tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/homeless-2197/articlesHomeless – The Conversation2024-02-08T17:54:55Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2216762024-02-08T17:54:55Z2024-02-08T17:54:55ZEncampment sweeps in Edmonton are yet another example of settler colonialism<p>It feels like housing is at a tipping point in the city of Edmonton. </p>
<p>There have been four main events highlighting the situation:</p>
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<li><a href="https://www.nandalaw.ca/encampments">A case</a> that was brought against the City of Edmonton by the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights about encampment sweeps;</li>
<li><a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/edmonton-police-plan-massive-130-plus-homeless-encampment-sweep-ahead-of-holidays">Encampment sweeps</a> perpetrated by the Edmonton police days before a forecasted deadly cold snap;</li>
<li>A decision by Edmonton City Council to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-council-alberta-cabinet-homeless-housing-1.7085148">declare a housing and homelessness emergency</a>;</li>
<li>The <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/10232393/alberta-government-edmonton-homeless-centre/">Alberta government’s announcement</a> that encampments will continue to be cleared out, while also arguing there’s sufficient shelter room. That contention <a href="https://edmonton.citynews.ca/2024/01/11/edmonton-mayor-declaring-housing-emergency/">has been refuted</a> by advocates, shelter workers and the province’s official housing critic. </li>
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<p>These events should be understood within ongoing settler colonialism and a housing crisis endemic in Canada’s broader housing system.</p>
<h2>Housing in Canada</h2>
<p>The state of housing both in Canada and globally <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-study-reveals-intensified-housing-inequality-in-canada-from-1981-to-2016-173633">is worsening</a>, but the <a href="https://thewalrus.ca/there-is-no-housing-crisis/">housing crisis is not new</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/two-thirds-of-canadian-and-american-renters-are-in-unaffordable-housing-situations-221954">Two-thirds of Canadian and American renters are in unaffordable housing situations</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/blog/five-things-know-about-pre-1964-canadian-housing-policy">While affordable housing policies in Canada emerged following the Second World War</a>, colonialism is foundational to housing policy, evidenced by the <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/about-homelessness/population-specific/indigenous-peoples#:%7E:text=Research%20shows%20that%20Indigenous%20homelessness,%2C%20at%2011%2D96%25.">high rates</a> of housing vulnerability that Indigenous Peoples face. </p>
<p>For example, residential schools, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/pass-system-in-canada#:%7E:text=Used%20in%20conjunction%20with%20policies,19th%20and%20early%2020th%20centuries.">the pass system</a> and other strategies to force relocation, outlined by history scholar <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/books/clearing-the-plains-by-james-daschuk-1.6863578">James Daschuk</a> in his book <em>Clearing The Plains</em>, have limited housing for Indigenous Peoples. Colonial policies are foundational to the current housing system and people’s housing experiences.</p>
<p>Under Canada’s <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/n-11.2/FullText.html">National Housing Strategy Act</a> passed in 2019, the federal government affirmed the human right to housing. This means governments of all levels have a responsibility to recognize this human right. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/clearing-the-plains-continues-with-the-acquittal-of-gerald-stanley-91628">'Clearing the plains' continues with the acquittal of Gerald Stanley</a>
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<h2>Encampment sweeps violate human rights</h2>
<p>This isn’t happening, apparently, when it comes to encampments, which are both a site of <a href="https://make-the-shift.org/homeless-encampments/">human rights violations and of human rights claims</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://edmonton.citynews.ca/2024/01/16/edmonton-homeless-encampment-lawsuit-dismissed/#:%7E:text=In%20his%20decision%20Tuesday%2C%20Justice,an%20end%20to%20the%20lawsuit.">The Coalition for Justice and Human Rights was denied legal standing by the judge in its case against Edmonton</a> because he ruled it wasn’t the right group to represent the interests of people experiencing homelessness. </p>
<p>While that means this particular case will not proceed, it garnered significant media attention and does not refute the claims by the coalition, only its standing.</p>
<p>The coalition argued human rights were violated during encampment sweeps. It sought to maintain permanent restrictions on encampment evictions, and had been supported by many advocates in Edmonton, including those <a href="https://www.nandalaw.ca/encampments">who submitted affidavits</a>. </p>
<p>While the coalition’s claims are important, appealing to human rights does not necessarily identify the depth of colonialism’s role in the ongoing events. </p>
<p>Encampment evictions also happen in the context of treaty rights and the <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf">United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a>, which are violated when Indigenous people are forcibly removed from land. </p>
<p>In the case of the sweep of one Edmonton encampment, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9616641/edmonton-homeless-camps-response-change/">a sacred fire</a> was extinguished despite the agreement between an Elder and Edmonton police that a few tents and the fire could remain. </p>
<p><a href="https://jessethistle.com/">Jesse Thistle</a>, a Métis-Cree assistant professor at York University, <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/IndigenousHomelessness#:%7E:text=Indigenous%20homelessness%20is%20a%20human,ability%20to%20acquire%20such%20housing.">has developed a definition</a> of Indigenous homelessness that doesn’t just encompass structure and property rights, but also land, traditions, ancestors and family — all of which amplify how the loss of community and relationships that are present at an encampment entrenches homelessness.</p>
<p>Housing scholar and activist Andrew Crosby <a href="https://doi.org/10.22215/etd/2022-15310">uses the concept of domicide</a> — the destruction of home — to examine how settler colonialism is founded on the destruction of Indigenous homes and lives. </p>
<p>Domicide is applicable to the encampment sweeps in Edmonton, the historical domicide that enabled the settlement of Edmonton in the first place, and the laws that governed the unsuccessful lawsuit launched by the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights.</p>
<h2>Coming together in colonialism</h2>
<p>Removing unhoused people, who are disproportionately Indigenous, illustrates that public land is not for living on and is instead settler colonial space. When authorities make reference to “public safety” concerns about encampment, unhoused people are positioned as dangerous. </p>
<p>The destruction of those encampments simply drives people who are unhoused further to the margins. Sweeps do not end people’s experiences of homelessness; they move them out of public view.</p>
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<p>The actions of the City of Edmonton, the city’s police force and the government of Alberta — as well as the courts — have coalesced into an attack on the human and treaty rights of people who are unhoused, as well as the continuation of the removal of Indigenous Peoples from their land.</p>
<p>Homelessness in Edmonton has resulted in <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/frostbite-amputations-hit-10-year-high-in-edmonton-last-winter-new-data-show-1.6709778">increased amputations</a> due to exposure to extreme cold, while encampment sweeps lead to the overburdening of a shelter system that is already inadequate and the denial of rest for people who are unhoused.</p>
<p>This isn’t to suggest that encampments should be enshrined as a human rights housing achievement. But punitive approaches like encampment sweeps perpetuate settler colonialism and prioritize the perceptions and preferences of the ruling class.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221676/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katie MacDonald receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>Encampment sweeps in Edmonton are a brutal attack on both human and treaty rights, as well as a continuation of the violent removal of Indigenous Peoples from their land.Katie MacDonald, Associate Professor of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Athabasca UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2195622023-12-19T22:01:29Z2023-12-19T22:01:29ZCanada must recognize anti-homeless attacks as hate crimes<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canada-must-recognize-anti-homeless-attacks-as-hate-crimes" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Hate crime is a <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510006601">growing concern in Canada</a>. These are crimes motivated by animosity, bias or hate toward some aspect of a victim’s identity.</p>
<p>Canada, and several other countries, have reported <a href="https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/en/resources/ending-violence-against-people-experiencing-homelessness-starts-upholding-their-human">recent increases in hate-motivated violence against unhoused people</a>. However, in Canada, people experiencing homelessness are not considered a protected class, nor does the law recognize them as people belonging to an “identifiable group.” </p>
<p>In Canada, hate-motivated crimes are those that target people from “<a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/cj-jp/victim/rd16-rr16/p1.html">identifiable groups</a>” based on the “<a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/h-6/page-1.html#h-256795">prohibited grounds</a>” of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, language, age and disability.</p>
<p>Unhoused people don’t necessarily fit neatly into one or more of these groups, and that means the hate directed toward them because they are unhoused is often ignored.</p>
<h2>Homelessness in Lethbridge</h2>
<p>In spring 2022, we interviewed and spent time with 50 unhoused people in Lethbridge, Atla., 34 of whom were Indigenous. Estimates suggest approximately <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/community-profile/lethbridge">450 people are unhoused in Lethbridge</a>, most of whom are Indigenous due to <a href="https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/indians-wear-red">historical and ongoing colonial oppression</a>. We asked participants about many things, including how they experienced street life and safety.</p>
<p>Approximately five per cent of Canadians have <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2022001/article/00002-eng.htm">experienced unsheltered homelessness</a>. This refers to people living in shelters, parks, tent cities or makeshift shelters. In the United States, data shows homelessness has risen to its <a href="https://apnews.com/article/homelessness-increase-rent-hud-covid-60bd88687e1aef1b02d25425798bd3b1">highest ever reported level</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azad065">Our research</a> in Lethbridge shows how poverty — and homelessness in particular — can dramatically increase a person’s risk of being a victim of a hate crime. </p>
<p>Put another way, being homeless compounds the risk factors that make people more vulnerable to hate-motivated attacks. We call this the “cumulative risk of hate crime victimization.”</p>
<h2>Anti-homeless hate crime</h2>
<p>Nearly all participants expressed feeling unsafe in downtown Lethbridge, fearing they may be attacked by a group they called the “White Gorillas.” Participants described them as a “white hate group” that predominantly targets unhoused Indigenous persons, especially Indigenous women. They also shared that White Gorilla violence was motivated by anti-homeless hatred, meaning the group could attack anyone living on the streets. </p>
<p>According to interviewees, the White Gorillas travelled in vehicles looking for vulnerable persons to attack. Some reported being victimized by the group themselves. Many others knew someone who had been verbally, physically or sexually abused by the group. As one participant stated: </p>
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<p>“They come into town. They beat the shit out of people. They take girls in their vehicles, and you know […] they lure them into that truck and take off out of town. Beat the shit out of them, rape them.”</p>
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<p>Experts describe hate crimes as “message crimes” because of how these attacks <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0269758011422475">instill fear in communities that share the victim’s identity</a>. Sociologists call this experience <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764201045004010">vicarious victimization</a>. </p>
<p>The routine attacks against our participants caused immense stress in Lethbridge’s unhoused community. Interviewees explained how they developed strategies to protect themselves. This included hiding, travelling in groups and avoiding the downtown core, especially at night. However, most saw these safety measures as futile due to the challenges of living outdoors and being visibly unhoused. </p>
<p>Some participants also shared that they reported these hate crimes to local police. The officers, they claim, were not interested in protecting victims nor investigating these attacks. </p>
<p>It is unclear whether these horrific acts were perpetrated by a singular, organized group. It is possible that they were committed by various persons who are unconnected to each other. However, the consequences of this victimization for people experiencing homelessness remain the same. </p>
<p>Anti-homeless violence and vicarious victimization introduce further challenges for unhoused people, as they limit their movement and access to social services out of fear of being victimized. </p>
<h2>What can we do?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/en/resources/ending-violence-against-people-experiencing-homelessness-starts-upholding-their-human">The Canadian Human Rights Commission</a> has called for recognizing unhoused people’s human rights by acknowledging anti-homeless violence as a hate crime. </p>
<p>Current hate crime legislation does not list unhoused people as a protected class because homelessness is not an “<a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/commentary/doc/2019CanLIIDocs2012#!fragment//BQCwhgziBcwMYgK4DsDWszIQewE4BUBTADwBdoByCgSgBpltTCIBFRQ3AT0otokLC4EbDtyp8BQkAGU8pAELcASgFEAMioBqAQQByAYRW1SYAEbRS2ONWpA">immutable characteristic</a>.” This is despite the fact that some protected classes are also not static. For example, people can change their religion. Experiences with disability can also change over time. Thus, focusing on immutable characteristics is arguably based upon flawed logic. </p>
<p>Many unhoused people are an identifiable group vulnerable to attack precisely because of their unhoused status. Being unhoused makes Indigenous people more vulnerable to hate-motivated violence, especially Indigenous women. </p>
<p>This is a textbook example of what sociologists call <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/5/20/18542843/intersectionality-conservatism-law-race-gender-discrimination">intersectionality,</a> referring to how discrimination increases when a person is a member of multiple oppressed groups.</p>
<p>Governments can address the intersectional oppression of this violence by implementing the recommendations of the <a href="https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/">National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls</a> and the <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1450124405592/1529106060525">Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada</a>.</p>
<p>Anti-homeless violence should be designated a hate crime and people experiencing homelessness must be considered and treated as a protected class under Canadian law. Protected status may pressure cities to address housing insecurity and encourage law enforcement to track and investigate anti-homeless violence. However, improving public safety will not protect unhoused people from victimization. </p>
<p>The best way to protect unhoused people from the violence they face is to provide them with safe and permanent housing. The government priority must be to provide safe housing and services to reduce vulnerability. Governments must also work to decrease biases against people experiencing homelessness that increase their risk of hate crime victimization and make it easier to ignore their suffering.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219562/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katharina Maier receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carolyn Greene receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justin Tetrault receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marta-Marika Urbanik receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Killam Trusts Foundation. </span></em></p>Being homeless compounds the risk factors that make people more vulnerable to hate-motivated attacks.Katharina Maier, Associate professor, Criminal Justice, University of WinnipegCarolyn Greene, Associate Professor, Criminology, Athabasca UniversityJustin Tetrault, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminology, University of AlbertaMarta-Marika Urbanik, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of AlbertaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2188292023-12-07T23:36:02Z2023-12-07T23:36:02ZAustralia’s first mobile cooling hub is ready for searing heat this summer – and people who are homeless helped design it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564053/original/file-20231206-19-ykkamk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3498%2C2323&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sunset-busy-roads-major-cities-135274718">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Heatwaves are a major public health hazard. Socially disadvantaged people are especially exposed to extreme heat and other impacts of climate change. Many people experiencing homelessness – <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/housing/estimating-homelessness-census/latest-release">more than 120,000</a> on any given day in Australia – are exposed to extreme temperatures sleeping on the street, in cars or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666535223000964">tents</a>, or in overcrowded and substandard housing. </p>
<p>Researchers are working with people experiencing homelessness, St Vincent’s Hospital and the City of Sydney to design, deliver and evaluate a mobile “cooling hub” this summer. The Bureau of Meteorology is <a href="https://media.bom.gov.au/releases/1205/the-bureau-forecasts-an-unusually-warm-summer/">predicting</a> an unusually hot summer. The pilot project in Surry Hills will use low-cost strategies, including misting fans, to keep 54 people at a time cool on the hottest of days.</p>
<p>We’ll use the <a href="https://heatwatch.sydney.edu.au">HeatWatch</a> app, developed by the University of Sydney, to know when to set up the cooling hub. It’s the first time the app, as a preparedness tool, and a mobile hub like this have been deployed in Australia. Renewable energy will power the hub, so this response isn’t itself contributing to climate change.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564054/original/file-20231206-35091-smw7n5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map of Australia showing chances of exceeding median maximum temperatures in summer" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564054/original/file-20231206-35091-smw7n5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564054/original/file-20231206-35091-smw7n5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564054/original/file-20231206-35091-smw7n5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564054/original/file-20231206-35091-smw7n5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564054/original/file-20231206-35091-smw7n5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564054/original/file-20231206-35091-smw7n5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564054/original/file-20231206-35091-smw7n5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting a hotter-than-usual summer across Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/outlooks/?msdynttrid=JZ63jjeqFdOIivfF1EiqYZgQ8jlNnCpStkMT7GaPC7c#/temperature/maximum/median/seasonal/0">Bureau of Meteorology</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cruel-summer-ahead-why-is-australia-so-unprepared-219015">Cruel summer ahead – why is Australia so unprepared?</a>
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<h2>Homelessness increases heat risks</h2>
<p>Climate change represents a <a href="https://www.ama.com.au/position-statement/ama-position-statement-climate-change-and-human-health-2004-revised-2015">health emergency</a>. The extremes of climate change can be devastating for the <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2023.307351">health of people experiencing homelessness</a>. They are more exposed to heat as it can be very <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22950903/">hard for them to find cool spaces</a>, particularly in cities. </p>
<p>People in this situation are also more likely to be vulnerable to the impacts of heat, as many have <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5803132/">chronic health conditions</a>, such as heart disease. Some <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26073686/">medications</a>, for both physical and mental health conditions, can reduce a person’s ability to regulate their body temperature.</p>
<p>Extreme heat places enormous strain on a person’s body, including their <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4950975/">heart</a>. It can <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01208-3/fulltext">lead to serious illness</a> and even death. </p>
<p>Severe heat also creates significant costs. In a 2020 Sydney heatwave, the cost of treating heat illness in just two people who were homeless was <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/24/16565">A$70,184</a>. </p>
<p>The World Health Organization <a href="https://www.who.int/health-topics/climate-change#tab=tab_1">estimates</a> climate change will cause 250,000 deaths a year from 2030, at a cost of US$2-4 billion ($A3-6 billion). </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/homelessness-today-sees-workers-and-families-with-nowhere-stable-to-live-no-wonder-their-health-is-suffering-202955">Homelessness today sees workers and families with nowhere stable to live. No wonder their health is suffering</a>
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<h2>Ensuring the hub meets people’s needs</h2>
<p>Our team plans to help hundreds of people stay cooler and safer in Sydney this summer. The cooling hub has been <a href="https://mhcc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/CMHDARN-Co-design-kickstarter-FINAL.pdf">co-designed</a> with people experiencing homelessness. This process will help ensure the hub meets the needs of the people it’s meant to assist at times of extreme heat. </p>
<p>People with experience of homelessness worked with researchers and health workers to determine where to set up the cooling hub, what to include inside, how to make the community aware of the service, and how to reach out from the hub and bring people to it. For example, for many people experiencing homelessness, being able to access health care, connect with others, bring their pets and store belongings are all important. </p>
<p>The cooling hub will be set up at Ward Park, Surry Hills, and will be open in the daytime during extreme heat. It will comprise a marquee and low-tech equipment that maximises cooling and health support. The hub can be set up quickly and easily and relocated as required. </p>
<p>Nurses, doctors and peer support workers of St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, Homeless Health Service and City of Sydney public liaison officers will staff the hub. They will provide <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01209-5/fulltext">evidence-based</a> cooling strategies and monitor body temperature, blood pressure and heart and breathing rates to identify early signs of heat illness. </p>
<p>People who are at high risk of heat illness will leave the hub with a pedestal or handheld fan and water spray bottle. All will receive information on how best to stay cool. </p>
<p>Hub users will be advised to stay hydrated and in the shade, limit activity in the heat of the day and remove heavy clothing. Each of these measures can be very effective in keeping cool.</p>
<p>The hub will also offer food and opportunities to access social and housing supports. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/melbourne-now-has-chief-heat-officers-heres-why-we-need-them-and-what-they-can-do-192248">Melbourne now has chief heat officers. Here's why we need them and what they can do</a>
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<h2>Creating a blueprint for others</h2>
<p>In 2021, St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney and others set up a <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/23/15686">vaccination hub</a> for people experiencing homelessness during the COVID pandemic. The lessons from that initiative were written into a <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/314543">blueprint</a> for others to use.</p>
