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): Alex Abramovich, Nelson Pang, Amanda Moss
Publication Date: 2022
Family violence is the leading cause of homelessness among youth; however, limited research has examined family violence among 2SLGBTQ + youth experiencing homelessness. The objective of this study was to engage a group of 2SLGBTQ + youth at risk of, and experiencing, homelessness in the Greater Toronto Area and surrounding areas in Ontario, Canada, to examine their experiences of family violence before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Author(s): Alex Abramovich, Nelson Pang, Sharumathy Kunasekaran, Amanda Moss, Tara Kiran and Andrew D. Pinto
Publication Date: 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted 2SLGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness, and little is known about vaccine attitudes and uptake among this population. To address this, the objectives of this study were to explore this group’s COVID-19 vaccine attitudes, and facilitators and barriers impacting vaccine uptake.
Author(s): Alex Abramovich, Nelson Pang, Sharumathy Kunasekaran, Amanda Moss, Tara Kiran & Andrew D. Pinto
Publication Date: 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted 2SLGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness. This study explores this populations’ COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and the barriers impacting vaccine uptake.
Author(s): Alex Abramovich, Nelson Pang, Amanda Moss, Carmen H. Logie, Michael Chaiton, Sean A. Kidd, Hayley A. Hamilton
Publication Date: 2021
Background
LGBTQ2S youth are overrepresented among youth experiencing homelessness and experi- ence significantly higher rates of mental health issues compared to heterosexual and cis- gender youth. COVID-19 related challenges for LGBTQ2S youth experiencing homelessness remain unknown. To address this gap, this study aimed to understand the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on LGBTQ2S youth at risk of, and experiencing, home- lessness in the Great...

Author(s): Alex Abramovich, Nelson Pang
Publication Date: 2020
This report summarizes findings from interviews and surveys conducted from December 2018 to October 2019 with 42 participants, including 33 youth at-risk of, and experiencing, homelessness and 9 key informants from youth-serving organizations across York Region in order to understand the unique needs and experiences of LGBTQ2S youth at-risk of, and experiencing, homelessness in York Region.
Key Findings
The key findings from this research project...
Author(s): Alex Abramovich, June Sing Hong Lam, Muna Chowdhury
Publication Date: 2020
This manuscript discusses how service providers can assist transgender youth in safely and successfully exiting homelessness.
Key Points:
Transgender individuals experience high rates of violence,discrimination and homelessness.
Psychiatric disorders should be managed before or concurrent with medical transition for gender dysphoria.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be a psychiatric comorbidity for transgender individuals who freque...
Author(s): Kristy Buccieri, Abram Oudshoorn, Tyler Frederick, Rebecca Schiff, Alex Abramovich, Stephen Gaetz, Cheryl Forchuk
Publication Date: 2018
Purpose: People experiencing homelessness are high-users of hospital care in Canada. To better understand the scope of the issue, and how these patients are discharged from hospital, a national survey of key stakeholders was conducted in 2017. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach: The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness distributed an online survey to their network of members through e-mail and social media. A sample...

Author(s): Alex Abramovich
Organization: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Publication Date: 2019
This resource focuses on collecting gender identity and sexual orientation data through Point-in-Time Counts, and is meant to support communities conduct counts that are LGBTQ2S inclusive, competent, and affirming. For more information about conducting a Point-in-Time Count, refer to the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness’ Point-in-Time Count Toolkit.
A French language report will be posted shortly.
Author(s): Alex Abramovich
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness Press
Publication Date: 2018
As a wealthy nation, Canada enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the world. Yet there are truths about our country that are unfathomable: we have an unaddressed homelessness crisis among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and two-spirit (LGBTQ2S) youth; widespread homophobia and transphobia are a daily reality; and, because of this, LGBTQ2S youth experiencing homelessness often report feeling safer on the streets...
Author(s): Alex Abramovich, various queer and trans youth experiencing homelessness, arranged by Jama Shelton
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2017
Creative pieces spoken by queer and trans youth experiencing homelessness, arranged by Jama Shelton and a piece by Alex Abramovich are found in this section.
Author(s): Alex Abramovich, Jama Shelton
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2017
The programs featured in this book, and others in Canada and the United States, save the lives of LGBTQ2S youth experiencing homelessness. They often work with insufficient funding, sometimes in hostile local and national political climates, to meet the needs of far too many LGBTQ2S young people who are reliant upon them. They are leaders in addressing homophobia, transphobia, heterosexism, cissexism, colonialism, racism, and poverty. They are br...
Author(s): Alex Abramovich, Jama Shelton
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2017
Though a growing body of research examines LGBTQ2S youth homelessness, gaps in knowledge remain, and large-scale data collection continues to be limited. Research shows that LGBTQ2S youth make up a disproportionate number of youth experiencing homelessness in North America. Estimated to comprise 20–40% of the overall homeless youth population, the percentage of LGBTQ2S youth experiencing homelessness is at least three times greater than the perce...
Author(s): Alex Abramovich
Publication Date: 2016
Gender non-conforming and sexual minority youth are overrepresented in the homeless youth population and are frequently discriminated against in shelters and youth serving organizations. This paper provides a contextual understanding of the ways that institutional and governmental policies and standards often perpetuate the social exclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and 2-Spirit (LGBTQ2S) youth, by further oppression and marg...
Author(s): Alex Abramovich
Organization: Government of Alberta
Publication Date: 2016
The Supporting Healthy and Successful Transitions to Adulthood: A Plan to Prevent and End Youth Homelessness (Youth Plan) was developed to address the unique needs of youth. The Youth Plan places particular importance on strengthening and reunifying families whenever possible, ensuring that youth experience healthy transitions across the system of care and within the youth serving sector, and preventing youth homelessness. The Alberta Youth Plan...
Author(s): Alex Abramovich
Some interesting facts on LGBTQ youth homelessness.
Author(s): Alex Abramovich
Some interesting facts on LGBTQ youth homelessness.
Author(s): Alex Abramovich
Some interesting facts on LGBTQ youth homelessness.
Author(s): Alex Abramovich
Some interesting facts on LGBTQ youth homelessness.
Author(s): Alex Abramovich
Some interesting facts on LGBTQ youth homelessness.