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• P1 - A National Study of Tertiary Prevention Models for Youth Exiting Homelessness

  There is a substantial body of evidence that speaks to the risks faced by young people who are transitioning out of homelessness. Even after stable housing is obtained, homelessness frequently re-occurs and, for most, paths forward in major life domains such as employment, education, and mental health are greatly challenged. Housing alone is not sufficient for permanent exits from homelessness and marginality in youth populations. However, much less clear are (i) details about models of wrap-around supports that are demonstrating good outcomes in terms of stabilizing housing and enabling youth to flourish after homelessness, and, (ii) how the coordination and scaling out of those models can be enabled. The proposed research will use a multiple case study design and systematic reviews to articulate the service models of the most promising housing stabilization approaches and use a rigorous knowledge exchange strategy to build capacity in the sector. This work will attend closely to the full diversity of youth experiencing homelessness and will align with other practice advancements (e.g., housing first for youth; family reunification) to contribute to the larger effort to end youth homelessness in Canada.

• P2 - Examining the Effectiveness of an Integrated Housing, Mental Health and Addiction Service Model for Youth Experiencing Homelessness

  Youth experiencing homelessness are at higher risk of experiencing a range of challenges including poor nutrition, low social functioning, substance use and abuse, poor mental health, victimization and violence, and limited access to healthcare and other services. A small body of research has found high rates of co-occurring mental health and substance use problems among this population. Several studies have reported that youth experiencing homelessness and concurrent disorders either do not seek treatment due to stigma, or have difficulty navigating these fragmented systems. While promising service models exist, there is a lack of knowledge of how these services can be combined to support youth experiencing homelessness with complex needs. The Restart Project seeks to address this gap by rigorously testing the effectiveness of an integrated intervention tailored to better meet the housing, mental health and addiction service needs of youth experiencing homelessness and concurrent disorders (CDs).

• P3 - Youth Transition from Child Welfare to Precarious Living Conditions: A Mixed Methods Longitudinal Study of Risk and Protective Factors in Nova Scotia

  Welfare Services (CWS), many of these youth experience periods of homelessness and other related forms of vulnerability. Few studies, however, have followed a large cohort of young people through the transition from CWS to identify the psychological, institutional, social, educational and political/policy aspects of young people’s lives that put them at risk of homelessness and those that enhance their resilience, including housing stability and engagement in school or work. This research will use multiple methods to engage youth with both child welfare and homelessness experience. Along with a cohort of youth engaged as co-researchers through participatory methods, we will randomly sample Nova Scotian 14-18-year-olds currently involved with all forms of CWS (in care and family supports) and follow them for three years using quantitative surveys. A subsample of these youth will also be invited to participate in qualitative interviews and CWS file reviews. Throughout, there will be opportunities for knowledge mobilization that builds on young people’s networks and those of our service provider and policy co-leads. This study will be a pilot for possible replication in other provinces and territories.

• P4 - Preventing Discharge to No Fixed Address - Youth (NFA-Y)

  The “Preventing Discharge to No Fixed Address – Youth” (NFA-Y) project builds upon several successful projects testing a potential best practice for preventing hospital discharge into homelessness for adults. The strategy will make housing and financial resources more accessible to youth (aged 13 to 24) admitted to inpatient wards at London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph's Health Care London - Parkwood Institute Mental Health. A Community Liaison and Income Support Caseworker will be brought directly into the hospital and provide remote access to housing and social assistance databases. Youth at risk of becoming homeless upon discharge will be able to access the services by drop-in, appointment and/or referral. Transitional Case Workers will provide post-discharge wrap-around supports for youth in order to assist with housing, financial and related needs.

• P5 - One House Many Nations: A Community First Approach to Address Homelessness Amongst First Nation Youth

  The One House Many Nations (OHMN) interdisciplinary research team and its First Nations partners have brought an innovative community-first land-centred approach to the overrepresentation of First Nation youth in the homeless population. Youth living on-reserve with lived experience or who are at risk of homelessness join a team that designs and builds new home in their community, gaining new skills, experiences and relationships in the process. This approach can be adapted or rescaled for use in other First Nations, and may be particularly valuable because, in addition to providing an economically and environmentally sustaining solution to the shortage of housing on-reserves, it is designed to build capacity of both the community and individual First Nation youth to prevent and sustain exits from homelessness.

  The OHMN approach was developed in partnership with Opaskwayak Cree Nation, where a first home has been built and is now occupied by a formerly homeless young couple who participated in the build. OHMN, in partnership with OCN and representatives of three additional First Nations, has initiated a research project that will characterize the nature and causes of homelessness amongst First Nation youth; assess the impacts of this Indigenous community-led approach to homelessness on the housing trajectories of First Nation youth living on-reserve; and support adaptation and mobilization of this approach in other First Nations.