<p>Our evaluation of the cooling hub will include satisfaction and experience surveys along with environmental and health data to estimate its acceptability, effectiveness and cost efficiency. This will include its impact on attendances for heat illness at St Vincent’s Hospital emergency department. </p>
<p>Drawing on what is learned, we will write a cooling hub blueprint for other services to apply. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/efforts-to-find-safe-housing-for-homeless-youth-have-gone-backwards-heres-what-the-new-national-plan-must-do-differently-210704">Efforts to find safe housing for homeless youth have gone backwards. Here's what the new national plan must do differently</a>
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<h2>Climate justice in action</h2>
<p>People experiencing homelessness are poorly represented in disaster planning. The consequences can be devastating. Yet simple preventive strategies, carefully applied with communities, are likely to reduce the health impact of heatwaves. </p>
<p>Heat is one of the many impacts of climate change that are not felt equally. People who are most <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-mono/10.4324/9780367441265/learning-live-climate-change-blanche-verlie">disadvantaged</a> bear the greatest cost.</p>
<p>A climate justice response to climate change is essential, one that works with the most disadvantaged people in our community to meet their needs. Our initiative will provide a blueprint for co-designing a cooling hub with disadvantaged people and responding to their needs in the climate crisis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218829/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Jane Currie holds an honorary appointment with St Vincent's Hospital Sydney for the purposes of research. For this cooling hub pilot project, she received funding from the City of Sydney, St Vincent's Hospital Sydney and Queensland University of Technology.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Associate Professor Jo River, UTS and Northern Sydney Local Health District, has expertise in co-design research and received funding from the City of Sydney and St. Vincent's Hospital Sydney for the cooling hub co-design pilot project.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Timothy English is the Humanitarian Settings Co-lead for the Heat and Health Research Incubator at the University of Sydney and received funding from the City of Sydney and St Vincent's Hospital Sydney for this cooling hub pilot project.</span></em></p>The pilot project opening in Sydney will use the best available evidence to keep vulnerable people cool on the hottest of days.Jane Currie, Professor of Nursing, Queensland University of TechnologyJo River, Associate Professor, Mental Health Drug and Alcohol, UTS & Northern Sydney LHD, University of Technology SydneyTimothy English, Lecturer, Co-lead of the Humanitarian Settings research theme within the Heat and Health Research Incubator, Sydney School of Health Sciences, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2180072023-11-21T20:29:03Z2023-11-21T20:29:03ZBritish Columbia’s proposed bill on ‘alternative shelter’ risks doing serious harm to unhoused people<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/british-columbias-proposed-bill-on-alternative-shelter-risks-doing-serious-harm-to-unhoused-people" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>A <a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023HOUS0150-001730">bill currently before the British Columbia legislature</a> seeks to define “reasonably available” alternative shelter when municipalities go to court to enforce bylaws against homeless encampments. If passed, <a href="https://www.leg.bc.ca/parliamentary-business/legislation-debates-proceedings/42nd-parliament/4th-session/bills/progress-of-bills">Bill 45</a> will undermine the Charter rights of some of the most vulnerable members of Canadian society.</p>
<p>The bill is short and cryptic. It says that, if a local government goes to court for an injunction to enforce its bylaws against someone sheltering in a homeless encampment, alternative shelter is “reasonably available” and meets the person’s basic shelter needs if the person may stay there overnight, they have access to a bathroom and shower at or near the shelter, they are offered one free meal a day at or near the shelter and the shelter is staffed when in use. </p>
<p>Beyond leaving key terms like “homeless,” “encampment” and “near” undefined, the bill simply asserts that shelter spaces are reasonable options if they meet this bare-bones description, regardless of whether they are actually accessible to tent city residents. </p>
<p>This would overturn a series of court decisions that insist shelter must be practically accessible to the individuals the government wants to evict from encampments.</p>
<h2>A punitive approach</h2>
<p>In Greater Vancouver alone, <a href="https://hsa-bc.ca/_Library/2023_HC/2023_Homeless_Count_for_Greater_Vancouver.pdf">more than 4,800 people</a> are homeless, sleeping in shelters, cars or outdoors. That is up a staggering 32 per cent since 2020.</p>
<p>Encampments are a visible sign of this crisis. Yet, despite an overwhelming lack of affordable housing, <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/resource/overview-encampments-across-canada-right-housing-approach">governments have taken a largely punitive approach to them</a>.</p>
<p>Courts have established that prohibiting unhoused people who lack adequate alternatives from sheltering overnight on public land <a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcca/doc/2009/2009bcca563/2009bcca563.html?resultIndex=1">violates their constitutional right</a> to life and security of the person. Yet Canadian municipalities have gone to court repeatedly seeking injunctions to evict encampments from public land.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://allard.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/2023-10/Rush%20to%20Judgment%20Report%20Oct%202023.pdf">new research</a>, we show that courts have been remarkably eager to grant municipalities injunctions even though they are supposed to be drastic remedies for extraordinary situations. </p>
<p>But the tide is shifting. Courts across the country have increasingly begun to doubt and even <a href="https://canlii.ca/t/jv6dc">reject government claims</a> that overcrowded and unsafe shelters actually <a href="https://canlii.ca/t/jjzl4">meet the needs</a> of unhoused people.</p>
<p>Evicting unhoused people from their homes, however makeshift, is a <a href="https://vancouversun.com/opinion/op-ed/kasari-govender-we-need-to-talk-about-encampments">serious human rights violation</a>. But instead of taking a <a href="https://www.make-the-shift.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/A-National-Protocol-for-Homeless-Encampments-in-Canada.pdf">human rights approach</a> to homelessness, the B.C. government’s new bill makes it even easier to evict already vulnerable people.</p>
<h2>Practical barriers to shelter</h2>
<p>The bill’s definition of “reasonably available” alternative shelter might seem to give encampment residents some protection against arbitrary eviction. But it actually weakens existing legal protections by ignoring the barriers that make many shelters inaccessible, the distinct situation of Indigenous people and the need for shelter and storage during the day.</p>
<p>Violence, theft, mold, vermin and lack of privacy make some shelter options inaccessible to many unhoused people. Inaccessibility is particularly stark for <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/StateofWomenHomelessness">women and gender diverse people</a>.</p>
<p>Strict limits on how many belongings people can bring into shelters also present an impossible choice between <a href="https://belongingsmatter.ca/report/shelters-and-non-tenancy-accommodations">sleeping indoors and safeguarding belongings</a>. Bans on pets and couples are barriers for some. Curfews and abstinence rules limit accessibility for people dealing with substance use and addiction.</p>
<p>Many unhoused people, including those with mental health challenges, are ejected under “one strike you’re out” policies. Limits on shelter stays are another barrier. On top of it all, housing waitlist processes are confusing and frustrating.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/homeless-people-deserve-the-same-right-to-their-belongings-that-we-all-have-201374">Homeless people deserve the same right to their belongings that we all have</a>
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<p>These barriers are well known to everyone concerned with homelessness, including the B.C. government. Courts say <a href="https://canlii.ca/t/jjzl4">they must be considered</a> when deciding whether to issue injunctions against encampments. </p>
<p>By ignoring them, the bill perpetuates a false stereotype of unhoused people as “choosy beggars” who deliberately refuse adequate shelter. This bill ignores the fact that people experiencing homelessness know best what shelter is safe and adequate for them.</p>
<h2>Indigenous people overrepresented</h2>
<p>Indigenous people are massively overrepresented in the unhoused population. They comprise just two per cent of Greater Vancouver’s population, <a href="https://hsa-bc.ca/_Library/2023_HC/2023_Homeless_Count_for_Greater_Vancouver.pdf">but 33 per cent of its homeless population</a>. Many have been profoundly affected by residential schools, colonial dispossession and anti-Indigenous racism. Existing shelter options reproduce these traumas.</p>
<p>Courts have <a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2021/2021bcsc2089/2021bcsc2089.html?searchUrlHash=AAAAAQAVUHJpbmNlIEdlb3JnZSBzdGV3YXJ0AAAAAAE&resultIndex=1">insisted</a> this context must be considered when determining whether shelter alternatives are adequate and accessible. Yet B.C.’s bill entirely ignores it, violating the province’s obligations to consult Indigenous Peoples on decisions that affect them and pass laws that comply with the <a href="https://social.desa.un.org/issues/indigenous-peoples/united-nations-declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples">United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a>.</p>
<h2>The need for daytime shelter</h2>
<p>Finally, the claim that having somewhere to spend the night meets a person’s basic needs for shelter is simply untrue. Having somewhere to shelter and store belongings during the day is a basic need that <a href="https://canlii.ca/t/glps4">courts have recognized for years</a>, and have begun to acknowledge as a <a href="https://canlii.ca/t/jv6dc">constitutional right</a>.</p>
<p>To deny unhoused people the ability to shelter throughout the day is to condemn them, in <a href="https://canlii.ca/t/gp40g">one judge’s words</a>, to “constant disruption and a perpetuation of a relentless series of daily moves to the streets, doorways, and parks” of Canadian cities.</p>
<p><a href="https://belongingsmatter.ca">As our research confirms</a>, packing up their homes, carrying all their belongings around all day — including tents, sleeping bags, clothing, toiletries and medicine — and lining up for somewhere to sleep every night is a hardship for all unhoused people and impossible for many.</p>
<p>Like B.C.’s <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/october-2023/b-c-ban-public-consumption/">proposed ban on public consumption</a>, Bill 45 is aimed at excluding poor people from public spaces. Instead of addressing the province’s lack of housing and income inequality, the B.C. government is making it easier for municipalities to police poor and unhoused people.</p>
<p>This bill attempts to roll back existing Charter protections and limit courts’ discretion regarding injunctions against encampments. It will be deeply harmful to unhoused people if enacted.</p>
<p>As the B.C. legislature debates this bill, we need to send elected representatives a clear message: stop trying to justify the punishment, stigmatization and eviction of unhoused people and start to work seriously to <a href="https://make-the-shift.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/NWG-HE-Guidance-w-list.pdf">protect their rights to life, shelter, health and dignity</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218007/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stepan Wood has conducted pro bono legal research and served as an expert witness at the request of lawyers representing residents of homeless encampments. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandra Flynn receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Estair Van Wagner receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Office of the Federal Housing Advocate. </span></em></p>If passed, B.C.’s Bill 45 will trample over the constitutional rights of unhoused people by ignoring shelter barriers, Indigenous rights and the need for daytime shelterStepan Wood, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Law, Society & Sustainability, University of British ColumbiaAlexandra Flynn, Associate Professor, Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British ColumbiaEstair Van Wagner, Associate Professor, Law, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2146272023-11-20T13:16:45Z2023-11-20T13:16:45ZBeing homeless means not being free − as Americans are supposed to be<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559744/original/file-20231115-15-cxj832.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C7%2C5188%2C3467&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Portland, Maine, officials ordered that a park be cleared on Sept. 28, 2022, of people who were homeless and that any trash be removed before a visit by a candidate for governor. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Election2022MaineGovernor/2c3b041710c14c9d92586aeb93531c25/photo?Query=(renditions.phototype:horizontal)%20AND%20%20(homeless%20eviction)%20&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=271&currentItemNo=27">AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Homelessness is a state of deprivation. Those who are homeless need shelter to be safe; they don’t have it. They need a toilet for basic bodily functions; they don’t have one. They need a shower to keep clean; they don’t have that, either. </p>
<p>Because such deprivation dramatically affects the well-being of people who are homeless, public discussion of homelessness tends to focus on whether and to what extent the government should carry out anti-homelessness policy as a <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21528569/homeless-poverty-cash-transfer-canada-new-leaf-project">way of improving</a> <a href="https://denvergazette.com/homeless/annual-homeless-person-count-uncovers-the-misery-of-cold-colorado-streets/article_86d46dd6-a1c0-11ed-a89f-f71c071410fd.html">people’s overall</a> <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/denver-mayor-mike-johnston-provide-housekeeping-hygiene-homeless-encampments/">quality of life</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13698230.2022.2057025">Some philosophers</a> <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/philosophy/political-philosophy/liberal-rights-collected-papers-19811991?">have argued that</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/papa.12080">while homelessness</a> is clearly a state of deprivation, it is also a condition in which a person’s freedom is profoundly compromised.</p>
<p>These theorists insist a society that cherishes freedom – such as the U.S. – must implement anti-homelessness policy as a way of liberating people who lack housing. </p>
<p>Because the number of people experiencing homelessness continues to rise <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/homelessness-increasing-united-states-housing-costs-e1990ac7">at a record rate</a>, these academic ideas have become increasingly relevant to the real world. <a href="https://www.paulschofieldphilosophy.com/">I am a philosopher</a> interested in exploring the <a href="https://blog.apaonline.org/2022/04/18/the-necessity-of-guaranteed-housing/">moral dimensions of homelessness</a>, as well as shining a light on <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/08/homelessness-homeless-shelter-sex.html">underdiscussed</a> <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2023/11/01/affordable-housing-higher-ed-issue-opinion">aspects of it</a>. I believe that public debate would benefit greatly from increased attention to the ways homelessness limits Americans’ freedom.</p>
<h2>Freedom to be somewhere</h2>
<p>Since homelessness is usually discussed in terms of deprivation, the claim that homelessness has much to do with freedom can seem surprising. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/019924989X.003.0004">Freedom is commonly understood</a> as the ability to do what one chooses without being interfered with. My freedom is limited if you lock me in a cell or place a boulder on the street I want to drive down. </p>
<p>Homelessness, on the other hand, seems at first glance like a condition in which a person is mostly able to do as they choose, albeit without important resources that would make their life better. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559746/original/file-20231115-21-v05q1e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Police standing next to a chain-link fence around a park with tents in it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559746/original/file-20231115-21-v05q1e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559746/original/file-20231115-21-v05q1e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559746/original/file-20231115-21-v05q1e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559746/original/file-20231115-21-v05q1e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559746/original/file-20231115-21-v05q1e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559746/original/file-20231115-21-v05q1e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559746/original/file-20231115-21-v05q1e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Los Angeles Police officers stand by a newly installed fence after moving on March 26, 2021, to evict residents of a large homeless encampment in Echo Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/LosAngelesHomeless/22b26f0e2cc44ca28abfc9b280438e5b/photo?Query=(renditions.phototype:horizontal)%20AND%20%20(homeless%20eviction)%20&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=271&currentItemNo=62">AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes</a></span>
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<p>The <a href="https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.overview&personid=26993">philosopher and legal theorist Jeremy Waldron</a> sees things differently. Waldron <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/9780521436175">says that</a> private property often serves to interfere with people’s choices. If a person wants to walk in New York City from midtown Manhattan to Harlem, others’ property interferes with their ability to choose the most direct route. If a person wants to see a particular Andy Warhol painting, the fact that it is <a href="https://www.artelier.com/post/the-15-most-interesting-private-art-collections-from-around-the-world">kept at a private residence</a> interferes with their ability to choose to view it.</p>
<p>In itself, this isn’t a problem, as no one should be free to go anywhere and do anything they want. The trouble, says Waldron, comes when a person who is homeless does not have private property that they are able to occupy, free from interference. In such instances, the person will be confined to public spaces, such as sidewalks and parks.</p>
<p>But public spaces themselves are highly regulated through local ordinances, limiting who may use them and for what purposes. </p>
<p>A person who is homeless and <a href="https://www.kmbc.com/article/new-law-makes-it-illegal-for-homeless-people-to-sleep-on-state-owned-land-in-missouri-kansas-city/42380842">sleeps on a public bench</a> will often be told by the police to move. Someone who <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/01/13/homelessness-us-more-tent-cities-banned/11024116002/">sets up a tent</a> on a sidewalk will usually have it confiscated. Someone who <a href="https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-defense/sex-crimes/public-urination-law-penalty.htm">urinates or defecates</a> in a park can be arrested. </p>
<p>Now you can see why some think that homelessness compromises a person’s freedom. Sleeping and relieving oneself are necessary, life-sustaining tasks. </p>
<p>But as Waldron points out, “Everything that is done has to be done somewhere. No one is free to perform an action unless there is somewhere he is free to perform it.” </p>
<p>Given the way society protects private property and regulates public spaces, it seems that people who are homeless are left with no space at all in which they are free to do the things they need to do in order to live. This is about as severe an infringement on freedom as you can imagine, and Waldron’s point is that a society that loves freedom simply cannot tolerate it. </p>
<p>Anti-homelessness is not just about benevolence and generosity, then. It is about protecting liberty.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559750/original/file-20231115-29-wb3b7b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A dark-haired man sleeping in a red sleeping bag on a sidewalk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559750/original/file-20231115-29-wb3b7b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559750/original/file-20231115-29-wb3b7b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559750/original/file-20231115-29-wb3b7b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559750/original/file-20231115-29-wb3b7b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559750/original/file-20231115-29-wb3b7b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559750/original/file-20231115-29-wb3b7b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559750/original/file-20231115-29-wb3b7b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A homeless man sleeps on a sidewalk on June 6, 2023, in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/homeless-man-sleeps-on-a-sidewalk-in-tenderloin-district-of-news-photo/1258552273?adppopup=true">Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Freedom from others</h2>
<p>Of course, people who are homeless do sleep and relieve themselves. So, in what sense do they actually lack the freedom to do so? </p>
<p>The <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/papa.12080">political philosopher Christopher Essert</a> argues that Waldron’s analysis should be taken one step further by considering its implications for interpersonal relations.</p>
<p>Since a person who is homeless has nowhere to freely perform life-sustaining tasks, typically they will either seek permission from someone to use their property, use the property and hope to not be noticed or, at worst, seek forgiveness. Either way, they depend upon the grace of another in order to do the things they need to do.</p>
<p>This puts people who are homeless at the mercy of those who have property. </p>
<p>Whether a homeless person has a place to sleep or whether they are arrested for sleeping somewhere without permission is completely determined by the wishes of others. Keesha might sleep on Felix’s couch for a few nights. But as soon as Felix is in a bad mood, he can throw her out. Or Felix might make access to his couch conditional upon her attending church services, supporting his preferred political candidate or performing sexual acts. What she does and does not do is now up to Felix.</p>
<p>Essert connects this set of observations to what is called a <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/republicanism/">“republican” conception of freedom</a>. This way of understanding freedom is less about whether a person is actually interfered with and more about the way they are placed under the arbitrary power of another. </p>
<p>The intuitive idea is that if someone else always has the power to determine your choices, then you aren’t free. Since a homeless person is always on property over which someone else has authority, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/papa.12080">they are always</a>, writes Essert, “under the power of others, dependent on them, dominated by them, unfree.”</p>
<p>In the U.S. especially, arguments that appeal to freedom <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/159716/americans-consider-individual-freedoms-nation-top-virtue.aspx">are taken very seriously</a>. Even those who insist that it is not the government’s job to ensure everyone a good quality of life believe that it must ensure freedom. Even those whose ears close when they hear calls for charity and beneficence seem to pay attention when freedom is at stake. </p>
<p>By proposing this way of seeing the life of someone who is homeless, then, philosophers have raised the possibility that allowing homelessness to persist contradicts values that are, at heart, fundamentally American.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214627/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Schofield does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>To be homeless is a condition in which a person’s freedom is profoundly compromised. And that’s un-American, says a philosopher.Paul Schofield, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Bates CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2161602023-11-15T23:18:28Z2023-11-15T23:18:28ZInterim housing isn’t just a roof and four walls. Good design is key to getting people out of homelessness<p>State governments across the country have plans to increase <a href="https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/julie-collins-2022/media-releases/billions-boost-housing-and-affordability">social and affordable housing</a> to address <a href="https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/social-affairs/what-housing-australia-future-fund-and-how-will-it-boost-social-housing">ballooning waitlists</a>.</p>
