Youth Homelessness

1. Definitions of Homelessness
2. About Youth Homelessness
3. Causes for Youth Homelessness
4. Facts
5. Domestic Violence and Homelessness
6. Aboriginal Peoples and Homelessness
7. Where to Look for Help

Homelessness is the absence of a place to live (a house or apartment or room - the physical structure) - which includes the absence of belonging to a place and the people living there (a home, in the social/psychological sense). Homelessness refers to situations in which people lack regular and customary access to adequate and appropriate conventional housing (the physical structures that are designed and intended to be permanent residential accommodation). A person who has no regular place to live stays in an overnight emergency shelter, an abandoned building, an all-night coffee shop or theatre, a car, outdoors, or other such places not meant to be living spaces.

The best advice on defining "homelessness" has been proposed by Sabine Springer, a researcher at the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, ("Homelessness: A proposal for a Global Definition and Classification," by Sabine Springer, Habitat International, Vol. 24, 2000).

Homeless or "houseless people" fall into three very clear categories: the absolute houseless, the concealed houseless and those at risk of becoming houseless.

Absolute houselessness

Houseless persons are defined as people "sleeping rough" or using public or private shelters. People sleeping rough, which means in the street, in public places or in any other place not meant for human habitation are those forming the core population of the "homeless". Those sleeping in shelters provided by welfare or other institutions will be considered as a part of this population. Persons or households living under these circumstances will furthermore be defined as "houseless". As this definition avoids the use of characteristics that may vary by regions (like climatic conditions, cultural or traditional variables) it should be acceptable to all countries. An individual with no access to housing will be considered as houseless all over the world.

Concealed houselessness

People who are houseless, but temporarily housed with friends or family form another category of the "houseless" - referred to as "concealed houselessness."

Another, not obvious side of the problem is "concealed houselessness." Under this category fall all people living with family members or friends because they cannot afford any shelter for themselves. Without this privately offered housing opportunity, they would be living in the street or be sheltered by an institution of the welfare system. This phenomenon is extremely difficult to enumerate.

At risk of houselessness

In addition to absolute and concealed houselessness, some people are at grave risk of losing their housing and can be categorized as people at "risk of houselessness."

Another group living under the threat of "houselessness" are those facing the risk of losing their shelter either by eviction or the expiry of the lease, with no other possibility of shelter in view. Prisoners or people living in other institutions facing their release and having no place to go to are considered as part of this population. The notion we propose for this category is "risk of houselessness."

Finally, we need to recognize that there are many Canadians who are inadequately housed. While being inadequately housed is not the same as being houseless, it can lead to being at risk of houselessness. Most of the people who become houseless started off being inadequately housed.

Before becoming houseless, many people have been living in "substandard housing" situations. Their way out of houselessness is also likely to pass by this sort of housing unit. Households with a feeble and perhaps insecure income are likely to live in substandard housing units and might also experience houselessness because of economic difficulties. Their situation is somehow comparable with those without shelter, as they are all deprived of the human right of a housing situation without health hazards, allowing the full development of the individuals' capacities. Therefore, the population living in substandard houses should be included in the study of houselessness as the population which feeds mostly the group of houseless, but which is also likely to receive them when they attempt to escape the situation.

All people have the human right to adequate housing. All societies have the obligation to make progress on the adequate housing of all people.

Classism: bias based on social and economic class

Sexism: discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women; attitudes, conditions or behaviours that promote stereotyping of social roles based on gender

Racism: The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others; discrimination or prejudice based on race.

• In Canada's largest city, Toronto, emergency shelters for the homeless took in an average of 6,500 persons each night in 1997. (Library of Parliament)
• Abused youth have been identified as being at high risk for homelessness.
• Thousands of children runaway from home each year in Canada.
• In 1995, 75% of the 56, 749 missing children who were reported to police were runaways.
• Police departments say that, although 90% of these runaway children return home within 60 days of leaving, the others never go back.
• Runaway's account for only a portion of the homeless youth population, which also includes young people living in shelters with their mother or both parents.
• Street or homeless youth tend to range in age between 12 and 24, the girls being generally younger and the boys older.
• Once on the street or without a home, youth can experience a range of physical, psychological and emotional health problems, related to unsanitary and precarious living conditions, inadequate nutrition, violence, alcohol and drug use, risky sexual behaviours, low self-esteem and ongoing societal rejection, and economic marginalization (Library of Parliament)

Runaway youth and street kids are forced to turn to various method and/or strategies in regards to survival: they stay with friends, engage in prostitution and by committing offences. The longer a person is homeless the more likely they are to commit offences in order to survive.