• P6 - The Upstream Project Canada: Implementation Lessons from Three Demonstration Sites and Implications for Scaling

  This research aims to understand how an innovative approach to addressing youth homelessness and school disengagement can be sustainably scaled. The Upstream Project Canada (TUPC) is a research-informed prevention initiative located in schools and communities, based on an Australian model that has demonstrated significant reductions in youth homelessness (MacKenzie, 2018). This social innovation identifies youth at-risk – through a student needs assessment and school processes – who are then triaged into individualized, coordinated care.
  Rather than traditional approaches to evaluation, which measure program outcomes, developmental evaluations will be conducted to identify gaps, challenges and promising practices on an ongoing basis in three demonstration sites: Kelowna, British Columbia, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Brandon, Manitoba. This approach facilitates continuous learning for ongoing adaptation, in order to establish a framework for scaling this innovation in diverse, complex and changing environments.
  Through periodic data collection, developmental evaluations can identify critical conceptual shifts in implementing social innovation. As a pioneering initiative that relies on multi-level, collective work, these shifts are key to understanding what conditions facilitate and impede the social innovation process at different levels of implementation. This understanding will, in turn, inform systems change towards more equitable opportunities and outcomes for youth at risk of homelessness.

• P7 - Ai'aoskiikowaata (Providing Guidance to Youth): Supporting Healthy Transitions from Government Care to Independent Living

  Disproportionately represented in child welfare systems, Indigenous youth are at higher risk for homelessness, addiction, criminalization, and poor educational and health outcomes. Indigenous homelessness describes a deep sense of dislocation from traditional lands, cultural knowledge, community, family, and identity that are interwoven with intergenerational trauma. Placement in government care magnifies the experience of Indigenous homelessness by disconnecting youth from the cultural resources that provide resilience. In the absence of Ai’aoskiikowaata, Blackfoot for “providing guidance to youth (through ceremony and culture),” Indigenous youth are preemptively pushed into independence without adequate supports or resources. This research employs two studies to investigate youths’ experiences of transitioning out of government care in three southern Alberta locations. The first study gathers young adults’ first-hand knowledge of exiting care through a multi-media storytelling project. The second surveys Indigenous and non-Indigenous young adults on their care experiences, exposure to traditional culture, and current life outcomes. This project can inform legislators and knowledge users about: the protective factors associated with culturally-appropriate resources; prevention and support strategies for Indigenous youth; service and programming gaps; and the relationship between youths’ experiences in care and life quality as measured by housing status and the social determinants of health.

• P8 - On the Move: A Mixed Methods Study of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Homelessness and Migration in Northeastern Ontario

  The objective is to generate new knowledge about appropriate strategies for detecting risk, intervening early, and supporting sustainable exits from homelessness amongst Indigenous and non-Indigenous (Francophone and Anglophone) youth in urban, rural and remote communities of northeastern Ontario (NEO), given the paucity of research on migratory and hidden homelessness in these groups. The project will leverage data by analyzing a database on 512 youth (13-24) from the Sudbury/Manitoulin, Timmins and Cochrane Districts living with forms of homelessness in 2018. A three-year longitudinal qualitative study of 120 Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth experiencing homelessness will provide complementary, in-depth perspectives and insights into factors linked to homelessness, and views on solutions for female, male and genderqueer Indigenous youth and their non-Indigenous counterparts in NEO. More than 11 community organizations will assist with recruitment, follow-up, data collection and knowledge mobilization. Six focus groups with service providers in study communities will centre on viable ways to develop a coordinated system of services to address youth homelessness. New findings will be generated about various subgroups of youth in NEO, particularly on migration and forms of homelessness (e.g., hidden forms). Through enhanced knowledge, organizations can tailor supports for youth in remote, rural and urban places.

• P13 - Establishing and Mitigating Youth Housing Stability in Response to COVID-19: Engaging with the BC Interior

  This project will review youth homelessness services in the lead up to and during COVID-19, as well as the subjective experiences of youth at risk of homelessness during this time. Both aspects will be used together to inform planning for a potential second wave, as well as planning for the recovery period following COVID-19 and planning for future public health emergencies. A central question is: How did the new Youth Coordinated Access Table adapt considering COVID-19?

