Volume 6, Number 2, 2026

EN:

The use of homeless shelters is dynamic. On any given day, some of those occupying a shelter bed are staying in shelter for the first time, others are returning to shelter after time away, and still others are staying in shelter for the last time. Deriving a method for measuring the number of people leaving the shelter system for the last time is an essential step in understanding the reasons for those exits. Any approach for identifying permanent exits from a shelter system must face the challenge of right censoring, the fact that observations of permanent exits may occur after the end of one’s data set. This paper describes an approach for addressing the problem of right censoring and uses it to measure permanent exits from Toronto homeless shelters.

EN:

Adequate housing is a human right. In Kenya, there has been limited research on adequate housing for street-connected young people. Yet, young people’s street-involvement in this context has been linked to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquisition, poor HIV treatment outcomes, adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes, poor mental health, substance use, and physical and sexual violence. Considering the limited research on housing for street-connected young people in Kenya, we sought to explore barriers to and facilitators of adequate housing for this population in western Kenya and illuminate how homelessness and (in)adequate housing impacts street-connected young women’s health and well-being. From June to August 2023, we conducted key informant interviews with community interest holders, as well as street-connected young women participating in a direct cash transfer pilot project. Our analysis explores the significance of adequate housing and contrasts the views of community interest holders and street-connected young women about the elements of adequate housing. The findings identify complex and interrelated barriers to adequate housing, such as stigmatization, financial resources, education, and local policies, and illuminates how inadequate housing influences adverse health outcomes such as HIV acquisition and treatment, violence, and unintended pregnancy. To secure adequate housing, participants explained the reciprocal relationships between livelihoods, savings, food security, and the ability to pay rent. In turn, young people discussed that adequate housing would support them to transition from the streets, provide hope, dignity, stability, and security, and improve HIV-related and other health outcomes. Overall, our analysis demonstrates the critical need to intervene to reduce homelessness and improve access to adequate housing for street-connected young people to reduce the harms associated with street-involvement and to contribute to ending the HIV epidemic.

EN:

People experiencing homelessness are disproportionately affected by climate-related socioecological challenges. While the impact of climate change on this population is increasingly studied, its collateral effects on community-based organization offering services to people experiencing homelessness are little explored internationally and undocumented in Quebec, Canada. Existing literature shows that such community-based services remain overall under-resourced and poorly-adapted, thus highlighting the need to study organizational realities. This collaborative study explored new climate realities’ effects on Quebec community-based organizations in the homelessness sector. We conducted three focus groups bringing together a total of 17 social services professionals from 7 administrative regions of Quebec. Professionals’ testimonies first show the broader issues that amplify the effects of socioecological problems on people experiencing homelessness, including stigma and social exclusion, political (in)action and organizational obstacles. In particular, results show that the climate crisis is filtered through a housing crisis, which together create new forms of climate vulnerability and new forms of housing precarity. Secondly, participants’ experiences testify to the complexities of climate unpredictability. This unpredictability highlights current gaps within the regional organization of services in the homelessness sector, which often open temporary environmental respite services based on anticipated seasonal climate patterns. This study highlights the pertinence of a “climate shelter” model, although this appears as the minimum required, with adequate housing being a first line of defense against new climate realities. Policy changes are proposed to enable a simultaneous response to both the climate and housing crises, guided by a socioecological justice perspective.

EN:

This article examines the role of schools in preventing youth homelessness through a qualitative autoethnographic study conducted in Quebec from 2022 to 2025. Drawing on over 150 pages of field notes and constructed vignettes, the research integrates the author’s lived experience of homelessness with professional practice as an educator in underfunded, multilingual school settings in Kanien’kehá:ka /Montreal. Using thematic analysis, the study reveals how systemic exclusion, invisibility, and trauma shape the educational experiences of precariously housed youth. Schools are shown to be both sites of harm and potential, where individual care often collides with institutional constraint. By mobilizing cultural and critical pedagogies, the study argues that schools, if properly equipped, can act as upstream prevention spaces. Methodologically, the article demonstrates the value of autoethnography for uncovering insights into youth homelessness often missed by detached, statistical research. This work offers actionable recommendations for teacher training, education policy, and community-engaged research, advancing a relational, justice-centered approach to homelessness prevention in Quebec and beyond.