Mistreatment is often a large factor when analyzing youth homelessness. Youth may have experienced sexual assault or abuse and turned to the streets. Other factors may include:

• Numerous studies have confirmed that many homeless people have been victims of sexual, physical and psychological abuse.
• A 1992 study, done by social service agencies in the Ottawa-Carleton region, indicated that 75% of the street children interviewed had left home because of sexual assaults or physical and/or psycho-emotional abuse.
• In 1994, it was estimated that between 20% to 30% of the homeless in Canada were mentally ill and in need of treatment.

However, living on the street is no protection as the streets are an even more violent atmosphere for these teens. Homelessness among youth can also be linked to the changes in the job market, particularly the growing use in casual labour. Casual, unskilled employment in the service sector often does not provide the security and wages needed to provide adequate housing. Many young people are not earning enough income from employment to provide themselves with stable accommodation. Compared to the 1980's, requirements for jobs have raised, thus making it difficult for those with little/no training or academic achievement to find decent employment.

• In the 1990s, the federal government and many provinces stopped providing social housing. At the same time, some provinces reduced social assistance rates (e.g., by 22% in Ontario). (http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ph-sp/phdd/overview_implications/09_housing.html)
• The private sector has not moved to replace the role of government by providing affordable rental housing (http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ph-sp/phdd/overview_implications/09_housing.html)
• In a study of homeless youth in Saskatoon it was found that nearly 10 per cent of the young people who took part in the research tested positive for hepatitis C. That's more than double the rate of any other Canadian city where disease has been studied.
• Every community in Canada has homeless people, even if you don't see them on the street.
• Most homeless people don't live on the street. More than 80% of Canada's homeless are improperly housed or on the verge of eviction. Many are sleeping in temporary beds - with friends or relatives, in church basements, in welfare motels, in abandoned buildings and vehicles, and in other sites away from the public eye.
• About one-in-seven users of shelters across Canada is a child. Compared to children with permanent homes, homeless children suffer more from lack of educational opportunities, infection, obesity, anemia, injuries, burns, developmental delays and incomplete immunization; youth suffer more injuries, sexually transmitted diseases, mental health problems, and pregnancies.
• As women generally earn less than men, women are more vulnerable to becoming homeless.
• Newcomers to the rental housing market, especially young people, immigrants and refugees, are often required to rent housing that they cannot afford. They are often one paycheck away from eviction.
• The hidden homeless (those we do not see on the streets, those that are not visible) are at risk of long-term physical and emotional harm. The longer anyone remains homeless, the greater the social and economic costs.
• As a society we all pay for the tragedy of homelessness.

When a woman leaves an abusive relationship, she often has nowhere to go. This is particularly true of women with few resources. Lack of affordable housing and long waiting lists for assisted housing mean that many women and their children are forced to choose between abuse at home and the streets. Moreover, shelters are frequently filled to capacity and must turn away battered women and their children. An estimated 32% of requests for shelter by homeless families were denied in 1998 due to lack of resources (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 1998).

Our predominant understanding of what constitutes homelessness (and therefore who is homeless) is based on those who are visibly without shelter and who use emergency shelters. Generally, women are not as prevalent as men among shelter users and hence make up only a small percentage of research samples. Women's homelessness is often "invisible" as women rely on their domestic and sexual roles as a strategy to avoid shelters, such as taking up temporary residences in short-term sexual relationships. Recent reports suggest, however, that the visible face of homelessness in Canada is changing: Youth, families, and women are the fastest growing groups in the visibly homeless and at-risk population.

In 1996, for example, families represented 46% of the people using hostels in Toronto; in Montreal it is estimated that 4,000 to 5,000 youth are homeless and that 30-40% of homeless people are women (from National Anti-Poverty Organization).