<p>While necessary, this <a href="https://theconversation.com/albaneses-10bn-pledge-pushes-housing-needs-back-into-the-limelight-160920">won’t be enough</a> to clear the backlog of people waiting for public housing. </p>
<p>It also takes time to make more affordable long-term housing options available. So what can be done in the meantime?</p>
<p>Our research shows a new way of providing interim housing to support people transitioning out of homelessness.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/efforts-to-find-safe-housing-for-homeless-youth-have-gone-backwards-heres-what-the-new-national-plan-must-do-differently-210704">Efforts to find safe housing for homeless youth have gone backwards. Here's what the new national plan must do differently</a>
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<h2>Short-term solutions in high demand</h2>
<p><a href="https://cityfutures.ada.unsw.edu.au/social-and-affordable-housing-needs-costs-and-subsidy-gaps-by-region/">Studies</a> have stressed the importance of meeting people’s immediate needs for secure and affordable homes, even in the short term.</p>
<p>It’s fallen to community housing providers to look at ways to provide immediate shelter.</p>
<p>Two providers in Victoria launched the <a href="https://www.deakin.edu.au/about-deakin/news-and-media-releases/articles/tiny-house-project-set-to-make-a-big-impact-in-geelong-and-beyond">Independent Living Units Program</a> to address this gap.</p>
<p>The prefabricated units, or “tiny homes”, are homely, stylish, energy-efficient and compact. </p>
<p>Designed to house men experiencing homelessness, they’re a temporary home for six months to get people out of crisis accommodation while they try to break into the private housing market.</p>
<p>Importantly, the residents are also provided with individual case managers and tailored support services on site to help them transition from homelessness. </p>
<p>It’s a careful balance of two different housing approaches you may have heard of: housing first and treatment first.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/analysis/brief/what-housing-first-model-and-how-does-it-help-those-experiencing-homelessness">Housing first</a> prioritises stable and permanent housing over all else. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3151537/">Treatment first</a> integrates housing with support services, prioritising addressing underlying issues such as mental health disorders. This often means people must be able to demonstrate a period of treatment compliance before they’re allowed to live independently.</p>
<p>These two approaches haven’t worked perfectly alone. This program sought to put the best of both of them together.</p>
<h2>Built environment key to success</h2>
<p>Early in the project, testimonials were promising, so we were brought on board to evaluate it academically.</p>
<p><a href="https://dro.deakin.edu.au/articles/report/The_Independent_Living_Unit_Project_Evaluating_a_compact_transitional_independent_living_housing_model_for_homeless_men/24180432/1">Our research</a> analysed the experiences of people who’d lived in the units. It also looked at the goals of the program, the demand for it and viability of funding.</p>
<p>Perhaps unsurprisingly, our analysis supported the importance of having supportive, forgiving environments for people escaping homelessness. </p>
<p>There’s already <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7591/9780801455544/html">plenty of research</a> supporting this idea.</p>
<p>We found, in practice, such an environment should support independent living and meaningful community connectedness.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ageing-in-a-housing-crisis-growing-numbers-of-older-australians-are-facing-a-bleak-future-209237">Ageing in a housing crisis: growing numbers of older Australians are facing a bleak future</a>
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<p>All this may sound obvious, but it’s not just about a roof and some support services. The key to achieving the environment people need is in the design of the housing itself.</p>
<p>In other words, the built environment helps create the social and emotional one.</p>
<p>The Independent Living Units Program demonstrates this idea in practice.</p>
<p>In particular, we identified 18 factors that were important, including appropriately sized self-contained units, planned activities, semi-open spaces and clustered unit arrangements.</p>
<p>Our research also shows how these factors need to function together to create a sense of home after homelessness, especially when such a place is temporary.</p>
<p>Residents told us there were many benefits beyond immediate relief of homelessness. These include: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>reduced levels of anxiety</p></li>
<li><p>enhanced safety and security</p></li>
<li><p>stable and consistent daily routines and overall wellbeing</p></li>
<li><p>boosted self-confidence and self-reliance</p></li>
<li><p>a sense of worthiness and empowerment over their life</p></li>
<li><p>a burgeoning sense of community. </p></li>
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<p>On a logistical level, the program brought together various stakeholders.</p>
<p>A housing association, local higher education and research institutions, a local manufacturer, state government departments, philanthropists and a charitable organisation were all involved.</p>
<p>Overall, our study found the program fills a gap in the current wide range of housing solutions. </p>
<h2>How would it work on a larger scale?</h2>
<p>The Independent Living Units Program is a small initiative based in Geelong, but its unique approach could be replicated across the country.</p>
<p>For that to happen, however, there are some key challenges to navigate:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Funding would need to be flexible and ongoing. </p></li>
<li><p>Housing regulations in each area would need to be flexible and evidence-based. </p></li>
<li><p>Limited land availability means governments and communities would need to work together to make space for interim housing. </p></li>
<li><p>Service providers would need to be trained in trauma-informed care to best help people transitioning from homelessness. One way of doing this is by mandating it in policy.</p></li>
<li><p>The existing scarcity of affordable housing, coupled with low vacancy rates in rentals, makes it more likely residents end up homeless again after leaving interim programs.</p></li>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-soul-destroying-how-people-on-a-housing-wait-list-of-175-000-describe-their-years-of-waiting-210705">'It's soul-destroying': how people on a housing wait list of 175,000 describe their years of waiting</a>
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<p>Our study also found perceived competition within the housing sector between transitional and permanent housing programs. This, too, would need to be addressed.</p>
<p>Even with those challenges, the Independent Living Units Program provides a much-needed stepping stone into permanent housing.</p>
<p>With the right support, it could form part of the solution to the complex housing crisis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216160/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiona Andrews received funding from the Geelong Community Foundation and the Lord Mayors Charitable Foundation</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deakin University has received funding from the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation and Geelong Community Foundation for research into evaluating the transitional housing model known as ILUP. Richard Tucker led this project.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anahita Sal Moslehian and David Giles do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It takes time to make more affordable long-term housing options available. So what can be done in the meantime? We can start by prioritising well-designed, supportive transitional housing.Anahita Sal Moslehian, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, HOME Research Centre, Deakin UniversityDavid Giles, Senior lecturer in Anthropology, Deakin UniversityFiona Andrews, Senior Lecturer, School of Health and Social Development, Deakin UniversityRichard Tucker, Associate Professor, Associate Head of School (Research), co-leader of the research network HOME, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2117242023-09-27T21:23:33Z2023-09-27T21:23:33ZExtreme heat, extreme inequality: Addressing climate justice in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/extreme-heat-extreme-inequality-addressing-climate-justice-in-vancouvers-downtown-eastside" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/07/un-climate-change-hottest-week-world">hottest summer ever recorded in the northern hemisphere</a> is a stark reminder of the immediacy of the climate crisis. And the hardest hit by climate impacts, <a href="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7bf7141bb6fd41fb9b61a02cfbc61ecd">such as residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside</a>, are often those with the least capacity to adapt. </p>
<p>People who live in this community are exposed to climate hazards made worse by a lack of green space and shoddy and aging housing. Residents experience the <a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/Strategy_DTES_provincial_response_plan.pdf">cumulative impacts</a> of factors such as the <a href="https://doi.org/10.2217/fvl-2020-0156">opioid epidemic</a>, poverty, limited employment opportunities, intergenerational trauma and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-012-9771-x">criminal justice and mental health issues</a>.</p>
<p>As a result, residents have had little space for participation in climate adaptation policy. But when climate shocks occur, this community is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-021-00708-z">disproportionately at risk</a>. </p>
<p>In times like these, people need clear advice, and access to knowledge that allows them to have a voice in policymaking. However, the often-opaque research on climate impacts, hallmarked by inaccessible language and exclusionary methods of communication, do little to help those most affected.</p>
<p>It is of urgent importance that universities live up to their stated desires for impact and work directly with the most vulnerable populations on the front lines of the climate crisis.</p>
<h2>Climate change impacts</h2>
<p>The Downtown Eastside is the <a href="https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/profile-dtes-local-area-2013.pdf">historic heart</a> of Vancouver consisting of seven adjoining yet distinct neighbourhoods with a total population of 18,500. A changing climate has a <a href="https://www.evergreen.ca/our-projects/climate-risks/">heightened impact</a> on residents due to several intersecting challenges. </p>
<p>During a heat wave, <a href="https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/vanplay-strategic-bold-moves-equity-chapter.pdf">urban tree canopy</a> and <a href="https://sustain.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/2020-52a_Access%20to%20nature%20in%20Vancouver_Fitzgibbons.pdf">access to nature</a> can be lifesaving public goods. Highly paved areas can be as much as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26768-w">12֯ C</a> hotter than areas with an urban tree canopy due to the <a href="https://climateatlas.ca/urban-heat-island-effect">urban heat island effect</a>.</p>
<p>While much of Vancouver enjoys significant cover, the Downtown Eastside is the <a href="https://sustain.ubc.ca/about/resources/growing-equitable-and-resilient-urban-forest">least forested</a> part of the city. This lack of trees worsened the neighbourhood’s extra high temperatures during the deadly 2021 heat dome. To address the loss of trees through densification and urbaniziation, Vancouver has a <a href="https://vancouver.ca/your-government/protection-of-trees-bylaw.aspx">tree protection bylaw</a> and an <a href="https://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/urban-forest-strategy.aspx">Urban Forest Strategy</a> that sets targets on tree canopy for the city.</p>
<p>The unhoused population also faces a risk of heat-related mortality up to <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/extreme-heat-can-be-deadly-for-people-who-are-homeless">200 times</a> greater than those with access to shelter. Chronic housing precarity in the neighbourhood <a href="https://council.vancouver.ca/20201007/documents/pspc1presentation.pdf">far exceeds</a> anywhere else in the city.</p>
<p>Disproportionate risk is also borne by individuals living with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029%2F2022GH000729">chronic health conditions</a> such as substance use disorder, schizophrenia, and mood or anxiety disorders. The provincial “Death Review Panel” found that <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/birth-adoption-death-marriage-and-divorce/deaths/coroners-service/death-review-panel/extreme_heat_death_review_panel_report.pdf">91 per cent</a> of the more than 600 lives lost during the <a href="https://www.chf.bc.ca/2021-heat-dome-report/">2021 Vancouver heat dome</a> were individuals with at least one chronic disease. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/statistically-impossible-heat-extremes-are-here-we-identified-the-regions-most-at-risk-204480">'Statistically impossible' heat extremes are here – we identified the regions most at risk</a>
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<p>Too often research on disproportionate climate impacts like this fails to reach those most affected. Purposeful collaboration with these populations needs to be respectfully sought in determining the direction, execution and communication of research. Researchers need to take the time to make their practices more accessible and connected to community-driven climate research needs. </p>
<h2>Overcoming barriers</h2>
<p>The urgency of the climate emergency accelerates the need for research to be translated into policy. A crucial step lies in universities such as the University of British Columbia seeking out opportunities to work more closely with climate-vulnerable groups. </p>
<p>Residents deserve access to research on climate impacts and a voice in advocating for fairer climate policies. Making climate research easier to access and understand can set the conditions for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s44168-022-00024-3">transformative adaptation</a> and help build resilience.</p>
<p>Tools <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/facets-2020-0032">such as graphic visualisations can help increase community engagement</a> in decision-making. Researchers should think about who will use the information, seek out their involvement early on, and find accessible ways to communicate findings. </p>
<p>University staff dedicated to <a href="https://innovation.ubc.ca/how-engage/knowledge-exchange">knowledge exchange</a>, <a href="https://climateemergency.ubc.ca/climate-emergency-fund/">community climate partnerships</a>, and applied <a href="https://sustain.ubc.ca/teaching-applied-learning/ubc-sustainability-scholars-program">research internships</a> — as well as satellite “<a href="https://learningexchange.ubc.ca/about-us/">learning exchange</a>” offices — can help busy faculty make climate research accessible. </p>
<h2>Centres of change and empowerment</h2>
<p>As trusted sources of knowledge, universities have a key role to play in addressing this communication gap. The UN Secretary General has <a href="https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20201204092017670">pointed out</a> that universities are “essential to our success” on climate action. Naomi Klein, co-director of UBC’s Centre for Climate Justice, <a href="https://www.arts.ubc.ca/news/naomi-klein-on-the-future-of-climate-justice/">notes</a> that universities can boost the influence of marginalized communities in policy responses by emphasizing equity and justice in climate research and communication.</p>
<p>Impact, dissemination and knowledge exchange are university buzzwords, but it is still rare for researchers to work directly with the most vulnerable populations. Collaborating on all aspects of research, from design to presentation, empowers at-risk communities to co-create, access and advocate for adaptive climate policies that meet their priorities.</p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/transformational-change-is-coming-to-how-people-live-on-earth-un-climate-adaptation-report-warns-which-path-will-humanity-choose-177604">Transformational change is coming to how people live on Earth, UN climate adaptation report warns: Which path will humanity choose?</a>
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<p>UBC’s 2019 <a href="https://president3.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2019/12/Climate-Emergency-Declaration.pdf">Climate Emergency Declaration</a> commits the university to build just and inclusive climate solutions that work towards dismantling historic and existing barriers faced by marginalized communities. </p>
<p>For these commitments to be fully realized and reflected in policy outcomes, climate research needs to be accessible and actionable. Amplifying underrepresented voices will improve climate policies and outcomes. Together, we can create a more equitable neighbourhood and a more resilient city.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211724/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda Nowlan receives funding from the McConnell Foundation for the CLEAR project. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Linsell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Often those most impacted by climate change are those least able to engage with climate discourse. Universities have a responsibility to engage with these communities.Linda Nowlan, Senior Director, UBC Sustainability Hub, University of British ColumbiaTim Linsell, Graduate Research Assistant, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2133092023-09-27T12:23:12Z2023-09-27T12:23:12ZPhiladelphia undercounts students who are homeless – here’s what parents need to know to advocate for their child<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550461/original/file-20230926-27-j1f2e6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Philly schools counted 4,675 homeless children in the 2021-22 school year – but the numbers are likely higher.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/two-friends-walking-in-new-york-at-the-village-royalty-free-image/1457991066">Leo Patrizi/E+ Collection/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For thousands of Philadelphia kids, the return to school this fall was made more difficult because they don’t have a secure place to call home.</p>
<p>During the 2021-2022 school year, the most recent data available, the School District of Philadelphia identified <a href="https://www.philasd.org/research/wp-content/uploads/sites/90/2023/02/Education-of-Children-and-Youth-Experience-Homelessness-Analysis-of-2021-22-Data-February-2023.pdf">4,675 children</a> as homeless. </p>
<p>Counting students was difficult during the COVID pandemic, making year-over-year comparisons difficult, but the most recent numbers are up 9.7% compared to <a href="https://www.philasd.org/research/wp-content/uploads/sites/90/2023/02/Education-of-Children-and-Youth-Experience-Homelessness-Analysis-of-2021-22-Data-February-2023.pdf">the 2018-2019 school year</a>, when the count was 4,261. </p>
<p>In Pennsylvania, <a href="https://www.education.pa.gov/K-12/Homeless%20Education/Pages/20212022CountsbyCounty.aspx">the 2021-2022 count was 41,126</a>, <a href="https://www.education.pa.gov/K-12/Homeless%20Education/Pages/20202021ECYEHCountsbyCounty.aspx">up nearly 24%</a> from the year before.</p>
<p>Research suggests the actual numbers are even higher. Pennsylvania lags other states in identifying youth who are homeless, and data collected for the 2018-2019 school year suggests Philadelphia in particular <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED611597.pdf">underreports</a>. This is particularly true for students who attend charter schools. </p>
<p>Schools struggle to identify students who are homeless for a variety of reasons, as a <a href="https://detroitpeer.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/HomelessIdentificationJuneFinal.pdf">recent study in Detroit</a> makes clear. The study highlights parent and guardian lack of awareness about resources available, limited trust from parents in sharing their housing circumstances and insufficient support from schools when parents do share this information. </p>
<p>As a professor of counseling <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jb6uAUkAAAAJ&hl=en">who researches homelessness</a>, and a former school counselor who has examined the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916668954">challenges educators face</a> in supporting homeless youth, I know it is critical that parents and guardians understand their children’s rights at school to ensure their kids get the support they need.</p>
<h2>Know your rights</h2>
<p>Living on the streets is only one of many ways kids experience housing loss. </p>
<p>In Pennsylvania, <a href="https://www.education.pa.gov/Documents/K-12/Homeless%20Education/Reports/2020-21%20ECYEH%20State%20Evaluation%20Report.pdf">65% of students experiencing homelessness</a> live in doubled-up situations – sharing housing temporarily with other people. This includes living in cramped apartments with other families, or regularly moving between friends’ or relatives’ houses. About 22% live in shelters or transitional housing. Others live in hotels or motels, and about 2% are unsheltered.</p>
<p>Given this complexity, some families may not understand <a href="http://doi.org/10.5330/1096-2409-21.1.47">they qualify</a> for resources available to the homeless. Educators may also be unsure.</p>
<p>When students without stable housing are not properly identified, they miss out on support under the <a href="https://nche.ed.gov/legislation/mckinney-vento/">McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act</a>, a federal law that is designed to provide protection and assistance for students experiencing homelessness who attend public schools, and <a href="https://www.education.pa.gov/Policy-Funding/BECS/uscode/Pages/EducationforHomelessYouth.aspx">Pennsylvania’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth State plan</a>. </p>
<p>These services are designed to <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/programs/homeless/legislation.html">remove barriers to their enrollment, attendance and success</a> in school. </p>
<p>For example, students who are identified as homeless can enroll in schools even when they lack immediate access to paperwork such as educational records, immunization records and proof of residency within the school district. They can receive free transportation to and from their current school even if they move out of the district. They can also receive support from a <a href="https://homeless.center-school.org/more-about-homeless-liaisons/">“homeless liaison,”</a> a person who ensures the school is meeting the McKinney-Vento requirements, and they qualify for free <a href="https://nche.ed.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/identification.pdf">school breakfast and lunch</a>. </p>
<p>The Philadelphia school district has an <a href="https://www.philasd.org/studentrights/#homeless">Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities</a> specifically designed to help students understand their rights, including supporting students experiencing homelessness. Homeless liaisons and other staff work with the office to identify students. According to its website, the office provides tutoring, supports student enrollment and transfers, offers school supplies and uniforms, and hosts a teen program with an array of services, including college preparation. </p>
<h2>What parents can do</h2>
<p>Facing housing insecurity is stressful for parents, guardians and kids. To increase the likelihood for a successful school year, parents can take these steps:</p>
<p><strong>1. Learn your child’s rights:</strong> Parents can ensure their children are getting the services and supports they are afforded under McKinney-Vento, such as transportation to their current school if they move temporarily out of the district. Reviewing these <a href="https://nche.ed.gov/parent-resources/">parent resources</a> is a good place to start.</p>
<p><strong>2. Contact the school’s homeless liaison:</strong> It’s important for parents to inform the school’s liaison of their family’s housing status and if they have moved. Liaisons can provide information about what happens next and what resources are available. This <a href="https://ecyeh.center-school.org/about/homeless-liaisons/">directory lists all of the liaisons</a> in Pennsylvania.</p>
<p><strong>3. Decide who else should know:</strong> Liaisons will keep information about students’ housing status confidential unless parents want them to inform the child’s teachers or other school personnel. Sharing that information can be helpful. For instance, if inconsistent housing will impact the child’s ability to complete homework or attend school regularly, their teachers can, for example, support the child by being more flexible with deadlines. </p>
<p><strong>4. Connect with the school counselor and social worker:</strong> These are trusted adults within the school system who are trained to provide families with the support they need in a safe and confidential space. They can connect parents and students with the homeless liaison and resources within the school and in the community. </p>
<p><strong>5. Request electronic records:</strong> Parents should try to save all emails that contain educational records from any school their child attended each year. Should housing circumstances lead families to move quickly, these records will be easy to transfer to the new school. While previous schools should eventually transfer records, having a record of grades and coursework helps ensure that a student is placed in the appropriate courses as soon as they start at a new school.</p>