EN:

Las Vegas presents a unique case in urban America for examining homelessness. Like other metros, the struggle for this city’s working class is shaped by high rents and deep poverty. Yet, two local factors create distinct risks to homelessness. First, the city’s unaffordable housing market is partly the outcome of the “financialization” of the large, foreclosed property supply by private investors that began during and continued after the Great Recession. Second, the economic precarity of workers is partly driven by their often highly mobile (out-of-state and immigrant) status in an expanding high-end service industry that offers little job security and low wages. This study investigates the major causes of and pathways into homelessness among unsheltered people in Las Vegas by integrating structural and individual risk factors within a Latent Class Analysis (LCA) framework. Using a survey of 360 respondents, this study identifies distinct subgroups by applying LCA to data on housing and employment insecurity, health and substance use challenges, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as loss and abuse, and histories of institutionalization (including foster care, carceral, and mental health systems). Grounded in social ecological and structural theories of homelessness, the analysis evaluates the extent to which homelessness in Las Vegas is driven by structural risk factors, individual risk factors, and/or their interactions. Three classes emerged. Class 1 (66%) became homeless due to unemployment and exhibited fewer additional vulnerabilities, indicating that structural factors contributed to homelessness for most of the surveyed population. Homelessness among other respondents, represented by class 2 (11%) and class 3 (23%), arose from a synthesis of particular individual and structural risk factors, revealing discrete pathways that nuance the social ecological perspective. Women and people with physical disabilities who experienced cumulative childhood traumas marked, for example, by loss, foster care involvement, and poverty were driven into homelessness upon eventual experiences of violence, conflict or loss (class 2). People with potentially high degrees of clinical severity marked by serious mental health burdens and substance use problems with histories of institutionalization and who experienced childhood traumas of loss were driven into homelessness by these health problems and the loss of housing such as an eviction (class 3). Policy recommendations include employment programs, expanded transitional and permanent supportive housing with social services for those with complex needs, and tenant protections to reduce rent burdens.

EN:

Studies in the United States (U.S.), Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), and across Europe have highlighted similar workforce challenges in the homeless services sector and concerns about their impact on staff turnover. However, research has not sufficiently studied what contributes to turnover in the sector. The current study used quantitative and qualitative data from a national survey of frontline homeless services workers in the U.S. to answer questions about workers’ intention to leave their current job and reasons for intending to leave. Quantitative findings show that 43% of frontline workers reported an intention to leave. Factors associated with a greater likelihood of intending to leave included holding at least a master’s degree and experiencing higher burnout. Factors associated with a lower likelihood of intention to leave included Hispanic race and higher scores on three domains of job satisfaction: pay, promotion opportunities, and the nature of the work. The qualitative data confirmed the importance of burnout, inadequate pay, and the challenging nature of the work in contributing to an intention to leave. The qualitative findings also shed light on additional drivers of intention to leave, including personal reasons (e.g., caretaking responsibilities), problems with the organization, and lacking the resources needed to help clients. Opportunities to increase pay and promotion opportunities, prevent and mitigate burnout, and strengthen organizations are offered. Suggested directions for future research are also provided, including evaluating the impact of employee retention strategies (e.g., pay increases, well-being supports, and organization-level interventions).

EN:

Objective: People experiencing homelessness (PEH) face barriers to accessing healthcare, including competing demands that may outweigh or impede their access to healthcare, transportation barriers, and being lost to follow up. Current primary healthcare services are usually inadequate in meeting the needs of PEH due to inflexible appointments and fixed times with providers. The increasing incidence of homelessness in Windsor and the inability to meet their healthcare needs appropriately through current primary healthcare models are growing public health concerns. Windsor Shelter Health (WSH) is an integrated program offering on-site medical services at shelters and drop-in centers for PEH in Windsor, Ontario. A needs assessment survey was distributed to client-facing shelter staff to examine their perceived need for shelter health services and PEH’s most pressing healthcare needs. Methods: A survey was developed, validated, and distributed to client-facing staff across the WSH to understand how PEH access healthcare in Windsor and to identify any unmet healthcare service needs as understood by client-facing workers. This survey was distributed to client-facing workers through REDCap. Response frequencies and percentages were collected, stratified, and analyzed. Results: Survey results (n = 60) indicated strong support (96.7%) for establishing continuous, ongoing, and direct shelter health supports that are accessible to PEH. Services that were felt to be most important included access to primary care physicians, psychiatric care, addictions medicine, access to harm reduction, wound care assistance, and counselling. Delays in access to care were perceived to be due to clients’ fear and mistrust of the healthcare system, clients’ concerns regarding the stigma they experience, and poor access to transportation. Conclusion: Results of the survey will serve as a baseline for the development of targeted services to support and improve health care access and outcomes for PEH in Windsor. Establishment of shelter health services in the Windsor-Essex region will have strong public health implications, with long-term strategies requiring support from regional policies to address homelessness.