Homelessness in Canada is one manifestation of a wider structure of disadvantage and exclusion based on classism, sexism and racism. These tools of exclusion offer useful explanatory and analytical accounts of the processes which structure women's vulnerability to homelessness.

Canada is experiencing growing widening economic and social inequity as Government and business interests merge in the interests of making our economy more "globally competitive and of facilitating increased wealth accumulation by the rich. This inequality is evident in the following indicators (statistics from an article by Suzanne Lenon, National Anti-Poverty Organization):

• The poorest 20% of all families brought in 5.0% of all income in 1989, but by 1998, their share had dropped to 4.3%. At the same time, the richest 20% of Canadian families' share of all income increased from 42.8% to 45.5%; and
• The average income gap increased over the last decade from $7616 in 1989 to $8219 in 1992. In other words, the average poor Canadian family had to get by on $8219 less than the poverty line
• According to an April 2000 study, people who use food banks in Toronto have, on average, $4.95 a day to spend on all their needs other than rent - food, transportation, utilities, laundry, school supplies, personal toiletries, etc.
• In 1995, the average amount was $7.40. That food bank use in Canada has more than doubled in a decade is testimony to increasing depths of poverty and material deprivation, which impinge directly on a women's ability to access adequate housing.

Domestic Violence a Contributing Factor to Homelessness (from www.endabuse.org)

The lack of affordable housing can dramatically reduce options for women experiencing domestic violence, trapping them in abusive situations or forcing them and their children to become homeless if they leave. Women living in poverty are especially vulnerable. Despite this, domestic violence often becomes so severe that women leave their homes, even when they have no place to go. In fact, domestic violence is a major cause of homelessness.

• Ninety-two percent of homeless women have experienced severe physical and/or sexual assault at some point in their lives.
• In a 1998 study, 22 percent of 777 individuals surveyed stated that they had fled their home because of domestic violence.
• In a 2002 report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 44 percent of the cities surveyed identified domestic violence as the primary cause of homelessness.
• Victims and survivors of domestic violence have trouble finding apartments because they may have poor credit, rental, and employment histories as a result of their abuse.
• Requests for emergency shelter by homeless families with children increased in 68 percent of US cities surveyed in 1999.
• In 2000, approximately 296,400 women and children were not able to access essential emergency shelter for battered women.
• In one study, sexual abuse before leaving home was reported by 61 percent of homeless girls and 19 percent of homeless boys.

Additional Facts

• 14,145 people in Canada were in need of shelters in 2001 (Stats Canada)
• Each year, more than 300 women and children seek shelter through Nova Vita's emergency services. While women who use those services often move on to new and better lives, some need an extra helping hand. Those women will find help at Maria House, where they can stay for up to a year.
• Brantford has a higher rate of domestic violence per capita than larger communities like Hamilton and Windsor, and that fact has left to the need for a facility like Maria House. Nova Vita, which led the project, acquired the property from a former neighbour, who offered to sell the home to the organization.

What needs to be done?

The issues of domestic violence and homelessness need to be addressed. Long term efforts to address homelessness must include increasing the supply of affordable housing, ensuring adequate wages and income supports, and providing necessary supportive services. Shelters and temporary housing are needed for women who are trying to leave an abusive relationship and cannot find adequate housing. Shelters provide immediate safety to battered women and their children and help women gain control over their lives, often providing counselling and strategizing with women about future plans. The provision of safe emergency shelters is a necessary first step in meeting the needs of women fleeing domestic violence. Women should not have to choose between an abusive home and the streets. Many of these women have children they must care for and removing them from their home is a step that many women find difficult to do.

Many of these women do not have money and are often without a job. In the absence of cash assistance, women who experience domestic violence may be at increased risk of homelessness or compelled to live with a former or current abuser in order to prevent homelessness. Government assistance is needed to assist victims of domestic violence and to recognize the tremendous barrier to employment that domestic violence presents.

