Coming Together to End Youth Homelessness in Peel Region

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Coming Together to End Youth Homelessness in Peel Region"

Anissa Daniels
5 years ago
Views:

2 Coming Together to End Youth Homelessness in Peel Region Melanie Redman Executive Director A Way Home Stephen Gaetz (It s my BIRTHDAY!!!!!) Professor, York University Canadian Observatory on Homelessness April 4, 2017

3 Part 1 Understanding Youth Homelessness

5 Canadian Numbers 40,000 over a year 7000 on any given night

6 We need to address the CAUSES of homelessness

7 When we let young people become homeless

8 When we let young people become homeless Health worsens Mental health declines Exploitation Greater risk of addictions Involvement with the law Dropping out of school Trauma and criminal victimization Entrenchment in life on the streets

9 Part 2 Suburban & Rural Youth Homelessness

10 Youth homelessness is often invisible

11 Lack of services

12 Lack of Housing

13 Young people often have to leave the community

14 Loss

15 The importance of keeping young people IN PLACE!

16 Part 3 National Survey on Youth Homelessness

18 Who is homeless? Taking Account of Diversity

19 Key Finding

20 Age of first experience of homelessness

22 PATHWAYS into homelessness Outdoors Couch surfing Couch surfing With Relatives Outdoors Homeless Shelter Homeless Shelter Homeless Shelter At home At home At home At home

23 Conflict with Parents

25 Involvement with Child Protection Services 30.9% were in group homes

26 Mental Health and Addictions

27 Mental Health and Addictions - Context A high degree of adversity in key mental health determinants Evidence of challenge pre and post homelessness PTSD, depression, addictions most common High suicide attempt rates Suicide and overdose leading causes of death

28 Mental Health and Addictions - Context But also Resilience! navigating very complex social and cultural scenarios street survival knowledge creativity keeping engaged in efforts to care for self and others

29 Mental Health and Addictions - Findings Struggling to sustain resilience, older youth reported greater resilience with indications of a strength in this area for Indigenous and LGBTQ2S youth

30 Dropping Out?

32 Family Relationships

33 Part 4 The need to shift to Homelessness Prevention

34 Key question: Can we end youth homelessness in Canada?

35 Responding to homelessness in Canada Prevention Emergency Response Housing and Supports

36 Where we want to get to Prevention Emergency Emergency Response Response Housing Housing and and Supports Supports

37 What the national survey results tell us!

38 First experience of homelessness Those who first leave home at an early age were more likely to: Experience multiple episodes of homelessness Be involved with Child Protection Services Be tested for ADHD Experience bullying Be victims of crime once homeless, including sexual assault Have greater mental health and addictions symptoms Experience poorer quality of life Attempt suicide Be chronically homeless

Housing Instability Amongst those who had multiple experiences of homelessness 63% had two to five experiences 37% had more than five Who is most likely to experience multiple

39 Housing Instability Amongst those who had multiple experiences of homelessness 63% had two to five experiences 37% had more than five Who is most likely to experience multiple episodes of homelessness? Youth whose first experience happened before they were 16 (86.7%) Trans / Gender non-binary youth (82.8%) LGBTQ2S youth (80.2%) Indigenous youth (80.4%)

40 The need to shift to homelessness prevention Primary Prevention Secondary Prevention Tertiary Prevention

41 Definition of Homelessness Prevention Homelessness prevention refers to policies, practices and interventions that reduce the likelihood that someone will experience homelessness, or for those who have been homeless reduce the reoccurrence.

42 Typology of Homelessness Prevention

43 Early intervention for youth

44 Prevention-Based Interventions

47 CORE PRINCIPLES 1. Immediate access to housing with no preconditions. 2. Youth choice and self determination. 3. Positive youth development orientation. 4. Individualized and client-driven supports. 5. Social and community integration.

48 The Application of Housing First

49 Youth need different Housing Options

50 SUPPORTS

51 Part 5 Introducing

53 ABOUT US: A Way Home is a national coalition dedicated to preventing, reducing and ending youth homelessness in Canada.