• P15 - Decolonizing Transitions from Care for Indigenous Youth

  This project will explore the impact of an Indigenous-led housing program on Indigenous youth. The research seeks to understand how the program can reduce homelessness by addressing youth’s overall spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being. The project will provide opportunities for youth to reconnect with Elders, ceremony and the land. As well as, create Indigenous housing models applicable across Canada and a collection of narratives documenting the experiences of youth.

• P16 - Using Administrative Datasets to Understand and Identify Effective Responses to Youth Homelessness

  The project will explore youths’ shelter use and examine how use may correlate with success in Housing First programs. The project will also investigate how various youth identities experience housing services and the potential impact on housing stability. The project will use large longitudinal administrative datasets from homeless shelters in Calgary. The project will identify effective responses to youth homelessness and provide recommendations for effective policy and practice measures.

• P17 - Making the Prevention Shift in Québec: Prévention Itinérance Jeunesse (PIJ)

  The project centres on the unique context of Quebec, to map early intervention and prevention practices, knowledge, and policies in youth homelessness. The project will identify knowledge gaps and determine research priorities to develop a provincial youth homelessness prevention agenda. The project seeks to establish a made-in-Québec prevention framework, that can be used by stakeholders in Quebec.

• P19 - Looking South (and Slightly North-East) for School-based Prevention Ideas: An International Comparative Policy and Practice Analysis in Canada, Australia, Wales, and the United States

  The project will examine school-based prevention efforts in Australia, Wales, and the U.S., to provide insight and concrete strategies to transform the Canadian educational policy landscape towards effectively integrating school-based prevention of youth homelessness. The project will develop approaches to support the Canadian response towards meaningful prevention within institutions already accessed by youth.

• P20 - Making the Shift Youth Homelessness Shelter Diversion Study

  This is a longitudinal, multi-site research project, that aims to assess key aspects of shelter diversion programs in five Canadian communities (Calgary, Niagara, Guelph, Cambridge, Peterborough). This is the first study of its kind in Canada to explore different approaches to shelter diversion, an essential prevention strategy. The project aims to generate real-world strategies for changes to organizational policies and practices for shelters and other service providers; and develop an evidence-based service model for shelter diversion.

• P21 - Youth Homelessness and Sex Trafficking in Canada

  This research project uses a mixed method design to investigate the relationship between sex trafficking and youth homelessness, as well as gain insights to support sustained exits from homelessness. The project aims to generate a practitioner-focused training curriculum on working with survivors of sex trafficking, as well as develop a research agenda about sex trafficking in Canada.

• P22 - Co-creating a Data and Knowledge Roadmap to Support Youth Homelessness Research, Operations, and Policy in Canada

  This project seeks to co-create a roadmap for data and knowledge infrastructure to support youth homelessness research, operations, and policy with a diverse and experienced team of stakeholders. The roadmap will aim to improve data and research collaboration in the sector, by enabling timely access to data insights and facilitate improved operations for coordinated service delivery and research collaboration.

• P23 - Preventing Youth Homelessness: A life Journey Approach using Linked Multi-Sector Administrative Data and Community Engagement

  This project aims to use existing surveys and administrative data from various sectors to examine risk and protective factors linked to youth homelessness in Manitoba. The project aims to develop a methodology that examines the intergenerational impact of homelessness, as well as uncover insights related to youth homelessness life course trends.

• P25 - Youth Homelessness Data Infrastructure (YHDI)

  This project aims to build the first Youth Homelessness Data Infrastructure (YHDI) in Québec, by compiling a sub-corpus partly based on the longitudinal study of the transition of a cohort of youth in care data, forming a comparative group of youth at risk of homelessness, and integrating clinical-administrative data regarding health, work and education. The project aims to generate new knowledge to support the prevention of homelessness among vulnerable youth in Québec through linking administrative data related to health, work and education.

• P26 - Using Health and Community Data to Prevent Youth Homelessness

  This project will use a merged health and emergency shelter dataset for Calgary to develop data science tools to better support vulnerable youth that interact with these systems. The project seeks to visualize system interactions and support predictive tools that can be used to identify at risk individuals.

• P27 - Improving Frontend User Experiences by Mapping the Backend Architecture: A Cross-Sectoral Data and Infrastructure Audit

  This project aims to produce and mobilize descriptive and analytical knowledge, to support the youth homelessness sector in developing cross-sectoral, rights-based data interventions and infrastructure that prioritizes youth homelessness prevention. The project aims to develop open-access data asset maps and data quality assessment reports for stakeholders to adapt for their prevention needs.