(from http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/imquaf/ho/abpeho_001.cfm)

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the ranks of the homeless are growing in number and diversity. Homelessness is caused by both "personal" and "structural" factors, including family problems; addiction; poor health; landlord-tenant conflict; unemployment; low pay; condemnation/demolition of rental units; release from jail and deinstitutionalization. Aboriginal persons in Canada suffer acutely from all these "causes" or "sources" of homelessness

The Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS) undertaken by Statistics Canada in 1991 revealed that there were more than one million Canadians of Aboriginal origin, 3.8% of the Canadian population.

The Aboriginal population illustrates considerable differences when compared to the non-Aboriginal population, including higher birth and death rates, shorter life expectancies, a higher proportion of lone-parent families, lower levels of education and income, and higher unemployment and poverty levels.

Aboriginal households are also more likely to be renters, and their housing is generally in poorer condition than the general population.

There is very little literature that addresses the issue of Aboriginal homelessness in Canada.

Risk Factors in Aboriginal Homelessness

Not all people who experience the problems listed above become homeless. The evidence suggests that the factors below result in many Aboriginals being "at risk" of becoming homeless.

• Socio-economic factors, including high unemployment, welfare dependency and extreme poverty, with single-parent families, large families and women hardest hit by these adverse economic circumstances.
• Poor housing and severely depressed conditions on reserve and in remote communities, which lead to rural-urban migration in search of jobs, education and better housing, but leaves Aboriginals vulnerable to poverty, depression, addiction and crime. Continued attachment of urban Aboriginals to reserves may result in hyper mobility, regular alternation between city (winter) and reserve (summer), necessitating regular searches for urban accommodation.
• Racism and discrimination is an issue for Aboriginal peoples and creates barriers for them in finding jobs, housing, etc.
• Substance, domestic and sexual abuse are frequently cited risk factors for homelessness. Substance abuse and addiction figure in descriptions of all segments of the Aboriginal homeless population. Eight out of ten Aboriginal women have suffered family violence and research by the Canadian Council on Social Development (1984) found "high incidence of family violence, sexual assault and incest in many Native communities" among women and runaway youth.
• Physical and mental health issues can lead to homelessness, and Aboriginal health status remains significantly poorer than that of the non-Aboriginal population. The socio-economic marginalization and abuse factors noted above contribute to higher incidences of physical and mental health problems among Aboriginal people.

Aboriginal Homeless

In general, the research that has been done on the extent of homelessness in Canada does not take ethnicity into account. Homelessness, however, appears to be endemic in the Aboriginal population, urban and rural, on and off reserve. Virtually all the research to date has been done in Canadian Western cities, although the literature indicates that there are also large numbers of Aboriginal homeless in Eastern cities like Toronto and Montreal.

At-risk Populations

• Families, youth, women and elders. Although no research has been done specifically on homelessness among Aboriginal families, there are data to suggest that urban Aboriginal families exhibit distinctive features that place them in the "at risk" population. Several studies indicate that the majority of runaways and street youth in Prairie cities are Aboriginal, with more females than males affected. The abuse suffered by women in Aboriginal society has been noted above. Elders are a segment of the Aboriginal population that has been virtually overlooked by the literature, but the diminishing role and importance of the extended family may leave them "at risk."
• Addicted residents and ex-offenders. The literature reveals that there is a large majority of Aboriginals with entrenched lifestyles of crime, alcohol, drug abuse and homelessness. There appears to be no literature regarding the housing problems of Aboriginal ex-offenders, a group that is clearly vulnerable to homelessness.

Addressing Aboriginal Homelessness

Solutions are multi-dimensional. There is not one solution to this problem.

• More affordable housing alone will not solve the Aboriginal homeless problem.
• Community development which provides jobs and empowers individuals, self government which may assist Aboriginals to address their own needs,
• Reduced discrimination in the housing and labour markets,
• Culturally appropriate programs and services must also be part of the solution.
• Ongoing research program is required. General theme areas could include:
  • Developing a better profile of the homeless population. Attempting to "count" and characterize the number of homeless Aboriginal people in Canada is probably an unrealistic objective given the time and cost involved. A better strategy to develop a more complete profile may be to work with agencies that provide services to the homeless and "at risk" populations.
  • Focusing on causes. Determining the extent of discrimination through "fair housing audits," looking more closely at the relationship to the nature and extent of abuse, the role of housing market circumstances, and the relationship to physical and mental health issues are all useful areas of research. These causes may not be unique to the Aboriginal population, but some may play a more important role in causing homelessness among Aboriginal people.
  • The appropriateness of current services. There is very little research on the appropriateness of existing services. Are they culturally appropriate? Does the philosophy of shelters create barriers for the Aboriginal homeless? Is there a role for traditional healing techniques? Will self-government help Aboriginal people to address their homeless? These are only a few of the questions that could be the focus for additional research.
  • Work closely with service agencies, perhaps they can help to answer some of these questions and resolve some of these concerns

