessness in Canada. Featured in the "Future of Homeless Services" Special Issue, the guest edited by the Homelessness Resource Center, was published in the Open Health Services and Policy Journal. Stephen Gaetz explores the sources and solutions to homelessness in Canada.
The current Canadian response to homelessness focuses on prevention, rapid transition out of homeless...
Author(s): Valerie Tarasuk, Naomi Dachner, Blake Poland, Stephen Gaetz
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...
Author(s): Stephen Gaetz
Organization: Knowledge Mobilization at York University / ResearchImpact
Publication Date: 2010
Discharge planning and prisoner re-entry programs exist to ease the transition of prisoners back into society. But there are limited resources for these programs. Those who work in services providing support to homeless populations (shelters and drop ins) have argued that a large number of ex prisoners wind up using their services. The question becomes, what is the relationship between incarceration, discharge planning and homelessness?
Author(s): Valerie S. Tarasuk, Naomi Dachner, Blake Poland, Stephen Gaetz
Publication Date: 2009
Objective: To describe homeless youths’ experiences of food insecurity and examine the relation between chronic food deprivation and food acquisition practices.
Design: A cross-sectional survey of homeless youths was conducted in 2003 to assess their nutritional vulnerability and describe their food acquisition practices.
Setting: Toronto, Canada.
Subjects: Two hundred and sixty-one youths, aged 16–24 years, who had spent ten or more of the pa...
Author(s): Stephen Gaetz, Bill O'Grady
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...
Author(s): Stephen Gaetz, Bill O'Grady
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...