• P28 - Examining Long Term Trajectories in the Transition Away from Youth Homelessness in Four Cities Across Canada

  This project is a longitudinal, mixed-methods study and seeks to investigate the trajectories of youth who exit homelessness. The project will follow young people for 3 years, and explore the impacts of quality of life, COVID-19, social supports, community integration, housing stability, and other key factors, on exiting homelessness. This multisite study takes place in Vancouver, BC, Toronto, ON, Montreal, QC and Halifax, NS. The project aims to gather information that will inform the design of policies and interventions for successful and lasting exits from homelessness.

• P29 - Post-Secondary Student Homelessness (PSSH) in Canada: Informing Prevention Through Qualitative Analysis

  This project aims to explore what housing supports look like from the perspective of youth with lived experience of homelessness in post-secondary environments, using a mixed method qualitative design. The project also seeks to determine the role administrators may play in preventing PSSH. The project aims to amplify the influence of students in the design of housing and supports, as well as provide tailored feedback for participating sites outlining solutions and recommendations to prevent PSSH.

• P31 - Pathways Interrupted: 2SLGBTQ Youth Leading Responses to Hidden Homelessness in Ontario, Canada

  Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (2SLGBTQ+) youth experience high rates of hidden homelessness and often avoid service engagement due to stigma and discrimination. This project will investigate how Ontario’s homelessness responses interrupt pathways into and out of hidden homelessness for 2SLGBTQ youth. The project focuses on three sites with moderate to high numbers of youth-specific homelessness response services-York Region, London, and Toronto. An environmental scan of the youth homelessness response and key informant interviews at each site will identify the challenges and facilitators of service provision for 2SLGBTQ youth. Peer researchers will support 2SLGBTQ youth experiencing hidden homelessness in identifying how the homelessness sector has intervened in their pathways into and out of homelessness through in-depth interviews and cellphilm method, a participatory visual method that involves creating short videos with mobile technology. The videos will engage stakeholders and identify actionable steps to address the needs of 2SLGBTQ youth.

• P32 - Building a Human Rights and Youth-Centred Approach to Eviction Law and Practice

  In Canada, children and youth experience eviction from rental housing at higher rates than most other age groups. Eviction is particularly damaging for youth because of its long-term consequences and propensity to entangle youth with other systems. Eviction into homelessness is also a violation of international human rights law. Yet Canadian eviction laws do not reflect human rights obligations or account for the unique experiences and vulnerabilities of youth. Instead, tribunals too often function as “eviction machines". In response, our project builds a youth-centred approach to eviction law and practice. Using human rights-based and youth-centred lenses, we will focus on three aspects of eviction law and practice affecting youth: access to justice, eviction decision-making, and eviction legislation. Research outcomes include practical rights-based materials for lawyers and tribunals, a submission to the Federal Housing Advocate, tools for civil society and lived experience advocacy, and resources to aid law reform initiatives.  This project is undertaken in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) and the National Right to Housing Network (NRHN).

• P33 - Youth Leaving Care - From State Care into Homelessness: Prevention and Early Intervention

  ANCFSAO and its member agencies service 90%+ of Ontario's FNIM children, youth, families and communities. Supports for Indigenous youth leaving care is an area of priority and crisis. Youth exiting childwelfare systems, particularly non-Indigenous services, experience far worse outcomes as adults in successfully transitioning to independent living, attaining housing, often intersecting with justice/correctional systems, becoming victims of violence and trafficking etc. ANCFSAO will work with its member agencies and their respective communities, as well as form and engage with a youth in transition advisory group to map out and understand the trajectory of their lives in care, including what changes are required across across the continuum of services to improve wholistic outcomes for Indigenous youth. We've held preliminary conversations with these groups and it is evident that additional research is required to gather data and offer meaninful recommendations to the provincial/federal governments and sector stakeholders.

• P34 - Pursuing Justice: Bilateral Interactions Among the Criminal Justice and Housing Sectors for Preventing Youth Homelessness

  A recent St. Leonard’s Society of Canada study analyzed the trajectories over 5 years of youth discharged from one open custody/detention residence in Ontario. Based on the Canadian Observatory of Homelessness’ definition, the study found 100% of these youth at risk of homelessness, despite the availability of active reintegration services (Desai, 2018). The proposed project uses a homelessness prevention lens to explore how the youth housing and youth justice sectors impact experiences of youth homelessness. Bringing together key community organizations and scholars, the project goal is to advance knowledge on homelessness prevention strategies for young people involved in the youth justice system, and in so doing to highlight practical and sustainable homelessness prevention solutions for service providers and policy makers to address systems failures. These interconnected objectives will be achieved by holding virtual, community-informed roundtables with key stakeholders and decision makers in four Canadian regions.