FR:

Les personnes lesbiennes, gaies, bisexuelles, trans, queers ou appartenant à d’autres minorités associées à l’orientation sexuelle ou l’identité de genre (LGBTQ+) sont surreprésentées parmi celles vivant de l’instabilité résidentielle. Si ce phénomène est bien documenté, les variations de cette expérience au sein même de la population LGBTQ+ demeurent peu étudiées. Cette recherche adopte une approche intersectionnelle quantitative pour examiner ces disparités dans un échantillon en ligne de 4275 adultes LGBTQ+ du Québec (Canada) âgées de 18 à 86 ans. Les résultats indiquent qu’un taux global de 8,6 % masque d’importantes variations entre sous-groupes. L’arbre d’inférence conditionnelle, qui permet l’analyse d’interactions complexes entre plusieurs prédicteurs, a mis en évidence neuf profils intersectionnels dont la prévalence d’instabilité résidentielle varie de 3,3 % à 35,1 %. Les prévalences les plus élevées ont été observées chez les personnes trans ou non binaires, en particulier celles s’identifiant comme Autochtones, ainsi que chez les personnes cisgenres pansexuelles ou queers âgées de plus de 24 ans et ayant un statut de migrant. À l’inverse, la prévalence la plus faible a été observée chez les personnes cisgenres LGB sans handicap et disposant d’un revenu annuel d’au moins 60 000$. En montrant que les expériences d’instabilité résidentielle chez les personnes LGBTQ+ ne sont pas homogènes, ces résultats soulignent l’importance de concevoir des stratégies de prévention ciblées et adaptées aux réalités des personnes situées à l’intersection de multiples positions sociales marginalisées.

EN:

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+)individuals are overrepresented among those experiencing housing instability. Although thisphenomenon is well documented, variations in these experiences within the LGBTQ+population itself remain insufficiently examined. This study adopts a quantitativeintersectional approach to analyze these disparities using an online sample of 4,275 LGBTQ+adults in Quebec (Canada), aged 18 to 86 years. The findings indicate that an overallprevalence rate of 8.6% obscures substantial variation across subgroups. A conditionalinference tree—enabling the analysis of complex interactions among multiple predictors—identified nine intersectional profiles, with the prevalence of housing instability ranging from3.3% to 35.1%. The highest prevalence rates were observed among transgender or non-binaryindividuals, particularly those identifying as Indigenous, as well as among cisgenderpansexual or queer individuals over the age of 24 with migrant status. Conversely, the lowestprevalence was found among cisgender lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals withoutdisabilities and with an annual income of at least $60,000. By demonstrating that experiencesof housing instability among LGBTQ+ populations are not homogeneous, these findingsunderscore the importance of developing targeted prevention strategies that are responsive tothe realities of individuals situated at the intersection of multiple marginalized socialpositions, in line with an intersectional and human rights–based approach to housing.

EN:

Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine how permanent supportive housing (PSH) programs in Chicago’s West Side integrate and deliver medical services across single-site, scattered-site, and hybrid models. Rather than measuring resident outcomes directly, this study presents a structured assessment of how PSH organizations operationalize healthcare delivery, funding, and coordination within their housing programs.

Methods: We conducted a qualitative descriptive study using structured virtual interviews with 18 representatives from six PSH organizations on Chicago’s West Side representing single-site, scattered-site, and hybrid models. Each interview consisted of a member of the research team and one to three members of the PSH organization. Interviews examined organizational operations, healthcare delivery, resident engagement, and barriers to care. Since the sample size was small, the data were analyzed descriptively to identify common themes in implementation, funding, and access. The Rush University Institutional Review Board reviewed the study and determined it exempt as it did not involve human subjects or identifiable resident data and because representatives from the organizations were to be interviewed and not the residents themselves.

Results: Of the six organizations interviewed, two operated single-site programs, two operated scattered-site programs and two employed hybrid models, with medical services for residents either provided on-site or referred to external providers, or a combination of both. Partnerships between organizations and outside healthcare providers or pharmacies, in addition to insurance coverage and funding (e.g. Medicaid, grants) affect access to healthcare. The intersection of organizational constraints and resident-level barriers, such as lack of transportation, often compounds challenges to healthcare delivery. Health services used by residents also varied between organizations, though mental health services were consistently reported as the most frequently utilized by residents. Organizations offering on-site healthcare noted positive long-term health impacts on their residents, suggesting that centralization of their healthcare may foster continuity of care even after housing stabilization. In contrast, although scattered-site models may offer more freedom and additional specialty services, these models often fragment healthcare and depend heavily upon residents' ability, access, and initiative.

Conclusions: This study found that both single- and scattered-site models had distinct advantages and challenges, but that hybrid models allow for maximum medical benefit to residents. Ultimately, the determining factors in the successful operation of PSH models are adequate funding and structural barriers within policymaking.