<p><strong>6. Notify the school of any move:</strong> If families need to move outside of their current school district, they should notify their child’s school as soon as possible. Students may be able to continue at their current school despite their new address. Research shows that feeling connected to friend groups as well as teachers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085919877928">improves high school graduation rates</a>. Maintaining these relationships over time can benefit students experiencing homelessness.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213309/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stacey Havlik consults to the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) as a member of their Higher Education Committee. She is affiliated with NAEHCY. </span></em></p>A professor of counseling who researches homelessness offers tips so parents can make sure their child gets the school support and accommodations they are entitled to.Stacey Havlik, Associate Professor of Education and Counseling, Villanova UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2129602023-09-17T12:07:42Z2023-09-17T12:07:42ZWe gave $7,500 to people experiencing homelessness — here’s what happened next<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/we-gave-7500-to-people-experiencing-homelessness-heres-what-happened-next" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Homelessness is a deeply misunderstood and complex issue. When people hear the term, they <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2787093">tend to associate it</a> with mental illness or problematic substance use. Individuals experiencing homelessness are heavily <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13884">stigmatized</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04544.x">dehumanized</a> and perceived to be less competent and trustworthy. But the reality is far more complicated than these perceptions. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.vancitycommunityfoundation.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/HC2020_FinalReport.pdf">2020 count by the BC Non-Profit Housing Association</a> in Metro Vancouver found there were 3,634 people experiencing homelessness; among them, 1,029 unsheltered and 2,605 sheltered. Only about half had mental health challenges or substance use issues. This count did not include the hidden homeless: people who might couch surf or sleep in their cars. </p>
<p>The longer someone remains homeless, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17523281.2011.618143">more likely</a> they are to face trauma, problematic substance use and mental health challenges. This often leads to worse health outcomes in the long term.</p>
<p>Present approaches are failing, as evidenced by the <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/resource/addressing-homelessness-metro-vancouver">rapidly increasing</a> number of people experiencing homelessness. Relying on short-term shelters has been shown to be <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/about-homelessness/homelessness-101/cost-analysis-homelessness">more expensive</a> than providing stable housing. It is therefore imperative to try something else.</p>
<h2>Trying something new</h2>
<p>In 2016, we teamed up with Claire Williams, co-founder of <a href="https://forsocialchange.org/who-we-are#:%7E:text=Claire%20Elizabeth%20Williams%20is%20the,impact%20on%20the%20global%20stage.">Foundations for Social Change</a>, to create a new solution. </p>
<p>We gave a one-time cash transfer of $7,500 to people experiencing homelessness in Vancouver. This lump sum, equivalent to the 2016 annual income assistance in British Columbia, provided people the financial freedom to pay rent and meet other living costs. The cash transfer also represented a dignified way to empower people to escape homelessness.</p>
<p>It took us two years to galvanize support from partner organizations and donors. We first established a policy agreement with the B.C. government to let cash recipients keep the $7,500 while still being eligible for social assistance. We then worked with credit union Vancity to provide free checking accounts where people could receive their funds.</p>
<p>In 2018, we launched the world’s first pilot <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2222103120">randomized controlled trial</a> to examine the impact of the cash transfer on people experiencing homelessness. Our goal was to start with people who recently became homeless at a time when they needed cash the most to avoid being trapped in homelessness.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548587/original/file-20230915-25-vg01wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man lying on a bench" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548587/original/file-20230915-25-vg01wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548587/original/file-20230915-25-vg01wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548587/original/file-20230915-25-vg01wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548587/original/file-20230915-25-vg01wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548587/original/file-20230915-25-vg01wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548587/original/file-20230915-25-vg01wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548587/original/file-20230915-25-vg01wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Supporting people with cash transfers can prevent them from becoming trapped in homelessness.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Our participants</h2>
<p>Our team visited 22 shelters in B.C.’s Lower Mainland to screen people who were homeless for less than two years, were Canadian citizens or permanent residents, were between the age of 19-65 and who did not have severe levels of substance or alcohol use and mental health problems. Our sample represented 31 per cent of the shelter population in Vancouver.</p>
<p>A total of 229 people passed the screening. They had no knowledge about the cash transfer. But when we tried to reach out to them again to conduct the baseline survey, we were unable to reach half of them because they didn’t have a stable address, phone or email. Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t reach 114 people. So we ended up recruiting 115 participants into the study.</p>
<p>Fifty were randomly assigned to a cash group and 65 to a non-cash group in the randomized controlled trial. The 50 participants in the cash group were informed about the cash transfer only after completing the baseline survey. The 65 in the non-cash group were not.</p>
<p>We tracked participants for a year to assess the effects of the cash transfer. We lost contact with around 30 per cent of participants during this time while some relocated away from Vancouver.</p>
<p>We provided a workshop and coaching to a subset of the participants as additional support. The workshop consisted of a series of exercises to help participants brainstorm ways to regain stability in their lives. Coaching consisted of phone calls with a certified coach trained to help participants achieve their life goals.</p>
<p>Since a study like this has never been done before, we had little evidence to guide our predictions on the impact of the cash transfer. But following best practices, we came up with a few hypotheses on short-term well-being and cognitive function based on previous cash transfer studies. Unsurprisingly, none of the hypotheses turned out to be true.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548156/original/file-20230913-33750-rfgloa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person counting cash." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548156/original/file-20230913-33750-rfgloa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548156/original/file-20230913-33750-rfgloa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548156/original/file-20230913-33750-rfgloa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548156/original/file-20230913-33750-rfgloa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548156/original/file-20230913-33750-rfgloa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548156/original/file-20230913-33750-rfgloa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548156/original/file-20230913-33750-rfgloa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Most participants spent the money they received on rent, food and to purchase items like furniture.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>What astonished us was the significant positive impacts of the cash transfers. Cash recipients spent 99 fewer days in homelessness on average over one year. </p>
<p>That led to net cost savings of $777 per person per year. That means the cash transfers actually saved the government and taxpayers money. Cash recipients increased spending on rent, food, transit and things like furniture or a car. </p>
<p>Importantly, they did not increase spending on alcohol, drugs and cigarettes. That challenges the stereotype that people in homelessness would squander money they receive on alcohol and drugs.</p>
<p>Between 2018 and 2020, the housing vacancy rate in Vancouver was around <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9439394/vancouver-rental-market-vacancy-cost/">one per cent</a> and the wait to get into housing could be up to <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/blog/long-wait-times-social-housing-what-can-be-done-meet-housing-needs-homeless-people-and-those">one year</a> for someone living in a shelter.</p>
<p>However, around 50 per cent of participants in our study moved into housing just one month after the cash transfer. This goes to show how prepared they were to get back to stability. All they needed was the cash support to do so.</p>
<p>But what we didn’t see was substantial improvements in food security, employment, education and well-being. This might be because $7,500 was still a relatively small amount of money in an expensive city like Vancouver.</p>
<p>The average personal annual income among participants was $12,580. So, the cash transfer represented a 60 per cent boost. But despite that, they were still below the poverty line and nowhere close to meeting the living costs in Vancouver.</p>
<p>We also found that neither the workshop nor coaching had an impact on the participants. One reason was compliance; most participants didn’t take part in the workshop or coaching after the first month. Another reason was a possible mismatch between the support on offer and participants’ needs. The support provided was aspirational, designed to clarify life goals and boost their self-efficacy.</p>
<p>But what our participants needed was instrumental support, like getting identity documents, completing resumes and applying for jobs. These instrumental needs could not be easily met by completing a few workshops or coaching.</p>
<p>This study adds more evidence to a growing body of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011135.pub3">cash transfer studies</a> around the world that demonstrate the need to raise the income floor of marginalized people.</p>
<p>This study is a promising start, laying the groundwork for future research and policies. Governments and experts should explore cash transfers as a way of supporting unhoused and marginalized people.</p>
<p><em>Ryan Dwyer, a senior researcher at the Happier Lives Institute, co-authored this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212960/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jiaying Zhao has received funding from Employment and Social Development Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Daly-Grafstein works for the Foundations for Social Change.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anita Palepu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Researchers found that most homeless people spent the money they received on rent, food and other living costs.Jiaying Zhao, Associate Professor, Psychology, University of British ColumbiaAnita Palepu, Professor of Medicine, University of British ColumbiaDaniel Daly-Grafstein, PhD student in statistics, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2072912023-06-19T20:13:21Z2023-06-19T20:13:21ZThe National Housing Strategy won’t end homelessness without supportive housing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531767/original/file-20230613-21-vd3f25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C38%2C3615%2C2390&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Concrete solutions are required to help those most excluded from the housing market: people experiencing homelessness.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/the-national-housing-strategy-won-t-end-homelessness-without-supportive-housing" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Thousands of people across Canada experience homelessness. Between 2020 and 2022 <a href="https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/homelessness-sans-abri/reports-rapports/pit-counts-dp-2020-2022-highlights-eng.html">more than 32,000 people across 59 communities were homeless</a> on any given night. That represents a 12 per cent increase from 2018.</p>
<p>Homelessness is only one part of <a href="https://globalnews.ca/video/9745598/canadas-housing-crisis-nears-boiling-point">Canada’s housing crisis</a> but is a priority within the federal government’s <a href="https://www.placetocallhome.ca/">National Housing Strategy</a>, which is currently under review.</p>
<p>A host of factors play a role in Canada’s <a href="https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-research/research-reports/accelerate-supply/housing-shortages-canada-solving-affordability-crisis">housing and affordability crisis</a>. They include migration, with newcomers needing suitable places to live; <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-vancouver-city-planners-propose-zoning-changes-to-cope-with-housing/">restrictive zoning laws</a>, which make building high density housing difficult; and changing demographics, which mean <a href="https://www.globaldata.com/data-insights/macroeconomic/average-household-size-in-canada-2096121/">fewer people on average are living in a single household</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-national-housing-strategy-is-it-really-addressing-homelessness-and-affordability-193261">Canada’s National Housing Strategy: Is it really addressing homelessness and affordability?</a>
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<p>At its heart, the crisis is about the <a href="https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/blog/2022/canadas-housing-supply-shortage-restoring-affordability-2030">lack of sufficient housing</a>, at costs people can afford, in places <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220209/dq220209b-eng.htm">where most people live</a>. </p>
<p>While efforts are being made nationally and locally to provide more housing, solutions are required to help those most deeply excluded from the housing market: people experiencing homelessness.</p>
<h2>Understanding housing needs</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.abeoudshoorn.com/making-supportive-housing-work-for-the-most-vulnerable/">Our ongoing research</a> is aiming to understand how permanent supportive housing can help people experiencing chronic homelessness, particularly those who require support to maintain housing. People in <a href="https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/homelessness-sans-abri/directives-eng.html#h2.2">chronic homelessness</a> are those who have experienced at least six months of homelessness in the past year or who have recurrent experiences of homelessness of at least 18 months over the past three years.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531770/original/file-20230613-21-br1554.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Tents beneath an overpass. Graffiti is seen on the wall behind them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531770/original/file-20230613-21-br1554.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531770/original/file-20230613-21-br1554.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531770/original/file-20230613-21-br1554.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531770/original/file-20230613-21-br1554.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531770/original/file-20230613-21-br1554.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531770/original/file-20230613-21-br1554.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531770/original/file-20230613-21-br1554.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A homeless camp beneath an overpass in Montréal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>While there is some new affordable housing being developed through the National Housing Strategy, this housing tends to only support those with less complex needs, such as those who can afford units at 70 or 80 per cent of average market rents or are able to live independently.</p>
<p>However, where we see rapid growth in homelessness is among people on <a href="https://theconversation.com/canadians-with-disabilities-face-an-uncertain-financial-future-132942">extremely low social assistance incomes</a> who need some degree of medical or social support. </p>
<p>This means current affordable housing systems are failing those with the highest needs and our current system design is actually deepening inequality. Those who are poorer, sicker and more chronically homeless are least likely to be able to find stable permanent housing. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/solutions/housing-accommodation-and-supports/housing-first">Housing First</a> is an approach whereby people are supported immediately with permanent housing, rather than being required to first access treatment for mental health or substance use disorders. However, Housing First programs, targeted to those with higher needs and more deeply marginalized, are vastly over-subscribed and bogged down by waitlists.</p>
<h2>Permanent supportive housing</h2>
<p>The concept of <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/solutions/transitional-housing/permanent-supportivesupported-housing">permanent supportive housing</a> is based on the idea of affordable units where on-site supports are available — whether that’s support buying food and preparing meals or support for health care such as medication management and mental health-care. </p>
<p>This is a promising model <a href="https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201300261">that is backed by international research</a>. However, it’s one that is hard to implement in Canada. Most government housing programs do not provide enough funding for these types of initiatives. That means organizations who want to provide support must struggle to find funding some other way.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531775/original/file-20230613-17-bmen5q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two men wearing hard hats and hi-vis vests walk around a construction site." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531775/original/file-20230613-17-bmen5q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531775/original/file-20230613-17-bmen5q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531775/original/file-20230613-17-bmen5q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531775/original/file-20230613-17-bmen5q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531775/original/file-20230613-17-bmen5q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531775/original/file-20230613-17-bmen5q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531775/original/file-20230613-17-bmen5q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tours an under-construction affordable housing complex alongside Indwell’s Chief Executive Officer Jeff Neven, in Hamilton, Ont. on July 20, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston</span></span>
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<p>The first phase of our ongoing research on permanent supportive housing was conducted over three years with <a href="https://indwell.ca/">Indwell</a>, an organization that provides both affordable and supportive housing throughout southwestern Ontario. We wanted to understand how this organization was creating permanent supportive housing and the impacts this might have on tenants.</p>
<p>We found that having both affordable housing and staff on-site who could meet a variety of needs proved transformational for the tenants. Tenants had included people who spent decades in homelessness or many years in institutionalized mental health-care. Through permanent supportive housing they had finally achieved housing stability. This positively impacted both their health and their sense of belonging. </p>
<p>We also learned how difficult this was for the organization to fund and deliver. There is simply no straight-forward way for organizations providing this kind of housing to access public funding. The federal government funds capital expenses but relies on provincial governments to fund ongoing costs like health care. However, provincial governments are not forthcoming with funding.</p>
<p>Indwell’s example shows that if we want to address homelessness in Canada then we need to change our systems. For example, the current National Housing Strategy <a href="https://www.housingchrc.ca/en/publications/what-we-heard-report-reclaiming-national-housing-strategy">primarily supports developing more rental units at market rates</a> and offers little affordability. What it doesn’t do well is provide genuinely affordable housing that provides support for those most at risk of chronic homelessness.</p>
<p>Unless the government addresses this issue, Canada will continue on its current path and Canadians will continue to experience homelessness. To address chronic homelessness, the federal government needs to include funding for longer-term supportive housing in its National Housing Strategy. And provincial governments must increase social assistance rates to provide more income towards housing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207291/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abe Oudshoorn receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation under the National Housing Strategy. </span></em></p>To address chronic homelessness, the federal government needs to include funding for longer-term supportive housing in its National Housing Strategy.Abe Oudshoorn, Associate Professor, The Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2041082023-05-11T20:48:13Z2023-05-11T20:48:13ZOlder people who are homeless need better access to hospice and palliative care<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524435/original/file-20230504-15-gf7bsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=149%2C86%2C3000%2C2048&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A core focus of palliative care is on easing symptoms and increasing quality of life for people who have a serious or chronic illness, and not solely for those who are dying.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most people may not wish to devote much time to thinking about their death. However, it’s an unfortunate fact that the entry point into experiences or conversations around death and end-of-life care can happen abruptly. </p>
<p>An unexpected death or a terminal diagnosis can leave people ill-equipped to navigate what often feels like uncharted territory of navigating end-of-life care, bereavement and grief. </p>
<p>The challenging realities surrounding end-of-life care are especially difficult for older people experiencing homelessness. For these older adults, intersectional and compounding experiences of oppression, such as poverty, racial disparities and ageism, create barriers to accessing hospice care. </p>
<h2>Misconceptions about hospice care</h2>
<p>The need for end-of-life and palliative services for unhoused people will <a href="https://homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/SOHC16_final_20Oct2016.pdf">likely continue to grow</a> as the population experiencing homelessness grows and ages. </p>
<p>Currently only 16 to 30 per cent of Canadians <a href="https://maisonstraphael.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Fact_Sheet_HPC_in_Canada-Spring-2014-Final.pdf">have access to hospice and palliative care services</a>, and 34 per cent of Canadians are not clear on <a href="http://www.hpcintegration.ca/resources/what-canadians-say/survey-data-by-province.aspx">who is eligible or who should utilize hospice services</a>. In response, May 7-13 marks <a href="https://www.chpca.ca/campaigns/national-hospice-palliative-care-week/">National Hospice Palliative Care week</a>, which is aimed at increasing awareness about hospice care in Canada. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="senior man sitting in chair and talking with a health-care provider wearing scrubs and a stethoscope" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524436/original/file-20230504-25-jg5f4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524436/original/file-20230504-25-jg5f4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524436/original/file-20230504-25-jg5f4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524436/original/file-20230504-25-jg5f4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524436/original/file-20230504-25-jg5f4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524436/original/file-20230504-25-jg5f4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524436/original/file-20230504-25-jg5f4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hospice care is provided in a number of settings, including in patients’ homes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The misconceptions about hospice care have had a direct impact on the engagement of services for the public, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186%2Fs12904-019-0404-y">but also for Indigenous communities and for older adults experiencing homelessness</a>. </p>