54 Key National Partners

55 Funders as Partners

56 Strategic Priorities

57 3 1. Identify, develop, research and build evidence on policies and program models that support the shift to prevention and appropriate models of housing and supports. 2. Develop partnerships to integrate policy and program model learnings into other youth focused systems of care (child intervention, youth justice, mental health and addictions). 3. Support and facilitate systems planning in communities, regions and at the provincial/territorial levels (processes must include those that can influence the systems that drive young people into homelessness). 4. Service provider/sector shift - requires knowledge and support about change management and is led by the National Learning Community on Youth Homelessness hosted by AWH. 5. Knowledge mobilization, public engagement and government relations to inform sound public policy and investment.

58 Key Partnership & Collaboration Community Planning Youth Voice Research Constellations of Activity Programs Community of practice Public Engagement Government Relations

59 Collective Impact involves a group of relevant actors from different sectors working together to address a major challenge by developing and working toward a common goal that fundamentally changes outcomes for a population.

60 Collaboration is NOT the same as Collective Impact

62 Preconditions For Collective Impact 1. Influential Leaders 2. A Sense of Urgency 3. Building trust 4. Adequate Resources

63 Essential Mindset Shifts for Collective Impact Kania, J. Hanley Brown, F., Splansky Juster, J. (2014) Essential Mindset Shifts for Collective Impact Stanford Social Innovation Review Fall 2014

64 Mindset Shift One: Who Is Involved Get all the right eyes on the problem Agree to work towards a common goal

65 Mindset Shift Two: How people work together The relational is as important as the rational Structure is as important as strategy Sharing credit is MORE IMPORTANT than taking credit

66 Mindset Shift Three: How Progress Happens Pay attention to adaptive work, not just technical solutions Look for silver buckshot instead of the silver bullet Identify the innovative solutions that are out there

67 Part 6 Ontario and

68 youth homelessness identified as one of four priority areas

69 Ontario communities interested in or working on youth homelessness plans Renfrew County Perth Ottawa Wellington London Windsor Kitchener / Waterloo Kingston York Region Toronto Peel Region Hamilton

71 Planning Institute Collective Impact Community planning 101 Stakeholder engagement

72 Ontario Demonstration Projects Building the Evidence Base

73 Working in schools to prevent youth homelessness

75 A National Youth Homelessness Research Agenda Youth Homelessness Social Innovation Lab Leaving Home: National Survey on Youth Homelessness International Summit for Innovations in Policy and Practice for Youth Exiting Care Prevention Framework Cost Benefit Study

76 Youth Engagement

A Way Home Resources Planning resources Youth Homelessness Community Planning Toolkit Complete community plans Youth Homelessness Prevention Framework National Youth Homelessness Research Survey

77 A Way Home Resources Planning resources Youth Homelessness Community Planning Toolkit Complete community plans Youth Homelessness Prevention Framework National Youth Homelessness Research Survey Youth Homelessness Human Rights Guide Toolkits Housing First for Youth Framework Youth Point in Time Count Toolkit Youth Engagement Toolkit LGBTQ Toolkit YAP Common Assessment Tool Program Model Toolkits (Train for Trades, Upstream Project, Rites of Passage)

78 Additional Supports Community Planning Community of Practice Workspace CAEH Conference (London, ON) Ontario Conference on Preventing and Ending Youth Homelessness (Ottawa, ON) National Learning Community on Youth Homelessness (General Membership)

79 Part 7 Waddabout Peel Region?

80 Leaders Inspire!

81 Think Regionally

82 Leadership on HOUSING FIRST for YOUTH?

83 Housing First for Youth A Global Movement

84 Questions or Comments?

Does challenging measures that criminalize homelessness work?

Youth Homelessness In Canada Does challenging measures that criminalize homelessness work? Stephen Gaetz Canadian Observatory on Homelessness Melanie Redman National Learning Community on Youth Homelessness