The Government's Part

In 1999, homelessness was becoming a crisis in large and small cities across Canada. The issue was complex; both the people and the factors that led them to becoming homeless were varied and diverse. It was apparent that homelessness could not be solved by any one level of government or sector and that the key to fully addressing the issue was dependent upon governments and community organizations working in partnership, to pool resources and efforts. The Government of Canada recognized that those on the front lines, who worked directly with the people who were homeless or at-risk of homelessness, were best placed to identify effective solutions at the local level.

Aboriginal homelessness has many features in common with homelessness in the general population, but it also has several distinctive features (e.g., rural-urban migration, racism and discrimination, "Third World" on-reserve housing). Similarly, many of the same strategies are recommended to address both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal homelessness. However, the literature indicates that the Aboriginal homeless have special needs (e.g., cultural appropriateness, self determination, traditional healing techniques) that require special strategies.

Housing/Shelters

Haldimand-Norfolk Women's Services
Phone: (519) 426-8048

Native Housing Authority
Phone: (519) 752-1769
318 ½ Colborne Street East
Brantford, Ontario

Office hours are Monday through Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm.
Administers assisted rental housing units to persons who are at least 50% Native.
Waiting list is at least 5-7 years for a one bedroom.

Nova Vita Women's Services
Phone: (519) 752-4357 (752-HELP)
Toll Free: 1-800-265-0764
59 North Park Street
Brantford, Ontario

24 hour crisis line, shelter for abused women and their children, community counseling services (individual/group), counseling for children who have witnessed violence in the family, programs for abusive males, teen counseling provided in schools, public education/outreach programs.

Salvation Army Men's Hostel
Phone: (519) 753-4193
187 Dalhousie Street
Brantford, Ontario

Availible to men ages 18 and up. Room and bored, plus 3 meals a day.
If on Ontario Works, no cost.
If not on assistance, cost is as follows: weekly $120.00, monthly $488.00.

St Leonard's Community Services
Phone: (519) 754-0409
40 Queen Street
Brantford, ON
N3T 3B2

Employment

Community Resource Centre The-Careerlink
Phone: (519) 757-1687
58 Dalhousie Street
Brantford, ON
N3T 2J2

Career Resource Centre North End
Phone: (519) 757-0023
280 North Park
Brantford, ON
N3R 4L1

St Leonard's Community Services
Phone: (519) 756-7665
12 Market Street
Brantford, ON
N3T 2Z4

Stepping Stones Resource Centre
Phone: (519) 751-3915
50 Pontiac Street 36
Brantford, ON
N3S 2A7

Tollgate Resource Centre-St Leonard's Community Services
Phone: (519) 753-3816
112 Toll Gate Road
Brantford, ON
N3R 4Z6

Support Lines

Gay/Lebian/Bisexual/Transsexual/Transgender/2 Spirited/Queer/Questioning Youth Line
Toll Free: 1-800-268-9688
In Toronto: (416) 962-9688
Business: (416) 962-2232

A support line for youth under the age of 26, which provides support, referrals and information.
Hours are 4pm - 9:30pm Sunday through Friday

Kids Help Phone
Phone: 1-800-668-6868

Counseling/support, information, and referrals for children and youth regarding issues such as abuse (physical/sexual), suicide, drugs, running away, eating disorders, relationships, sexuality, etc.
Line 24 hours

Informative Websites

homeless.org

Canadian Children's Rights Council

thesocialedge.com

Raising The Roof

Women and Housing in Canada: Barriers to Equality

Living on the Edge: Women and Homelessness in Canada