<p>Efforts to increase awareness about hospice often neglect the most vulnerable populations. Future efforts must merge education and awareness with intersectionality, which takes into consideration the intersections of inequities that impact unhoused older adults.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.chpca.ca/about-hpc/">Hospice care</a> focuses on addressing the full spectrum of a patient’s physical, emotional, social and spiritual experiences and needs. A common misconception is that hospice is exclusively a location or place where people go to die. Contrary to this notion, hospice is a service that is provided in various settings including within one’s home, long-term care facilities, hospice centres or within a hospital. </p>
<h2>End-of-life care</h2>
<p>While many Canadians <a href="https://maisonstraphael.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Fact_Sheet_HPC_in_Canada-Spring-2014-Final.pdf">prefer to die at home</a>, older people experiencing homelessness <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-018-0320-6">do not have the same opportunities for end-of-life care options</a>, and as a result <a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2022PSSG0063-001528">many unhoused older people die in the hospital or institutional settings</a>.</p>
<p>Family and friends often play an essential role in caring and advocating for a loved one during their end-of-life process. We can only hope to have loved ones by our side during these final stages; however, that is not the reality for many unhoused community members who do not have the option to die at home with loved ones. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-018-0320-6">Older people experiencing homelessness are especially vulnerable</a> due to limited family or social support networks. Lack of social support can result in unhoused older people feeling isolated and fearful about dying alone or anonymously.</p>
<p>A core focus of palliative care is on <a href="https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-are-palliative-care-and-hospice-care">easing symptoms and increasing quality of life</a> for people who have a serious or chronic illness, and not solely for those who are dying. Palliative care can be a valuable form of health care for older people experiencing homelessness, as it can offer a tailored approach to managing multiple chronic or terminal illnesses, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2016.10.364">which are prevalent among unhoused older people</a>. </p>
<p>Palliative care that takes place in a hospital setting can decrease end-of-life care costs by nearly 50 per cent <a href="http://hpcintegration.ca/media/24434/TWF-Economics-report-Final.pdf">by reducing intensive care unit admissions and unnecessary intervention procedures</a>. </p>
<p>We believe it is valuable to consider that if end-of-life care costs were reduced by using palliative care practices, the cost savings could be used to fund services that directly support unhoused older adults, such as increased affordable housing options. </p>
<h2>Aging in the right place</h2>
<p>As members of the <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/airp.html">Aging in the Right Place</a> project research team at Simon Fraser University, we are working to better understand what aging and dying in the right place means to unhoused older adults in two sites providing end-of-life care in Vancouver. </p>
<p>May’s Place Hospice, which is in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, provides end-of-life care for community members in that part of the city. May’s Place has created a communal, home-like environment with private rooms, meals provided three times a day, 24-hour nursing care, a smoking lounge and family gathering space. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A person in a hospital bed looking out a large window with a mug in their hands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524438/original/file-20230504-25-zj240g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524438/original/file-20230504-25-zj240g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524438/original/file-20230504-25-zj240g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524438/original/file-20230504-25-zj240g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524438/original/file-20230504-25-zj240g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524438/original/file-20230504-25-zj240g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524438/original/file-20230504-25-zj240g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Palliative care that takes place in a hospital setting can decrease end-of-life care costs by nearly 50 per cent.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another inpatient hospice setting in Vancouver is Cottage Hospice, located in a 1924 heritage building. Patients have a view of the North Shore mountains and are close to the water. Cottage Hospice and May’s place provide the same types of hospice palliative care support, and both care for older patients experiencing homelessness, but serve different populations based on their location and setting, demonstrating that hospice and palliative care is not a one-size-fits all approach.</p>
<p>The Aging in the Right Place project captures the perspectives and lived experiences of older people experiencing homelessness through integrating photovoice interview research methods as well as data collection methods that focused on the hospice setting, the neighbourhood, and experiences of staff who work to support unhoused older people. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/109019819702400309">Photovoice is a method used in community-based research</a> in which participants use photo taking and storytelling to document their own perspectives and experiences.</p>
<p>In the Vancouver area where we work — also known as the land that belongs to the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) people — and throughout the province, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-019-0404-y">colonization and colonial medical models have had lasting and detrimental impacts</a> on Indigenous knowledge and traditional practices around death and dying for First Nation communities.</p>
<p>One example of these impacts is that current hospice models may not reflect culturally relevant care models. Hospice organizations throughout B.C. should prioritize increasing policy and practice for Indigenous groups to ensure safety and culturally relevant care are implemented. Ensuring accessibility to hospice and palliative care is one step towards dismantling these barriers for Indigenous populations. </p>
<p>B.C. can turn to the <a href="https://www.icha-toronto.ca/programs/peach-palliative-education-and-care-for-the-homeless">Palliative Education and Care for the Homeless (PEACH) service fostered by Inner City Health Associates (ICHA)</a> in Toronto as an example. PEACH is taking a diverse and innovative approach to providing palliative care among the homeless and vulnerable populations, including Indigenous communities and older adults. Innovative and culturally sensitive services such as these, are a step in the right direction to providing better end-of-life care to older adults experiencing homelessness.</p>
<p>It is crucial that we make hospice and palliative care services available to all community members, especially with the <a href="https://www.cihi.ca/en/infographic-canadas-seniors-population-outlook-uncharted-territory">aging population</a> and an <a href="https://www.chpca.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/CHPCA-FactSheet-D.pdf">increase in chronic illnesses</a> throughout Canada. </p>
<p>In addition to supporting community members, hospice and palliative care should focus efforts on tailoring approaches to provide culturally relevant care, increasing staff education about the lived experiences of older people experiencing homelessness, and creating safe and accessible services in B.C. for marginalized communities. </p>
<p>We must actively dismantle misconceptions about the role of hospice and palliative care through education and awareness to facilitate appropriate service delivery and use for diverse populations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204108/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachelle Patille receives funding Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in affiliation with the AIRP Project which this piece is linked to.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Atiya Mahmood receives funding from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for the AIRP project which this piece is linked to.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gracen Bookmyer receives funding Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in affiliation with the AIRP Project which this piece is linked to.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Canham receives funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in affiliation with the AIRP Project which this piece is linked to.</span></em></p>The challenging realities surrounding end-of-life care are especially difficult for older people experiencing homelessness, who have more barriers to accessing hospice care.Rachelle Patille, Researcher, Aging In the Right Place | M.A. student, Gerontology, Simon Fraser UniversityAtiya Mahmood, Associate professor, Gerontology Department, Simon Fraser UniversityGracen Bookmyer, Research Assistant, Aging In The Right Place | M.A. student, Gerontology, Simon Fraser UniversitySarah Canham, Associate Professor, City & Metropolitan Planning, College Of Social Work, University of UtahLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2052162023-05-11T02:16:18Z2023-05-11T02:16:18ZWhy local councils are the missing link in Australia’s efforts to end homelessness<p>Homelessness in Australia is <a href="https://theconversation.com/homeless-numbers-have-jumped-since-covid-housing-efforts-ended-and-the-problem-is-spreading-beyond-the-big-cities-194624">getting worse</a>. It’s no longer just city centres where people are forced to sleep rough, live in their cars or rely on temporary shelter. The most recent <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/housing/estimating-homelessness-census/latest-release">census shows</a> outer suburbs and regional areas are feeling housing pressures like never before. </p>
<p>More often than not, communities in these areas just don’t know what to do. Increasingly, residents are asking small, stretched local councils to go beyond their traditional responsibilities of <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-roads-rates-and-rubbish-australians-now-expect-local-councils-to-act-on-bigger-issues-including-climate-change-199861">rates, roads and rubbish</a> and do more to tackle homelessness. </p>
<p>Yet local government lacks the mandate or the money to do so. Often, the only tool at local councils’ disposal is enforcement of local laws on behaviour in public places.</p>
<p>And when councils do get involved in the problem of homelessness, it’s often too late. They are reacting when homelessness has reached crisis point, instead of working to prevent it.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Cover of report Everybody's Business" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525260/original/file-20230509-45097-kh5sk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525260/original/file-20230509-45097-kh5sk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525260/original/file-20230509-45097-kh5sk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525260/original/file-20230509-45097-kh5sk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525260/original/file-20230509-45097-kh5sk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1071&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525260/original/file-20230509-45097-kh5sk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1071&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525260/original/file-20230509-45097-kh5sk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1071&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The author’s report, Everybody’s Business.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/news_item/tackling-australias-homelessness-crisis-new-report/">Winston Churchill Trust/Leanne Mitchell</a></span>
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<p>Now, with the federal government developing Australia’s first <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/housing-support-programs-services-housing/national-housing-and-homelessness-plan">National Housing and Homelessness Plan</a>, there is growing recognition that state and federal governments must give their local counterparts a seat at the table. My new <a href="https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/news_item/tackling-australias-homelessness-crisis-new-report/">report</a> on what local government can do to end homelessness suggests councils — more than 500 of them across the country — could be the missing link in efforts to solve the homelessness crisis. </p>
<p>As the closest level of government to the people, councils have a unique perspective on homelessness that other levels of government are just too far away to see. Executed properly, this national plan could be the biggest opportunity we have ever seen to not only address homelessness, but also for local councils to help prevent the problem at its roots. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/homeless-numbers-have-jumped-since-covid-housing-efforts-ended-and-the-problem-is-spreading-beyond-the-big-cities-194624">Homeless numbers have jumped since COVID housing efforts ended – and the problem is spreading beyond the big cities</a>
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<h2>Housing everyone isn’t a simple task</h2>
<p>The causes and manifestations of homelessness are complex. We know from experience that it can’t be “fixed” by the action of one group. Collaboration in key. </p>
<p>We also know Australia needs more social and affordable housing. As of June 2022, there were <a href="https://www.nhfic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-03/state_of_the_nations_housing_report_2022-23.pdf">174,624 households</a> on waiting lists for public housing, 13,724 for Indigenous housing and 41,906 for community housing. And the waiting lists <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-the-1-5-million-australians-getting-rent-assistance-need-an-increase-but-more-public-housing-is-the-lasting-fix-for-the-crisis-200908">don’t include everyone</a> who needs housing. </p>
<p>But houses can’t be built overnight. Even with the best efforts to increase the supply of social housing, we will likely remain in deficit for a long time. This is why we need local government involvement to prevent homelessness in the first place. </p>
<p>Yet too often we see reluctant councils explaining that homelessness is not their issue to solve. But, when we see it on local streets, in public parks and other shared spaces, this is a flimsy argument. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People sleeping rough on the pavement outside Flinders Street Station" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524893/original/file-20230508-221323-qeacvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C263%2C3264%2C2179&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524893/original/file-20230508-221323-qeacvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524893/original/file-20230508-221323-qeacvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524893/original/file-20230508-221323-qeacvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524893/original/file-20230508-221323-qeacvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524893/original/file-20230508-221323-qeacvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524893/original/file-20230508-221323-qeacvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Local councils are often best placed to identify people at risk before they end up sleeping on the streets.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Leanne Mitchell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-onto-the-wait-list-is-a-battle-in-itself-insiders-on-what-it-takes-to-get-social-housing-184838">'Getting onto the wait list is a battle in itself': insiders on what it takes to get social housing</a>
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<hr>
<h2>We can learn from the successes overseas</h2>
<p>Prevention is tricky. It takes many partners and many types of effort to implement, and it is difficult to measure. But, as <a href="https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/news_item/tackling-australias-homelessness-crisis-new-report/">my report</a> shows, we can learn from the successful efforts of local governments overseas.</p>
<p>For example, in less than ten years, Newcastle City Council in the UK has prevented homelessness in <a href="https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Housing%20and%20homelessness/Professionals%20page/briefing%20note/Active%20Inclusion%20Newcastle%20-%20briefing%20note%202022-23%20(May%202022).pdf">more than 24,000 households</a>. It has achieved this by working with local government workers and services to identify the triggers leading to homelessness and the opportunities to intervene before a person loses their home. </p>
<p>And in US cities, including San Francisco, Washington DC and Baltimore, social workers and people with past experience of homelessness, mental ill-health and drug and alcohol use are <a href="https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/news_item/tackling-australias-homelessness-crisis-new-report/">successfully working</a> in public libraries to help people at risk access support and services. </p>
<p>Identifying potential homelessness before it turns into crisis is something that well-connected and informed Australian council workers can do too. Working deeply in communities, they often know their customers and can see early warning signs. </p>
<p>Concerted efforts are needed to educate local council workers so they know how to connect into specialist services that might help someone find housing, get emergency funds to cover bills, or access health services. These actions could stop homelessness before it happens. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/councils-help-with-affordable-housing-shows-how-local-government-can-make-a-difference-94739">Councils' help with affordable housing shows how local government can make a difference</a>
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<h2>But, first, councils need to be part of the plan</h2>
<p>The federal government seems to have taken on board recommendations from the 2021 <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Social_Policy_and_Legal_Affairs/HomelessnessinAustralia/Report">parliamentary inquiry into homelessness</a> in Australia and identified local government as an untapped resource and partner. </p>
<p>A national plan that recognises and defines the unique contribution that local councils can make to preventing homelessness, and puts some money behind it, could be a game-changer. </p>
<p>Local government does not have to be the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, or the cleaning crew. </p>
<p>If councils are truly recognised, ready and resourced to take on this role in preventing homelessness, it might also reduce the amount of social, temporary and emergency housing needed further along the line. It might even bring about an end to homelessness in Australia.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205216/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leanne Mitchell receives funding from the Winston Churchill Trust (Australia)</span></em></p>Local councils lack the means to tackle homelessness, but are often closest to the people at risk. A national plan should recognise and resource the role councils can play in preventing homelessness.Leanne Mitchell, Churchill Fellow and PhD candidate, Charles Sturt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2029552023-05-04T20:04:15Z2023-05-04T20:04:15ZHomelessness today sees workers and families with nowhere stable to live. No wonder their health is suffering<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524049/original/file-20230503-24-g5pa85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C0%2C997%2C664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/feeding-poor-hands-beggar-poverty-concept-1013059525">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the current housing affordability crisis, we’re seeing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/17/its-hard-coming-home-to-a-tent-the-rise-of-australias-working-homeless">people who work</a> and <a href="https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/aussie-families-face-homelessness-as-crisis-accommodation-safe-haven-park-closes-doors/1d7c55b0-6582-4040-abd7-e6fc3bf14c51">families with children</a> becoming homeless or living in unstable housing. </p>
<p>They may be living in a motel room, vehicle, tent or caravan park. They may be on a friend’s couch or on the street.</p>
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<p>They may be exposed to health hazards, including excessive heat or cold, poor ventilation or mould, injury, overcrowding, vermin, violence, or a combination of these – all while trying to hold down a job or getting their kids to school.</p>
<p>The lack of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-01/solving-the-housing-affordability-crisis-federal-budget-2023/102278830">affordable housing</a> and its impact <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-04/homelessness-surge-cascade-effect-pushing-people-out-housing-mar/102236948">on homelessness</a> is a talking point ahead of next week’s federal budget.</p>
<p>Here are some of the unique physical and mental health challenges of being homeless today.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-identified-whos-most-at-risk-of-homelessness-and-where-they-are-now-we-must-act-before-its-too-late-172501">We identified who's most at risk of homelessness and where they are. Now we must act, before it's too late</a>
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<h2>Housing is too expensive</h2>
<p>Unaffordable housing is a <a href="https://www.launchhousing.org.au/ending-homelessness/research-hub/australian-homelessness-monitor-2022">leading cause</a> of homelessness in Australia. And having a job no longer guarantees secure housing.</p>
<p>A recent <a href="https://www.anglicare.asn.au/publications/2023-rental-affordability-snapshot/">report</a> from Anglicare Australia described just how hard it is to afford a private rental in 2023, even if working full time on the minimum wage.</p>
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<p>Women tend to earn <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/WGEA_National_gender_pay_gap_of_13.3%25_just_a_fraction_of_the_real_cost_on_women.pdf">less than men</a> and are among the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/housing/estimating-homelessness-census/latest-release">fastest growing</a> groups of people who experience homelessness in Australia.</p>
<p>Families with children are homeless and living in insecure housing, too. Figures from the last census show around <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/children-youth/australias-children/contents/housing/homelessness">19,400 children</a> aged up to 14 years were homeless that night, either with their families or alone.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-left-with-the-kids-and-ended-up-homeless-with-them-the-nightmare-of-housing-wait-lists-for-people-fleeing-domestic-violence-187687">'I left with the kids and ended up homeless with them': the nightmare of housing wait lists for people fleeing domestic violence</a>
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<h2>Impacts on health</h2>
<p>For decades, we’ve known people’s health suffers if they experience homelessness. This has included our <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ije/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ije/dyad006/7031336">own research</a> into homelessness among people who attend emergency departments, which shows the long-term consequences of unstable housing. </p>
<p>We found that even being marginally housed (at risk of homelessness) was enough to increase mortality rates. These people died, on average, six years earlier than people who were housed.</p>
<p>Steep housing costs, poor dwelling conditions, overcrowding, and evictions leave people vulnerable to illness, injury, and victimisation. </p>
<p>For example, people who live in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10852352.2016.1197714">housing</a> that’s <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/pdf/10.1289/ehp.123-A275">too hot or too cold</a> are more likely to have breathing problems, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.5694/mja17.00469">asthma</a>, or heart problems.</p>
<p>We know overcrowding directly contributes to <a href="http://allcatsrgrey.org.uk/wp/download/housing/SN01013.pdf">poor physical health</a>, such as infectious diseases and injuries.</p>
<p>Unstable housing contributes to unhealthy behaviours, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/hpja.526">such as</a> <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/article/43/3/581/5839915">substance use and poor diet</a>, which can compound over time. Unstable housing may also disrupt access to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0000000000001379">health care</a>, including to prescription medications, causing people to <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2009.180109">delay seeking care</a>.</p>
<p>Being homeless increases the likelihood of being the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S246826672030075X">victim of violent crime</a>, which threatens physical and psychological health in the short and long term. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/disempowered-shut-off-and-less-able-to-afford-healthy-choices-how-financial-hardship-is-bad-for-our-health-192241">Disempowered, shut off and less able to afford healthy choices – how financial hardship is bad for our health</a>