EN:

Eviction from rental housing is associated with an array of adverse consequences for people, with specific negative impacts on young people. Yet despite its harmful impacts, eviction is largely portrayed in Canadian residential tenancies law texts and processes as a routine consequence of a contractual breach, and eviction legal processes are managed in most Canadian jurisdictions by administrative tribunals that are designed to efficiently process landlord claims for possession. In short, existing laws and legal processes around eviction fail to reflect the realities of youth who struggle to find and retain adequate and affordable housing, let alone to engage in legal processes that are not designed with their lived experiences in mind. Our research sought to bring eviction laws and legal processes under scrutiny by young people with lived experience of the impacts of these laws and processes. Our central question was: what would it take to transform this part of the legal system to make it more responsive to young people’s lived realities and to advance their human right to housing? To do so, we held two workshops with young people in Saskatoon and Toronto in 2024. This paper discusses the ideas that were generated at the workshops, using Amna Akbar's framework of “reformist reforms” and “non-reformist reforms”. Participants suggested immediate changes ("reformist reforms") aimed at reducing harm and stabilizing housing. But they also generated more visionary ideas that urged the rejection of logics that position housing as a commodity, and that accept eviction as an inevitable feature of our current economic and legal systems. Their ideas urged a more radical reimagining of a world where eviction is not seen as normal but rather where communities and systems work to ensure that everyone has a safe and affordable place to call home.

EN:

Purpose: Acquired brain injury (ABI) is disproportionately prevalent among people experiencing homelessness, who often face multiple overlapping health and social needs. Yet, healthcare services remain fragmented and ill-equipped to respond to these complex needs. Consequently, existing healthcare systems often fail to provide continuous and coordinated responses adapted to this population’s realities. This study aimed to document gaps in healthcare services for people with ABI who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and to identify the barriers to implementing services to prevent homelessness for this population. Material and methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted, involving three focus groups composed of health professionals and community workers from the homelessness and ABI sectors. Data were analyzed using Paillé and Mucchielli’s thematic analysis method. Results: Participants reported: 1) Complexity of access to health services, 2) Systemic lack of competence in the care of individuals with ABI in situations of social vulnerability, 3) Implicit norms of conformity within the health care system and rapid labeling, and 4) Individual and community consequences. Conclusion: This study highlighted several systematic gaps in healthcare services offered to this population. Findings are discussed in the context of stigmatisation theories, which are used to explore the impact of stigma on access to and quality of services.

EN:

The experiences of justice-involved homeless women (JIHW) and the meanings they attach to these experiences are integral to their present and future identities. However, the ways individuals perceive and interpret their experiences are deeply embedded within cultural context, suggesting that certain experiences –and the social meanings attached to them –may play a central role in identity construction. Contemporary research has shown that individual characteristics subject to stigma can profoundly shape meaning-making processes essential to identity construction. For example, homelessness often leads to stigmatizing that may influence how individuals define themselves. In this qualitative study, the life narratives of five JIHW engaged in the dual process of exiting homelessness and desisting crime were analyzed to identify how they describe the influence of their traumatic experiences in the construction of their identity. The analysis shows that JIHW go through five identity positions asthey cope with traumatic experiences. Identity work articulated through these positions highlights how developing the capacity to make sense of traumatic experiences can support a clearer understanding of the self, which in turn can foster housingstabilization and desisting from crime.

EN:

An estimated 150 million people are homeless worldwide, with homelessness being poorly documented and not prioritized in policymaking. In South Africa, over 200,000 people are estimated to be homeless, whilst the official figure sits at 55,719. Prior research has highlighted the causes and effects of homelessness, focusing on the experiences of people experiencing homelessness. However, there has been a lack of research on the experiences of service providers in the sector. Thus, this study examined the experiences of social services staff regarding the challenges they encountered while providing services to individuals experiencing homelessness in Johannesburg. A qualitative approach and descriptive single case study design were utilized. Purposive sampling was employed to recruit 12 social services staff from two shelters, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed that the staff faced various challenges related to interactions with people experiencing homelessness, their employer organisation, external organisations, and outreach initiatives, as well as adverse effects arising from these challenges. These findings resonate with local and global literature, adding nuance to already recognized challenges related to clients and organisations, while also offering novelty, particularly regarding external organisations and outreach initiatives in the homeless sector. Furthermore, the findings highlight the persistent need for debriefing, supervision, and training workshops to ensure the effectiveness of shelter staff in the homeless sector, and for including shelter management in similar research to gather more details on organisational limitations and a lack of management support.