• P35 - Sharing Our Stories: Pathways Into and Out of Homelessness for Métis Nation Youth in Living Ontario

  Although Indigenous homelessness is recognized to be at crisis levels and the pathways into homelessness may be different across Nations, little attention has been given to understanding and exploring the Métis experience in terms of homelessness. Our research project driven by the research priorities of the Métis Nation of Ontario seeks to address this knowledge gap by collecting and learning the stories of Métis Youth experiencing or having experienced homelessness. These stories will shine a light on where the MNO may be able to adapt or expand existing programs and services for MNO Citizens to prevent youth entering into, and support their exit out of homelessness. This research will benefit MNO Citizens and the Métis community in Ontario and more broadly through relationships with governing members across the Métis Nation.

• P36 - Between Homelessness and Care (and Back Again): Navigating Complex Institutional Trajectories Among Young People Who Use Drugs in Greater Vancouver

  In response to ongoing housing and overdose crises, municipalities across Greater Vancouver are implementing and scaling up housing and residential substance use treatment interventions for young people who use drugs (YPWUD) in an effort to reduce harms. However, our preliminary research demonstrates that, for many YPWUD, complex institutional trajectories that include periods of time residing in government-subsidized housing and residential treatment settings, as well as engagement with government care and criminal justice systems, can actually foster multiple pathways to streetbased homelessness. The proposed longitudinal qualitative and community-based participatory research study will explore the individual, social, structural, and institutional dynamics that shape young people’s pathways into homelessness across time. A key focus will be on how diverse YPWUD navigate cycles of housing and homelessness in relation to encounters with other systems of care and supervision. Findings will inform innovative youth-dedicated housing and residential treatment programs in Greater Vancouver and beyond.

• P37 - Identifying Pathways, Key Turning Points and Potential Points of Intervention into Youth Homelessness for Pregnant Youth and Young Mothers

  Pregnant youth, young mothers and their children experiencing homelessness face important risks and barriers for their health and well-being. The cumulative risks of youth pregnancy, youth homelessness and homelessness for young families make preventing homelessness for this subpopulation particularly important. The aim of this project is to investigate pathways to homelessness and out of homelessness for pregnant youth and young mothers between the ages of 16 and 24 in Montreal. The project uses in-depth interviews and focus groups to generate hypotheses for largerscale research. We will explore and map pathways, key turning points (KTPs) and identify potentially helpful interventions on their path into and during youth homelessness. Results will further our understanding of the points and types of interventions that may be most helpful to prevent homelessness and entrenchment for this particularly vulnerable population. It will also lay the groundwork for the future intervention research and support service planning.

• P38 - Transitioning Youth Out of Homelessness 2.0: A Pilot Randomized Rent Subsidy and Identity Capital Intervention for Youth Exiting Homelessness

  Background: Our Transitioning Youth out of Homelessness (TYOH) study – a two-year portable rent subsidy and mentorship intervention – found that identity capital – a sense of purpose, control, self efficacy, and self-esteem – played a crucial role in sustaining successful exits from homelessness. Neither stable housing nor formal mentorship had a substantial impact on increasing the internal resource of identity capital. Primary Objective: Explore whether targeted economic and identity-based supports offer promise as a feasible and acceptable way to foster socioeconomic inclusion and sustain exits from homelessness. Method: Phase One: Co-design leadership training program. Phase Two: All (n = 40) participants receive portable rent subsidies for one year; half will also have access to the co-designed leadership program and a dedicated life coach. The intervention will be evaluated through focus groups and validated survey instruments. Implications: This novel intervention could transform the way we conceptualize how to sustain successful exits from homelessness.

• P39 - Art as Knowledge Mobilization: Amplifying Youth Voices to Inform Harm Reduction Practice for Preventing Youth Homelessness

  Literature demonstrates that harm reduction approaches remove institutional barriers to housing for those at risk of or experiencing homelessness (Gaetz, 2017). Further, scholars identify that context-specific harm reduction approaches minimize substance-related harm for youth and that youth perspectives are essential in shaping these approaches (Jenkins et al., 2017). However, little research explores youth-focused harm reduction policies and practices within organizations that support youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness. In alignment with the Making the Shift research agenda, the proposed project explores youth perspectives on the potential of youth-focused harm reduction policy and practice to remove barriers to housing and better position youth-serving organizations to prevent youth homelessness. Using a Participatory Action Research framework, community-based Indigenous Research Protocol, and arts-based research methods, this project seeks to amplify the voices of youth with lived experience and provide platforms for their knowledge to be utilized within Winnipeg, Manitoba and beyond.