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<p>Understandably, the psychological wellbeing of adults experiencing homelessness is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003750">worse</a> than the general population. </p>
<p>Lack of routine and loss of a sense of home and community can lead to social isolation and onset or recurrence of mental illness. Indeed, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-020-09746-1">post-traumatic stress disorder</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003750">substance use disorders</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-019-09667-8">suicidality</a> (thinking about or attempting suicide) are more common in people who experience homelessness.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-financial-stress-can-affect-your-mental-health-and-5-things-that-can-help-201557">How financial stress can affect your mental health and 5 things that can help</a>
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<h2>Impacts on children</h2>
<p>Children and young people may be particularly vulnerable to the health consequences of poor housing. For instance, <a href="https://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/resources-reports/fuel-poverty-cold-homes-and-health-inequalities-in-the-uk">cold, damp conditions</a> lead to <a href="https://thorax.bmj.com/content/74/9/849.abstract">higher rates</a> of breathing problems.</p>
<p>When crammed into undersized spaces or places not meant for people to live, a lack of space for cooking, playing, or schoolwork can have their effects, <a href="https://theconversation.com/insecure-housing-and-overcrowding-risk-childrens-health-but-weve-found-a-way-to-help-160692">particularly on children</a>.</p>
<p>For instance, children who live in overcrowded homes <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543221079416">are more likely to have</a> poorer mental health and do less-well at school.</p>
<p>Children’s long-term health may also be affected if <a href="https://researchnow.flinders.edu.au/en/publications/addressing-the-gaps-in-health-for-children-innovative-health-serv">preventative health care</a>, such as immunisations or dental visits, are missed.</p>
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<h2>Working while homeless has extra challenges</h2>
<p>Working while homeless is uniquely challenging.</p>
<p>People who work and are homeless may <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10875549.2012.640522">hide their homelessness</a> out of shame, fear of judgement, and worry about losing their job.</p>
<p>The stress of being homeless can affect <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10875549.2012.640522">work performance</a> and the ability to hold down a job. Taking time off from work to seek stable accommodation may further <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/hpja.526">jeopardise employment</a>.</p>
<p>Workers who are rough sleeping report <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00909882.2020.1839119">particular struggles</a>. Getting adequate sleep is difficult and even risky. Maintaining good hygiene and clean clothing is tough. Transport to and from work may become difficult to afford.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/this-is-what-the-lives-of-big-issue-sellers-tell-us-about-working-and-being-homeless-83965">This is what the lives of Big Issue sellers tell us about working and being homeless</a>
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<h2>It’s a human rights issue</h2>
<p>Health and housing are basic human rights. And stable housing is a critical determinant of health. </p>
<p>But as recent evidence shows, even renting is <a href="https://www.anglicare.asn.au/publications/2023-rental-affordability-snapshot/">unaffordable</a> for some, despite working full time.</p>
<p>It’s time we acknowledged the impact of structural issues on homelessness, including housing affordability and the job market, rather than blaming <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11524-019-00377-x">individual risk factors</a>, such as substance use or mental health difficulties.</p>
<p>We also need to tailor support services for homeless people so they are suitable and affordable, as well as being <a href="https://cms.launchhousing.org.au/app/uploads/2017/03/precarious-housing-and-homelessness-links-summary-report.pdf">close to</a> family, friends and children’s schools.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202955/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel D Zordan receives funding from St Vincent's Health Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vijaya Sundararajan receives funding from St Vincent's Research Endowment Fund. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica L Mackelprang does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>People’s physical and mental health suffers – all while trying to hold down a job or getting their kids to school.Rachel D Zordan, Research Fellow, St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne and Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Medicine, The University of MelbourneJessica L Mackelprang, Senior Lecturer in Psychology & Clinical Psychologist, Swinburne University of TechnologyVijaya Sundararajan, Associate Professor of Medicine, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1961912023-03-02T13:23:11Z2023-03-02T13:23:11ZCOVID-19’s housing crisis hit many Asians in the US hardest – but only after government aid began flowing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512743/original/file-20230228-784-m5nxpk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=198%2C53%2C3036%2C2100&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The pandemic put millions of people on the edge of eviction.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/RentReliefNewYork/d39802bf7d5e4a0c8aa067e473708ed2/photo?Query=eviction%20housing&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=888&currentItemNo=29">AP Photo/Mary Altaffer</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em> </p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>People of Asian descent living in the U.S. experienced an increase in housing vulnerability in 2021 – as measured by the share who said they had fallen behind on their rent or mortgage payments – even as the government <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/03/11/us/how-covid-stimulus-money-was-spent.html">spent over US$5 trillion</a> trying to relieve the COVID-19 pandemic’s burden on Americans. Meanwhile, housing vulnerability among white people, Black people and Hispanic people all fell during this period. </p>
<p>These are the main findings of <a href="https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/15835/in-need-of-a-roof-pandemic-and-housing-vulnerability">our recent working paper</a> that examined housing vulnerability during the pandemic. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/s41885-021-00092-5">massive upheaval sparked</a> by the pandemic in early 2020 put millions out of work and made it harder for many people to afford basic necessities like rent amid government-imposed lockdowns. In December 2020, over 2 million homeowners were <a href="https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_Housing_insecurity_and_the_COVID-19_pandemic.pdf">more than three months behind</a> on their mortgage payment, and 8 million renters were behind on their rent, according to a March 2021 Consumer Finance Bureau report.</p>
<p>We wanted to better understand what was driving this degree of housing vulnerability, how that changed during the pandemic and across ethnic groups, and how it differed between renters and homeowners. To find out, we examined data from the <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/experimental-data-products/household-pulse-survey.html">Census Household Pulse Survey</a>, which has sought to quickly measure the social and economic toll from the pandemic in frequent surveys, for three different periods: April/May 2020, April/May 2021 and April/May 2022. </p>
<p>We found that housing vulnerability was high for all groups in early 2020 as the first financial shock of the pandemic struck, though people of color and renters were especially hard hit.</p>
<p>Among homeowners, the overall share of people who said they were not caught up on their mortgage payments was elevated in 2020 but declined in 2021 as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/03/11/us/how-covid-stimulus-money-was-spent.html">government aid helped relieve</a> household hardships. An exception was for homeowners of Asian descent, who reported even higher levels of housing vulnerability in 2021 – and more than any other group. By 2022, housing vulnerability had come down for all groups. </p>
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<p>The picture was much worse for renters. About 25% of Black renters reported being behind on rent in 2020, compared with 18% for Hispanic respondents and 9.5% for Asians. While the figure fell slightly in 2021 for Black people and Hispanics, the share soared for Asians to 17.1%. The figures stayed elevated in the double-digits for all groups except for white people in early 2022. </p>
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<p>An additional econometric analysis we conducted, which adjusted the data for levels of education, income levels and other factors, confirmed our results.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Housing vulnerability is an important measure to look at because it signals someone may be at risk of losing their home, whether they’re an owner or a renter. In addition, research shows there’s a link between housing vulnerability and other negative health outcomes, such as <a href="https://jech.bmj.com/content/73/3/256">higher stress levels</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2021-216764">mental distress</a>.</p>
<p>Our own research uncovered disparities in how different groups experienced this vulnerability during the pandemic, when the government was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/03/11/us/how-covid-stimulus-money-was-spent.html">spending trillions to support families and businesses</a>. It suggests some groups benefited more than others from these relief efforts. </p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>Our study didn’t reveal why Asian housing vulnerability increased from 2020 to 2021 and why this group of people didn’t seem to benefit as much from the federal aid as other groups did. </p>
<p>An August 2020 <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/covid-19-and-advancing-asian-american-recovery">McKinsey report</a> suggested aid to Asian small businesses would likely lag behind other groups due to language barriers or a lack of understanding of the system. The same thing might be true for aid to households as well.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>In our future research, we plan to investigate what factors contributed to the rise in housing vulnerability among Asians relative to other groups. We believe it’s important for policymakers to examine these issues in hopes of making future aid programs more equitable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196191/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While all groups experienced increased housing vulnerability after the pandemic hit, only people of Asian descent continued to see their situations worsen in 2021 as the US spent trillions trying to soften the impact.Kusum Mundra, Associate Professor of Economics, Rutgers University - NewarkRuth Uwaifo Oyelere, Associate Professor of Economics, Agnes Scott CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1981332023-01-22T13:33:13Z2023-01-22T13:33:13ZHas Ontario’s housing ‘plan’ been built on a foundation of evidentiary sand?<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/has-ontario-s-housing--plan--been-built-on-a-foundation-of-evidentiary-sand" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>In late 2022, the Ontario government adopted <a href="https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-43/session-1/bill-23">Bill 23</a>, the <em>More Homes Built Faster Act</em>. The legislation made <a href="https://yourstoprotect.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/11/Big-Tent_-Statement-on-Bill-23-and-Greebelt-Land-Removal.pdf">sweeping changes</a> to the province’s land use planning system. </p>
<p>The province also passed <a href="https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-43/session-1/bill-39">Bill 39 — <em>Better Municipal Governance Act, 2022</em></a> — which allows the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa to pass <a href="https://www.durhamradionews.com/archives/162756">bylaws related to provincial “priorities” like housing</a> with only a third of the support of their councils.</p>
<p>Premier Doug Ford’s government justified the adoption of this sweeping housing legislation, as well as the opening of parts of <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ontario-planning-development-of-50000-new-homes-on-protected-greenbelt/">Ontario’s Greenbelt</a> for development, on the basis of the need to address “the housing supply crisis.”</p>
<p>Specifically, the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8853748/doug-ford-london-housing/">province pointed</a> to a <a href="https://files.ontario.ca/mmah-housing-affordability-task-force-report-en-2022-02-07-v2.pdf">February 2022 provincial housing affordability task force report</a>, which said that Ontario needed to build 1.5 million homes over the next decade to address the shortage of housing.</p>
<p>The task force report provided the foundation for shredding of much of the province’s land-use planning and local governance structures, all in favour of development interests. But there has been very little <a href="https://cela.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Bill_23_The_Question_of_Need_11NOV2022.pdf">serious examination</a> of how the task force arrived at the 1.5 million homes figure.</p>
<h2>A report that doesn’t add up</h2>
<p>The provincial housing task force report stated that Ontario was 1.2 million houses short of the G7 average and needed to build 1.5 million new homes over the next 10 years. This would imply building 150,000 new dwellings per year.</p>
<p>In order to reach this conclusion, the task force report claimed that Canada has the lowest number of houses per 1,000 people of any G7 nation. However, <a href="https://theconversation.com/ontarios-affordable-housing-task-force-report-does-not-address-the-real-problems-176869">it has been observed</a> that the number of dwellings per 1,000 people is not a very useful comparison because people live in households.</p>
<p>In Ontario, because the average household size is <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/62f0026m/2017002/app-ann-g-eng.htm">2.58 people per household</a>, 1,000 people would only require 388 housing units, whereas in <a href="https://www.globaldata.com/data-insights/macroeconomic/average-household-size-in-germany-2096124/">Germany</a>, for example, 1,000 people would require 507 dwelling units because of an average household size of only 1.97.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/ontarios-affordable-housing-task-force-report-does-not-address-the-real-problems-176869">It has also been suggested</a> that the task force report was over-aggressive in calling for 150,000 new dwellings per year. </p>
<p>Ontario’s population grew by an average of <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=Ontario&DGUIDlist=2021A000235&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1&HEADERlist=0">155,090 per year from 2016 to 2021</a>. Applying the Ontario average household size to this population growth rate reveals that the need for housing is roughly 60,000 new households per year, not 150,000. </p>
<p>The construction of 60,000 houses <a href="https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/about/economics/economics-publications/post.other-publications.housing.housing-note.housing-note--may-12-2021-.html">is actually lower</a> than the 79,000 housing starts Ontario averaged per year between 2016 and 2021.</p>
<p>What’s more, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-a-shortage-of-homes-isnt-the-main-reason-house-prices-keep-rising/">Ontario’s population</a> grew by 10.7 per cent from 2011 to 2021, while the number of occupied dwellings grew by 12.5 per cent. This means that the number of dwellings has actually been growing faster than the population.</p>
<h2>Unnecessary Greenbelt developments</h2>
<p>Ontario’s construction industry is already <a href="https://www.on-sitemag.com/infrastructure/construction-capacity-among-major-concerns-for-ontario-as-it-plans-four-line-28-5b-transit-expansion/1003965964/">working at capacity</a>. Toronto is reported as having the <a href="https://www.gta-homes.com/real-insights/developments/toronto-continues-to-house-north-americas-largest-number-of-cranes/">largest number</a> of active construction cranes in North America and <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-real-estate-slow-sales-preconstruction-condos/">has recorded high</a> numbers of condominium completions.</p>
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<p>With respect to the supply of land — which was a key justification for the government’s decision to remove lands from the Greenbelt — <a href="https://files.ontario.ca/mmah-housing-affordability-task-force-report-en-2022-02-07-v2.pdf">the task force report itself confirmed</a> that there is plenty of land available in existing urban areas. This includes at least 250,000 new homes and apartments that were approved in 2019 or earlier but <a href="https://www.therecord.com/opinion/2022/01/18/waterloo-region-mayors-call-for-collaboration-to-fix-housing-crisis.html">have not yet been built</a>. </p>
<p>Research undertaken for the environmental organization Environmental Defence revealed that the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Areas have <a href="https://environmentaldefence.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Environmental-Defence-Housing-Affordability-Backgrounder-final-Jan-18.pdf">88,000 acres</a> of already designated new (or greenfield or undeveloped) development lands within existing settlement area boundaries. </p>
<p>That is more than three time the amount of greenfield land (26,000 acres) used for development over the preceding two decades.</p>
<h2>Building a sustainable and liveable province</h2>
<p>All of this evidence suggests that there was neither a shortage of already authorized housing starts to accommodate Ontario’s growing population, nor a shortage of already designated land on which to build homes. </p>
<p>Simply put, the province’s sweeping housing strategy has been built on a foundation of sand.</p>
<p>The reality is that the region is already in the midst of a <a href="https://www.on-sitemag.com/infrastructure/construction-capacity-among-major-concerns-for-ontario-as-it-plans-four-line-28-5b-transit-expansion/1003965964/">major development boom</a>. The problem is that it has been a boom that has done little to <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2022/10/26/the-province-is-setting-a-housing-affordability-trap-for-toronto.html">improve housing affordability</a>, particularly for those at the lower end of the income scale who need it the most. </p>
<p>The housing “crisis” has had less to do with housing supply, and far more to do with the nature and location of what is being built.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://cela.ca/reviewing-bill-23-more-homes-built-faster-act-2022/">draconian measures</a> in Bills 23 and 39, and the province’s accompanying moves to remove lands from the Greenbelt and allow development in the <a href="https://ontariofarmlandtrust.ca/2022/12/12/bill-39-undermines-public-interest/">Duffins-Rouge Agricultural Reserve</a>, seem likely to make these problems worse than ever. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.thespec.com/opinion/contributors/2022/12/02/understanding-the-fuss-about-ontario-bill-23.html">regressive changes</a> being made under the province’s housing legislation will accelerate urban sprawl and the accompanying losses of prime agricultural and natural heritage lands. </p>
<p>They would undermine efforts to build and protect real affordable housing and liveable communities, respond to a <a href="https://www.auditor.on.ca/en/content/reporttopics/envreports/env19/2019_EnergyConservationProgressReport.pdf">changing climate</a> and ensure democratic governance at the local level.</p>
<p>The questions of housing and development in the Greater Toronto Area are far more <a href="https://www.thespec.com/opinion/contributors/2022/04/17/missing-the-mark-on-housing.html">complicated</a> than a need to simply build more and faster. </p>
<p>Increased federal immigration targets put <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-immigration-to-canada-hits-record-in-2022/">additional stress</a> on the housing market. But if anything, that reinforces the need for a vision for a sustainable, liveable and affordable region and not one focused on maximizing the development industry’s returns on investment. </p>
<p>The debates prompted by the Ford government’s housing strategy may mark the beginning of a conversation about what that future might look like. They cannot be its end.</p>
<p><em>Joe Castrilli, Counsel with the Canadian Environmental Law Association, contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198133/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Winfield receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>Evidence suggests that Ontario neither had a shortage of pre-authorized housing starts to accommodate its growing population, nor did it have a shortage of designated land to build such homes.Mark Winfield, Professor, Environmental and Urban Change, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1931972022-11-24T21:27:59Z2022-11-24T21:27:59ZThe COVID-19 pandemic has made the impacts of gender-based violence worse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496580/original/file-20221121-20-pusw4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=232%2C434%2C4803%2C2452&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Protestors in Gqeberha, South Africa, demonstrating against gender-based violence.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every November the United Nations marks a <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/women/16-days-activism-against-gender-based-violence">16-day campaign</a> against gender-based violence. It begins on Nov. 25, the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/observances/ending-violence-against-women-day">International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women</a>, and ends on Dec. 10, <a href="https://www.un.org/en/observances/human-rights-day">Human Rights Day</a>. This year’s theme is “<a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/in-focus/2022/11/in-focus-16-days-of-activism-against-gender-based-violence">UNiTE! Activism to end violence against women and girls</a>.”</p>
<p>This theme aims to highlight the impact of COVID-19 on gender-based violence, as well as inequalities in accessible housing, services and resources. </p>
<p>During pandemic lockdowns women experiencing gender-based violence found themselves in precarious and dangerous circumstances. Many women facing violence had to contend with the prospect of homelessness as a result of limited housing options.</p>
<h2>Gender-based violence and COVID-19</h2>
<p>COVID-19 lockdowns exacerbated the pre-existing problem of gender-based violence. Families who were already dealing with violence were no longer able to leave the home for work, school or social activities. This left many women trapped with abusive partners which led to <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/hq-complex-page/covid-19-rebuilding-for-resilience/gender-based-violence?">increased rates of violence against women</a>. </p>
<p>Spaces like religious gatherings, workplaces, community centers, support groups and community agencies where women could get some reprieve and support were also no longer easily accessible. </p>
<p>The pandemic also highlighted a larger social divide and social inequalities in access to health care and housing, as well as poor working conditions. It had a more severe impact on lower-paid people — many of whom are women — who were often the first to lose their jobs. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyaa159">This led to women falling behind on rent and having to move in with family</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496585/original/file-20221121-18440-7m0lqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three women hold placards with messages against domestic violence." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496585/original/file-20221121-18440-7m0lqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496585/original/file-20221121-18440-7m0lqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496585/original/file-20221121-18440-7m0lqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496585/original/file-20221121-18440-7m0lqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496585/original/file-20221121-18440-7m0lqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496585/original/file-20221121-18440-7m0lqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496585/original/file-20221121-18440-7m0lqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women’s rights activists take part in a demonstration to condemn the violence against women in Lahore, Pakistan, July 24, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/K.M. Chaudhry)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These divides do not come as a surprise to women and children fleeing violence.
