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Publication Date: 2020
As states move beyond simply managing their homelessness crises to looking for ways to reduce and ultimately end homelessness, broad-scale efforts to prevent homelessness are lacking. Experiences of homelessness are often harmful, traumatic, and costly, making a compelling case for why homelessness prevention should be prioritized. In recent years, countries such as Australia, Finland, and Wales have shifted their focus to prevention, but there r...
Organization: Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2020
In all provinces and territories, women, girls, and gender diverse peoples experience some of the most severe forms of housing need. In order to better understand these challenges, the Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network (WNHHN) decided to undertake an extensive scoping review of available evidence on women’s homelessness in Canada. The Canadian Observatory was hired to complete this literature review, guided at each step by the exp...
Organization: UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing
Publication Date: 2020
As COVID-19 shines a light on the crisis of homelessness in Canada, the plight of those living in homeless encampments has emerged as an urgent issue. This Protocol outlines eight Principles to guide governments and other stakeholders in adopting a rights-based response.
Organization: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness; A Way Home Canada
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, A Way Home Canada
Publication Date: 2018
It is time for a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to youth homelessness. The Roadmap for the Prevention of Youth Homelessness is designed to help service providers, policy makers, communities, advocates, researchers, and all people in Canada better understand the meaning of youth homelessness prevention. It provides a clear definition of youth homelessness prevention, a prevention typology, and a common language for policy and practice,...
Organization: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness; A Way Home Canada; National Learning Community on Youth Homelessness
Publication Date: 2016
Youth homelessness continues to be a seemingly intractable problem in Canada. We believe there are solutions, and that means leveraging the best knowledge we have to do things differently.
The Without a Home study is the first pan-Canadian study of young people who experience homelessness. With 1,103 respondents from 47 different communities across 10 provinces and territories, this study’s sample size has enabled us to conduct detailed analyses...
Organization: The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, A Way Home Canada
Publication Date: 2018
Are we making significant headway on youth homelessness in Canada? Are we stopping young people from becoming homeless? Are we ensuring that young people transition out of homelessness quickly, and that they do not become homeless again?
It is time that we started taking a good, hard look at these questions. In our efforts to end homelessness, we have primarily focused on providing emergency services and supports to young people while they are...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, A Way Home Canada
Publication Date: 2018
It is time for a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to youth homelessness. The Roadmap for the Prevention of Youth Homelessness is designed to help service providers, policy makers, communities, advocates, researchers, and all people in Canada better understand the meaning of youth homelessness prevention. It provides a clear definition of youth homelessness prevention, a prevention typology, and a common language for policy and practice,...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, A Way Home Canada
Publication Date: 2018
In this report we tackle the critical issue of housing stabilization for youth who have exited homelessness – a key component of any comprehensive approach to youth homelessness prevention. Housing stabilization for youth should include a focus on well-being embedded within each form of housing stabilization:
Housing Supports
Health & Well-being
Access to Income & Education
Complementary Supports
Social Inclusion
This report also conside...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, A Way Home Canada
Publication Date: 2018
In this report we tackle the critical issue of evictions prevention – a key component of any comprehensive approach to youth homelessness prevention. This report outlines five key forms of evictions prevention:
Strengthening Laws and Legislation Protecting Tenants
Provision of Information and Advice for Youth and Their Families
Provision of Financial Supports for Tenants
Access to Legal Supports, Advice, and Representation
Targeted and Timely C...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, A Way Home Canada
Publication Date: 2018
In this report we tackle the critical issue of early intervention – a key component of any comprehensive approach to youth homelessness prevention. This report outlines a system of care for early intervention, drawing together three key areas of focus: (a) Integrated Services, Integrated Systems; (b) Coordinated Entry; and (c) Case Management. This system of care provides the framework for implementing five early intervention program areas, inclu...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, A Way Home Canada
Publication Date: 2018
In this report we tackle the critical issue of systems prevention – a key component of any comprehensive approach to youth homelessness prevention. This report outlines three primary domains of systems prevention:
Transition supports for youth exiting public institutions and systems.
Enhancing youths’ ability to equitably access and benefit from public systems, supports, and entitlements.
Improving youths’ experiences and outcomes in public syst...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, A Way Home Canada
Publication Date: 2018
In this report we tackle the critical issue of structural prevention – a key component of any comprehensive approach to youth homelessness prevention.
This report outlines 8 forms of structural youth homelessness prevention:
Poverty Reduction
Increasing the Availability of Affordable Housing
Addressing Inequity and Discrimination
Structural Prevention of Homelessness for Indigenous Youth
Breaking the Link Between Youth Homelessness, Migration, a...
Organization: Hub Solutions
Publication Date: 2018
The EPIC program was launched in March 2017 by the Shelter, Support and Housing Administration (SSHA), a Division of the City of Toronto. EPIC is a one-year pilot project that provides wrap around eviction prevention services in order to help tenants facing imminent risk of eviction.
EPIC uses a blended model of direct and contracted community agency service delivery. The EPIC team lead assigns clients to the community agencies based upon geogra...
Organization: Wales Center for Public Policy
Publication Date: 2018
Over the summer of 2018, the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and A Way Home Canada conducted an international scan of policies and practices that are contributing to youth homelessness prevention. The Wales Centre for Public Policy commissioned this report for Public Policy, under the direction of the First Minister of Wales. Drawing together a extensive literature review, review of the grey literature, and consultation with international ex...
Organization: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and A Way Home Canada
Publication Date: 2018
In recent years there has been a notable shift in policy and scholarship towards preventing youth homelessness. In response to the shortcomings of reactive policy, countries around the world are developing, implementing, and evaluating ways to reduce the likelihood that any young person will become homeless.
In the context of a global shift towards prevention, this international review identifies evidence-based interventions, promising practices,...
Publication Date: 2018
Arts-based programming has increasingly been offered to youth experiencing homelessness in various service settings, often grounded in the belief that this type of programming can promote mental wellness and recovery, social inclusion, and life skills. Despite the ubiquity of such programs, there is limited research on the impacts and value of arts creation for youth who are homeless. Drawing on 23 in-depth interviews with youth experiencing home...
Organization: A Way Home Canada, The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2017
With the release of Without a Home: The National Youth Homelessness Survey (2016), we now have robust national data on the links between youth homelessness and child welfare involvement. Without a Home, conducted by the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness in partnership with A Way Home Canada, surveyed 1,103 youth experiencing homelessness across Canada. Youth in 42 different communities and nine of the 10 Canadian provinces, as well as Nuna...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2017
This fact sheet outlines the benefits of art-making for youth who are homeless, how the arts can be used to addess the causes and effects of youth homelessness, and provides tips for creating an impactful arts program.
From the Research Matters Blog
This fact sheet is based on Kaitlin Schwan's blog post, Can Art Make a Difference? Mobilizing the Arts to Prevent and End Youth Homelessness
Publisher: University of Toronto
Publication Date: 2017
Despite decades of public support for ending homelessness, there is little evidence that homelessness has decreased in Canada. Instead, Canadian communities continue to respond to rising numbers of people without homes through emergency response measures that do little to prevent or end the problem. In sharp contrast, research has documented that homelessness is not inevitable and can be addressed with relatively insignificant government financin...
Organization: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness; A Way Home Canada; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Publication Date: 2017
With the release of Without a Home: The National Youth Homelessness Survey (2016), we now have national data on youth homelessness for the first time in Canada. The mental health findings of this report are startling:
85.4% of homeless youth were experiencing a mental health crisis
42% of homeless youth reported at least one suicide attempt
35.2% of homeless youth reported having at least one drug overdose requiring hospitalization
Youth experien...