Project Overview

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.