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801220917464">Research</a>, and the experiences of <a href="http://www.pcawa.net/covid-19-frontline-worker-survey.html">those fighting gender-based violence</a>, have illustrated that women face multifaceted challenges when accessing social services and supports. </p>
<p>Specifically, racialized women face unique vulnerabilities that increase their risk of violence and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392116639221">access to services</a>. These include <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380211050590">restrictive immigration laws</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34547946/">racial profiling</a>. Exploring the relationship between COVID-19 and gender-based violence is key to understanding women’s experiences. Gender-based violence survivors’ experiences must be understood from an <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29048196/">intersectional approach</a>.</p>
<h2>The housing crisis</h2>
<p>Due to financial dependence and an increasingly unaffordable housing market, women and children fleeing violence are in dangerous positions. In many large cities, housing costs have been skyrocketing. The average monthly rent across Canada is <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/average-rent-in-canada-exceeds-2-000-per-month-report-1.6108714">more than $2,000 per month</a>. </p>
<p>Many women face the difficult decision of staying with abusive partners or family members. A problem that many women struggling to support their children have voiced is having to <a href="https://www.acto.ca/a-new-poll-shows-the-majority-of-ontario-renters-are-having-to-choose-between-food-and-paying-their-rents-when-it-comes-to-housing-affordability-this-province-is-on-fire/">choose between buying food and paying rent</a>. </p>
<p>With housing increasingly unaffordable, women fleeing violence are struggling to find a secure place to live. This puts women at risk and places them back at the mercy of their abusers.</p>
<p>Across Canada, women are <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9014236/ns-domestic-violence-shelter-affordable-housing/">staying in shelters longer</a>. In Nova Scotia for instance, there is limited funding for <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9240198/sask-ndp-shelter-funding-domestic-violence-thatcher/">second stage housing</a> which supports women transitioning from temporary shelters to permanent housing. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496586/original/file-20221121-11-q64a7p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People gather near a rock with the words: women's monument." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496586/original/file-20221121-11-q64a7p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496586/original/file-20221121-11-q64a7p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496586/original/file-20221121-11-q64a7p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496586/original/file-20221121-11-q64a7p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496586/original/file-20221121-11-q64a7p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496586/original/file-20221121-11-q64a7p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496586/original/file-20221121-11-q64a7p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People take part in a vigil at the Women’s Monument in Petawawa, Ont., to remember Carol Culleton, Nathalie Warmerdam and Anastasia Kuzyk. The three women were murdered by Basil Borutski, a man who had a known history of violence against women.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Survivors of abuse in Canada are given priority on social housing wait-lists based on a special priority criterion. This criterion includes leaving abusive relationships within 90 days and providing <a href="https://www.peelregion.ca/housing/pdf/V-08-121.pdf">proof of cohabitation</a>. But wait times for social housing are long and these criteria do not apply to everyone. </p>
<p>Consequently, many women remain in unhealthy and abusive households because they cannot afford to live elsewhere. <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Women/SR/VAWJournalists/Government/canada.pdf">Domestic violence shelters</a> often turn away women and children due to lack of beds. Those that make it in shelters in Canada are having <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9014236/ns-domestic-violence-shelter-affordable-housing/">longer stays</a>.</p>
<p>Many survivors live in risky, temporary housing, yet are considered safe because they no longer live with their abusers. Survivors choose temporary housing options to protect their children’s lives, stability and welfare, meet basic needs and avoid child welfare agencies. This tends to leave survivors homeless or at risk of returning to their abusers.</p>
<p>Survivors also face challenges applying for the help they need. The need for virtual meetings and application processes during the pandemic raised new challenges for <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/affordable-housing-ontario">social housing application access</a>. </p>
<p>Due to limited access to the internet, computers, skill set gaps and use of shared devices, some survivors cannot safely and privately seek help and complete applications at home.</p>
<p>Exploring the intersections between systemic oppression and women’s vulnerabilities is critical. The 16 Days of Activism are a call for all levels of government to address the housing gap and gender-based violence. </p>
<p>Building more affordable housing, improving access to subsidized housing and increasing benefit assistance rates are some sustainable solutions to the chronic cycle of homelessness faced by women fleeing violence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193197/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Watetu wa Gichuki works for Salvation Army Family Life Resource Centre women's shelter. The organization receives funding from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services and Women's Shelters Canada. </span></em></p>Improving access to affordable housing and increasing benefit assistance rates are some sustainable solutions to the chronic cycle of homelessness faced by women fleeing violence.Watetu wa Gichuki, PhD Student, Global Health, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1932612022-11-16T21:57:13Z2022-11-16T21:57:13ZCanada’s National Housing Strategy: Is it really addressing homelessness and affordability?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494816/original/file-20221111-24-yfv5kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=59%2C29%2C4932%2C3315&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In Canada, just over 10 per cent of households live in housing that is unaffordable, unsuitable or inadequate, and they cannot afford alternative housing in their community.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canada-s-national-housing-strategy--is-it-really-addressing-homelessness-and-affordability" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The <a href="https://www.placetocallhome.ca/">National Housing Strategy</a> (NHS) is a 10-year, $72-billion effort launched in 2017 to address key areas in the Canadian housing landscape. Its goals include increasing housing affordability and reducing homelessness. But research shows that halfway through implementing the strategy, the vast majority of people in <a href="https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p3Var.pl?Function=DEC&Id=1230313">core housing need</a> — below the thresholds for housing adequacy, affordability or suitability — are not benefiting from NHS programs. </p>
<p>Housing need is measured differently across countries: for example, <a href="https://www.oecd.org/housing/data/affordable-housing-database/housing-conditions.htm">the OECD indicators for housing affordability</a> include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Housing-related expenditure, including rent, maintenance and repair, and utility bills such as water and electricity.</li>
<li>The ratio of housing costs over income.</li>
<li>Ability of households to keep the dwelling warm.</li>
<li>Subjective measures on housing. These include the percentage who are satisfied with the availability of good, affordable housing in their city or area; who have not had enough money to provide adequate shelter sometime in the last 12 months; who are satisfied with the current public transit systems; who feel safe walking home at night; and who are satisfied with their city or area.</li>
</ul>
<p>Using these measures and datasets from around the globe, the OECD concludes that housing expenditure increased on average by five percentage points from 2010 to 2015, although housing expenditure decreased in a number of OECD countries, such as Mexico, Bulgaria and Lithuania. </p>
<p>Housing cost burden as a share of disposable income is highest among low-income households, regardless of the country. The OECD considers people overburdened by housing costs if they spend over 40 per cent of their disposable income on housing. Housing insecurity has increased in most OECD countries in the past 15 years, though eight out of 10 Gallup poll participants (of which there were about 1,000 from each OECD country) were satisfied with their city/area. </p>
<h2>Core housing need</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A sign reading 'RENTED' in red letters" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494817/original/file-20221111-26-1c4uic.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494817/original/file-20221111-26-1c4uic.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494817/original/file-20221111-26-1c4uic.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494817/original/file-20221111-26-1c4uic.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494817/original/file-20221111-26-1c4uic.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494817/original/file-20221111-26-1c4uic.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494817/original/file-20221111-26-1c4uic.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People who rent their homes are much more likely to be in core housing need: 20 per cent of renters compared to just 5.3 per cent of owners.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Canada, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2022056-eng.htm">just over 10 per cent of households are in core housing need</a>. That means they either live in housing that is unaffordable (defined as costing more than 30 per cent of their pre-tax household income), unsuitable (the size of their household is too large for their unit) or inadequate (their housing is in poor repair), and they cannot afford alternative housing in their community. </p>
<p>Households in core housing need range from a low of 6 per cent in Québec to a high of 32.9 per cent in Nunavut, using 2021 Census data. Renters are also much more likely to be in core housing need: 20 per cent of renters compared to just 5.3 per cent of owners. </p>
<p>Affordability is the major housing challenge, affecting 77 per cent of people in core housing need. The OECD measure for housing cost burden excludes income tax and uses a higher threshold (40 per cent of household income) compared to the Canadian measure of core housing need, which includes income tax and uses a threshold of 30 per cent.</p>
<p>The NHS, launched in 2017, was meant to decrease the number of households in core housing need, but the level remained stable at 12.7 per cent of all households from the 2006 to the 2016 Census, and most provinces and territories haven’t seen much change. Those that have (such as Québec, P.E.I. and New Brunswick) <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/chn-biml/index-eng.cfm">started seeing decreases from 2006 onwards</a>, well before the NHS came into effect. </p>
<h2>Slow movement on affordability</h2>
<p>The NHS has had little effect on affordability, with most of its programs focusing on market housing and private sector developers. The federal Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer reviewed the NHS in 2021, and found that there has been just $37.5 billion spent or planned to be spent over ten years, including $12 billion that was committed before 2018-19. <a href="https://www.pbo-dpb.ca/en/publications/RP-2122-014-S--federal-program-spending-housing-affordability-in-2021--depenses-federales-programmes-consacrees-abordabilite-logement-2021">The remainder is loans that need to be paid back,</a> and cost-matching funds on joint provincial/territorial programs that were counted twice.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Aerial view of a subdivision of housing" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494818/original/file-20221111-25-4rmlms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494818/original/file-20221111-25-4rmlms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494818/original/file-20221111-25-4rmlms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494818/original/file-20221111-25-4rmlms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494818/original/file-20221111-25-4rmlms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494818/original/file-20221111-25-4rmlms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494818/original/file-20221111-25-4rmlms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The NHS has had little effect on affordability, with most of its programs focusing on market housing and private sector developers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As economist Marc Lee pointed out in a policy note for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, <a href="https://www.policynote.ca/national-housing-strategy/">there has been very little increase in federal spending on housing since 2008</a>: about 0.1 to 0.2 per cent of GDP. In his breakdown of the programs being used to fund new housing construction or renovation of existing units, Lee notes that 55,458 units were announced as funded through NHS programs. However, just 17,497 of them are affordable, with each program using different criteria for affordability, including requirements to stay affordable for a certain number of years.</p>
<p><a href="https://assets.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/sites/place-to-call-home/pdfs/analysis-affordable-housing-supply-created-unilateral-nhs-programs-en.pdf">The National Housing Council published a damning report in February 2022</a> showing that just three per cent of units produced through the <a href="https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/professionals/project-funding-and-mortgage-financing/funding-programs/all-funding-programs/rental-construction-financing-initiative">Rental Construction Financing Initiative</a> would lift households out of core housing need. The NHS program provides developers with low-cost loans to build rental housing. </p>
<p>Only one NHS program, the <a href="https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/professionals/project-funding-and-mortgage-financing/funding-programs/all-funding-programs/rapid-housing">Rapid Housing Initiative</a>, produces units that do not cost more than 30 per cent of pre-tax household income and that stay affordable for 20 years. </p>
<p>The National Housing Council noted that supply created through the NHS does not meet the needs of those in core housing need, and will likely not change the number of people in core housing need. It recommends moving funds away from market-driven programs like the Rental Construction Financing Initiative and towards bilateral programs and demand-side interventions like the <a href="https://www.narcity.com/rent-assistance-programs-canada-how-to-apply">Canada Housing Benefit</a>: a program for low-income households who are spending over 30 per cent of their household income on market rent in their area. </p>
<p>For example, in Ontario, <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/employment-social-support/housing-support/rent-geared-to-income-subsidy/canada-ontario-housing-benefit/">the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit</a> helps people who are on the waiting list for public housing.</p>
<h2>Potential improvements</h2>
<p>Innovations seen during the pandemic, such as increased uptake of the Rapid Housing Initiative to convert hotels to shelters for people experiencing homelessness, could be extended. The 2022 Federal Budget recommended an increase to funding for the Rapid Housing Initiative program that includes renovations of existing buildings and modular construction. </p>
<p>In 2020, housing policy researcher Steve Pomeroy recommended <a href="https://caeh.ca/wp-content/uploads/Recovery-for-All-Report-July-16-2020.pdf">regulating the purchase of naturally-occurring affordable housing by real estate investment trusts (REITS) and capital funds</a> as a policy to strengthen the NHS. Purchases by these investors resulted in the loss of 320,000 affordable units from 2011 to 2016. Enabling non-profits to buy these units instead, for example through the right of first refusal when they come up for sale, would ensure these units stay affordable long-term. </p>
<p>The creation of more permanently affordable housing, such as modular units, and strategies to increase people’s ability to pay for housing, were also among Pomeroy’s suggestions. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/n-11.2/FullText.html">National Housing Strategy Act</a> asserts that housing is a human right and that the NHS would focus on improving outcomes for people in the greatest housing need, as well as including engagement of diverse groups and achieving social, economic, health and environmental outcomes. </p>
<p>However, major decreases in core housing need won’t come through the current NHS programs. Recommendations from several key reports published in the past two years would strengthen the programs to deliver substantially more affordable units through construction, acquisition and renovation to make sure that our most vulnerable households are safely and permanently housed in the future.</p>
<p>Housing, as <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/26-11-2018-housing-impacts-health-new-who-guidelines-on-housing-and-health">a key determinant of health</a>, deserves our full attention now. </p>
<p><em>Holly Blackmore co-authored this article. She is a graduate from the Dalhousie University Planning program where she completed her undergraduate degree under Prof. Ren Thomas’s supervision.</em></p>
<p><em>This is a corrected version of a story originally published on Nov. 16, 2022. The earlier story said National Research Council instead of National Housing Council.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193261/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacquie Gahagan receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and Research Nova Scotia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ren Thomas receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>Halfway through its 10-year mandate to address issues like affordability and homelessness, the National Housing Strategy is providing little benefit for the vast majority of vulnerable households.Jacquie Gahagan, Full Professor and Associate Vice-President, Research, Mount Saint Vincent UniversityRen Thomas, Associate Professor, School of Planning, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1921332022-10-16T12:28:06Z2022-10-16T12:28:06ZIf cities don’t want homeless encampments they should help people, not punish them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488932/original/file-20221010-59059-5j2c9m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=161%2C125%2C5829%2C3826&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tents line the sidewalk on East Hastings Street in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Cities like Vancouver should not clear encampments when people have nowhere else to go.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/if-cities-don-t-want-homeless-encampments-they-should-help-people--not-punish-them" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>This summer, homeless encampments in cities such as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tents-structures-downtown-eastside-vancouver-removal-1.6545853">Vancouver</a> and <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-08-14/in-a-vacant-lot-in-watts-a-homeless-camp-gets-swept-away-by-l-a-along-with-the-brush">Los Angeles</a> and <a href="https://www.coastreporter.net/in-the-community/homeless-camp-on-toredo-street-dismantled-police-report-5325829">others</a> were dismantled. </p>
<p>The reasons varied. In Vancouver, it was fire hazard concerns on Hastings Street, a major artery in the Downtown Eastside, where the encampment had sprung up over several blocks.</p>
<p>In Los Angeles, the encampment was on city-owned land intended for other uses. There, officials have gone even further to curtail encampments, with the city council <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/tension-boil-at-la-city-council-meeting-over-controversial-homeless-encampment-ban/">approving a ban</a> on homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools and daycare centres.</p>
<p>Encampments of those experiencing homelessness have become a fixture in large cities as well as smaller communities. It should not be surprising that people who are unsheltered seek out the relative security, community and resources encampments can provide. </p>
<p>Yet, the ineffective, and often punitive, responses by various levels of government are alarming. These policy failures are most evident in the troubling encampment evictions occurring across North America.</p>
<p>More than <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/about-homelessness/homelessness-101/how-many-people-are-homeless-canada">235,000 people are estimated to be homeless in Canada</a>. In addition to these visibly homeless, another <a href="https://www.acto.ca/production/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Factsheet-4-Homelessness-in-Canada-and-Ontario2.pdf">450,000 to 900,000 are among the “hidden” homeless</a>: those staying with family and friends because they have nowhere to live.</p>
<h2>Policing not the answer</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.canadahousingcrisis.com/">Our country has a housing crisis</a>. Homelessness results from a severe shortage of affordable housing, poverty and insufficient support services. For people who end up homeless, it is a tortuous and difficult route. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488929/original/file-20221010-58630-5we8hv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people stand in front of a brown building carrying a banner that reads: where are we supposed to go?" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488929/original/file-20221010-58630-5we8hv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488929/original/file-20221010-58630-5we8hv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488929/original/file-20221010-58630-5we8hv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488929/original/file-20221010-58630-5we8hv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488929/original/file-20221010-58630-5we8hv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488929/original/file-20221010-58630-5we8hv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488929/original/file-20221010-58630-5we8hv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman addresses the crowd during a protest against Vancouver’s removal of a homeless encampment on the sidewalks in the Downtown Eastside, August 16, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For many, their path to living on the streets starts with childhood trauma, mental health issues and substance misuse. For others, in low paying jobs with no savings or family support, they can be one pay cheque away from homelessness. Regardless of how they end up homeless, people deserve to be treated with dignity and understanding. </p>
<p>Instead, shockingly, police have been carting away belongings from encampments, leaving people with few options of where to stay, other than another street or park. Even worse, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tents-structures-downtown-eastside-vancouver-removal-1.6545853">evictions have turned violent</a>.</p>
<p>Los Angeles is not the only city that has tried to enforce bans on people sleeping in public space with so-called vagrancy by-laws. When Victoria tried to enforce city by-laws to that effect in 2005, homeless people took the city to court. The B.C. Supreme Court sided with the unhoused people, <a href="https://commons.allard.ubc.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1358&context=fac_pubs">saying that it was an infringement of their rights</a>. </p>
<p>A similar court decision occurred in 2021 when residents of a <a href="https://nst.ca/win-for-homeless-residents-of-crab-park-vancouver/">CRAB Park encampment</a> in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside challenged an injunction by the Vancouver Parks Board forcing an eviction. Elsewhere in British Columbia, the city of Prince George was <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/prince-george-apologizes-homeless-1.6396206">forced to apologize</a> for the trauma it caused by destroying part of an encampment even though a judge ruled that the encampment must remain because there is not enough adequate accessible housing in the city to justify its closure.</p>
<p>Dismantling encampments has a dire impact on people’s lives. It severs social relationships, causes stress, and increases fear and distrust of authorities. It dehumanizes unhoused populations even more.</p>
<h2>Long-term solutions needed</h2>
<p>It is clear that dismantling encampments is not the answer. Some people, even if they have been provided with shelter, will opt for encampments. In other cases, which occurred in Vancouver this summer, there was no shelters or other housing available. And in previous encampment evictions, some residents were offered <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/majority-people-moved-strathcona-park-1.6009673">substandard SRO housing</a>, the same kind of housing some were fleeing when they opted for living on the streets.</p>
<p>By-laws and practices which target activities like sleeping on streets, parks or in cars and panhandling <a href="https://www.nlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Overview-of-Homeless-Encampments-Brief.pdf">criminalize individuals</a>. And the consequences of criminalizing homelessness disproportionately falls on racialized people. Marginalized communities often face discrimination in accessing housing and other services which is compounded if they have a criminal record due to homelessness. </p>
<p><a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220314/dq220314b-eng.htm">Ten per cent of the off-reserve First Nation and Inuit populations</a> have experienced homelessness in Canada. In 2020, the last year that a <a href="https://council.vancouver.ca/20201007/documents/pspc1presentation.pdf">homeless count was conducted in Vancouver</a>, 39 per cent of the city’s homeless population was Indigenous even though they comprise two per cent of the total population. </p>
<p>People who identified as Black, Hispanic and Arab were also significantly over-represented compared to their percentage of the general population.</p>
<p>As the federal Housing Advocate Marie-Josée Houle said in a September visit to Vancouver’s homeless encampments, “<a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2022/09/08/Housing-System-Failed-Everyone/">the housing system has failed everyone there</a>.” Homeless encampments have become a last resort because of lack of better housing alternatives. The <a href="https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/en/resources/unsafe-conditions-people-experiencing-homelessness-a-pressing-human-rights-issue">shelter system</a> is overcrowded and too restrictive for many people. </p>
<p>But sanctioning encampments should not be the only solution. Encampments can be unsafe and dangerous places, and provide little opportunity for moving out of homelessness. We need a holistic approach to ending homelessness that addresses the reasons for homelessness.</p>
<p>For those who fall into homelessness out of economic necessity we need more plentiful affordable rental housing, rental assistance and stronger rent controls to ensure that renters’ rights are upheld. For those struggling with multiple health and substance issues, we need more <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/solutions/transitional-housing/permanent-supportivesupported-housing">supportive housing</a>. </p>
<p>For Indigenous people experiencing homelessness we need more, better funded, and culturally appropriate housing and services. For those ending up in encampments we need to ensure, at the very least, that their <a href="https://www.make-the-shift.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/A-National-Protocol-for-Homeless-Encampments-in-Canada.pdf">rights are upheld</a>.</p>
<p>Homeless encampments are not going to go away any time soon. The federal government has already declared housing to be a human right. We must work to end homelessness now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192133/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Penny Gurstein does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Cities are clearing homeless encampments, sometimes violently, without providing those who live there any alternatives. Long-term solutions are needed to help people off the streets.Penny Gurstein, Professor Emeritus, and Director of Housing Research Collaborative, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1913162022-10-05T16:41:16Z2022-10-05T16:41:16ZLong-term renters evicted during housing boom face homelessness<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487896/original/file-20221003-22-rmdkvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C101%2C8470%2C5287&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Elderly long-term renters are facing the very real risk of homelessness as skyrocketing rents encourage landlords to sell. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/long-term-renters-evicted-during-housing-boom-face-homelessness" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Andy would rather remain as anonymous as possible because, “it’s kind of embarrassing people knowing how little you have.” He has been living in his home for 21 years. It is a postwar house in the Greater Hamilton, Ont. area with a covered front porch, postage stamp lawn and plaster that has begun to crack. His cat, who “isn’t as friendly as she looks,” likes to sleep in his TV chair in the front room. Andy is single and on a fixed income. And his landlord is selling the house. </p>
<p>I spoke to Andy when I went to view the property with my husband. We recently qualified for a small mortgage and are looking for a fixer-upper. I’m a PhD candidate at the University of Guelph studying non-profit housing advocacy and he is an architectural technologist. </p>
<p>That’s how I ended up meeting the elderly gentleman with the neatly combed white hair. Andy is only one example of an under-discussed but very real problem within Canada’s housing crisis. </p>
<p>As property values <a href="https://cmhc.ent.sirsidynix.net/client/en_US/CMHCLibrary/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ILS$002f0$002fSD_ILS:109959/one?qu=median+house+price&te=ILS&lm=CMHC_DOCUMENTS">hit historic highs</a> in cities across Canada, long-term renters find themselves in an increasingly precarious position.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487900/original/file-20221003-12-cg6luf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An elderly woman sits at a table looking out of a window. There is a green plant on the windowsill." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487900/original/file-20221003-12-cg6luf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487900/original/file-20221003-12-cg6luf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487900/original/file-20221003-12-cg6luf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487900/original/file-20221003-12-cg6luf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487900/original/file-20221003-12-cg6luf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487900/original/file-20221003-12-cg6luf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487900/original/file-20221003-12-cg6luf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rising rents mean many elderly tenants cannot afford to continue living in their homes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Skyrocketing rents</h2>
<p>As real estate prices rise, the temptation for landlords to sell is high. Even the market correction we are currently experiencing pales in comparison with the rise over the last few years. The average price of a home in Canada this August (heavily influenced by the Toronto and Vancouver markets) was <a href="https://stats.crea.ca/en-CA/">$637,673</a>. That is down 3.9 per cent from the same month last year, but still much higher than the <a href="https://stats.crea.ca/en-CA/">average of $504,409</a> five years ago.</p>
<p>The average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Hamilton, the closest city to where Andy lives, is <a href="https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-data/data-tables/rental-market/rental-market-report-data-tables">$1,362</a>. Twenty-one years ago, it was <a href="https://cmhc.ent.sirsidynix.net/client/en_US/CMHCLibrary/search/results?qu=average+rent+1992-2016&te=ILS">$740</a>. Because Andy has been in his apartment for so long, he pays $525 in rent. That is around 25 per cent of his income, which is below $2000 a month. </p>
<p>Renters in Ontario are grandfathered in at their original rent, plus the yearly legally allowed increase, which since 2000, has <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/residential-rent-increases">ranged from 1.5 to 2.9 per cent</a> of the rent. However, landlords can still raise rent at their discretion between tenants — a result of Mike Harris’ government <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/05/16/sublets-on-the-rise-as-wanderlust-renters-are-holding-onto-their-apartment-for-dear-life.html">scrapping vacancy rent control in 1997</a>, the same year the federal government disinvested from social housing. Vacancy rent control is when there are <a href="https://www.torontotenants.org/it_s_time_for_vacancy_rent_control">limits on how much a landlord can raise rents in between tenants</a> and when a property changes hands. </p>
<h2>Real risks of homelessness</h2>
<p>But selling property out from under long-time renters, some of them elderly and on fixed incomes, can have devastating consequences. Waitlists for rent-geared-to-income housing in Ontario are long — in Toronto, a staggering <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/data-research-maps/research-reports/housing-and-homelessness-research-and-reports/social-housing-waiting-list-reports/">80,532 people are on the active waitlist</a>. </p>
<p>Waitlists for subsidized housing <a href="https://settlement.org/ontario/housing/subsidized-housing/subsidized-housing/how-long-do-i-have-to-wait-for-subsidized-housing/">can be up to 10 years long</a>. Andy says that where he lives, “I’m on a list to be on the list — a year, maybe?” So a person cannot be guaranteed a rent-geared-to-income placement before they are expected to vacate their home. There are also the more intangible things that make a home one’s own. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487904/original/file-20221003-26-v9kupr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An elderly couple stand in front of a house holding hands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487904/original/file-20221003-26-v9kupr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487904/original/file-20221003-26-v9kupr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487904/original/file-20221003-26-v9kupr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487904/original/file-20221003-26-v9kupr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487904/original/file-20221003-26-v9kupr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487904/original/file-20221003-26-v9kupr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487904/original/file-20221003-26-v9kupr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Landlords selling property out from under long-term renters, some of them elderly and on fixed incomes, can have devastating consequences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Andy owns his own kitchen appliances and likes to cook. “If they stuff me in a little apartment, I’ll have to give up my dream stove. I call it my dream stove cause it has gas and a grill and everything… It’s the little things, you know, that bother you the most.”</p>
<p>The government should not assume that family and friends can pick up the slack of a flagging social housing system. If their landlord decides to sell and they’re a single, long-term renter from a working-class family, whose friends are also working class, everyone they know might be in a similar situation. If the house sells and people are not at the top of the rent-geared-to-income waitlist, a person could face homelessness.</p>
<h2>What is to be done?</h2>
<p>My first suggestion would be to modify the affordability standards in the <a href="https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/professionals/project-funding-and-mortgage-financing/funding-programs/all-funding-programs/rental-construction-financing-initiative">Rental Construction Financing Initiative</a>, which forms a large part of the National Housing Strategy investment. Currently, a large portion of these funds go to for-profit developers who promise to abide by the <a href="https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/professionals/project-funding-and-mortgage-financing/funding-programs/all-funding-programs/rental-construction-financing-initiative">NHS’s affordability standards</a>. </p>
<p>However, the standards define affordability as up to 30 per cent of the median income of all families in the area (including homeowners and wealthy families). In some areas, by the NHS’s standard, affordability can be counted as high as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/rental-construction-financing-cmhc-loans-average-affordable-rent-1.6173487">$1500 a month</a>. Furthermore, units must be kept at this “affordable” level for only 10 years. </p>
<p>Affordability should be calculated in a way that focuses on the median of lower-income households only. If funds allocated to build affordable housing are based on that metric, it might help build up a more affordable stock.</p>
<p>Robust investment in permanent housing that is affordable for lower-income households would help curb the immediate crisis affecting Andy and so many others. This would go a long way towards stabilizing the rental market so that if people need to change residences, they won’t be left out in the cold.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191316/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edith Wilson is a Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative Emerging Scholar. She also volunteers with the Hamilton Community Land Trust. </span></em></p>As property values skyrocket, long-term renters — many of whom are elderly — face the very real risk of homelessness.Edith Wilson, PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1906432022-09-29T19:12:31Z2022-09-29T19:12:31ZWho is ‘the public?’ The answer shapes how we address homelessness<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486593/original/file-20220926-26-27j9q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C37%2C3600%2C2198&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Police remove encampment supporters as they clear the Lamport Stadium Park homeless encampment in Toronto in July 2021. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Housing affordability and homelessness are hot topics in municipal politics these days. But ironically, unhoused citizens are left out of the civic debate that most impacts their lives. </p>
<p>As Ontario approaches municipal elections in October, our concept of “the public” is needed to remind us of our commitment not only to the <a href="https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10214/10317/Kopec_Anna_201704_MA.pdf">ballot box</a> but to one another. </p>
<p>Toronto City Council has engaged in several heated debates this year <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2022/08/21/toronto-cleared-the-homeless-from-its-parks-but-has-no-room-in-its-shelters-so-where-are-they-supposed-to-go.html?rf">concerning shelters</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/city-data-average-number-no-shelter-bed-toronto-1.6540647">homelessness</a> <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/toronto-s-ombudsman-says-city-s-approach-to-homeless-encampments-outdated-new-plan-needed-1.5987478">and encampments</a> in the city. The same is true in many Canadian cities. </p>
<p>What comes up, again and again, are comments about “citizens” or “residents” of our cities. Much of the time, councillors, media pundits and journalists use these words to refer to people with adequate housing. Emergency shelter-hotels were unfair to <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/toronto-residents-demand-action-after-popular-four-star-hotel-becomes-homeless-shelter-1.5577955">“local residents.”</a> Encampments disrupt the lives of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/16/world/canada/khaleel-seivwright-toronto-homeless.html">“regular citizens.”</a> </p>
<p>In a speech given during one of these debates in April 2022, Toronto Coun. Shelley Carroll asked the question: “Who is the public?”</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Carroll asks ‘who is the public?’ in a Toronto City Council meeting aired on the council’s YouTube channel.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Seats at the public table</h2>
<p>The public is a term used to describe citizens who play a role in democratic life. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Human-Condition-by-Arendt">Renowned political theorist Hannah Arendt explored the idea of the public</a> based on the Athenian model of civic life and public debate. </p>
<p>What was crucial for Arendt — and ancient Greece — was that citizens had their most basic needs met so that they could devote time and energy to help construct a functioning society. </p>
<p>Arendt likened the public realm to a table, a structure shared by everyone sitting around it. All are separated and distinct entities around the table and sit in different places, but all are <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/extra/?id=33293&i=Preface.html">gathered together</a> at that table. </p>
<p>At the same time, all citizens must have places to retreat to, referred to as the “private realm” by Arendt. <a href="https://excursions-journal.sussex.ac.uk/index.php/excursions/article/view/362/277">In order to join the others at the table, there must be a place of refuge to enter from and retreat to.</a></p>
<p>I study forms of public engagement and education amid our systemic failure to house people. In doing so, I have come to realize that failures in housing are intertwined with a loss of <em>publicness</em>. </p>
<p>For years now, scholars have identified <a href="https://www.guilford.com/books/The-End-of-Politics/Carl-Boggs/9781572305045">a weakened form of public life</a> as a result <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0090591706293016">of neoliberalism</a> and a depletion of the <a href="http://nofoundations.com/issues/NoFo10_2013_FULL.pdf#page=66">public things</a> all of us hold in common. It would seem that Arendt’s table is deteriorating.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman holds a sign that read 'we need to care about each other.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486611/original/file-20220926-899-yzamww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486611/original/file-20220926-899-yzamww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486611/original/file-20220926-899-yzamww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486611/original/file-20220926-899-yzamww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486611/original/file-20220926-899-yzamww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486611/original/file-20220926-899-yzamww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486611/original/file-20220926-899-yzamww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An encampment supporter waits for Toronto police to clear Lamport Stadium Park homeless encampment in Toronto in July 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Civic engagement eroded</h2>
<p>In Ontario, critics have <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/strong-mayor-watson-city-council-1.6526585">noted the ways</a> in which <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/no-candidates-on-track-to-be-acclaimed-in-toronto-s-municipal-election-as-nominations-close-1.6556000">civic engagement has been stifled</a> as we approach the province’s municipal elections. </p>
<p>Those without housing are in a double bind. Not only does a lack of basic necessities preclude the freedom to engage in meaningful civic debate, but those without housing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592705220157">are rendered non-citizens</a> by the contemporary political landscape. The non-citizen is judged incapable of a meaningful contribution — bound for, as <a href="https://privacy.hypotheses.org/tag/hannah-arendt">Arendt would say, “the futility of individual life.” </a></p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/2010/09/18/the_invention_of_homelessness.html?rf">invention of</a> <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/Intro_Hulchanski_et_al_-_Homelessness_Word.pdf#page=1&zoom=auto,-41,792">dehousing</a> lands us squarely in the midst of this paradox. </p>
<p>Dehousing refers to broad policy changes that emerged in the 1980s and ’90s. <a href="https://cwp-csp.ca/2014/01/20-years-ago-canada-had-a-housing-plan/">Federal cutbacks to social housing in Canada began in 1984, and by 1993, all construction of new units ceased</a>. In comparison, the 1970s saw the construction of roughly 20,000 units annually. <a href="https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/homelessness/chapter/1-what-housing-policy-existed-in-the-past/">Management of social housing was also downloaded to the provinces in 1996</a>. </p>
<p>This means these vital responsibilities were transferred to provinces like Ontario, where, <a href="https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/index.php/csw/article/view/5728">in 1995, social assistance rates were cut by 21.6 per cent overnight</a>. </p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, when you stop building social housing and you gut the welfare system, you create an <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/06/19/canada_homeless_study_30000_on_streets_in_shelters_on_given_night.html">unnatural</a> <a href="http://tdrc.net/uploads/file/1998background.pdf">disaster</a>. </p>
<p>In a democracy, all people deserve the right to have private places from which to enter the public realm as citizens. Furthermore, if the unhoused are not recognized as residents or citizens, then <a href="https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501727160">they are not invited to gather together to debate the very issues that continue to exclude them</a>. </p>
<p>All people deserve the right to have private places from which to enter the public realm as citizens</p>
<p>According to Carroll:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The public is a pretty broad term. Some of ‘the public’ in this city has a roof over its head. Some of ‘the public’ in this city has no roof over its head.” </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The media’s role</h2>
<p>This redefining of “the public” is a helpful step toward listening to those who have experienced homelessness.</p>
<p>In order to conceive of unhoused citizens as members of the public, <a href="https://doi.org/10.15353/cjds.v11i2.888">media portrayals of homelessness should rely on peer-led or participatory research that facilitates listening and understanding</a>. </p>
<p>In addition, instead of highlighting the “nuisance” of individual homeless citizens, the media should generate awareness of the <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/attachments/YouthHomelessnessweb.pdf#page=250&zoom=auto,-131,607">structural conditions</a> that continue to perpetuate homelessness. The problems are rooted in <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/attachments/rjhmnzr4.pdf">failures of policy</a>, not individuals. </p>
<p>And all citizens should pay attention <a href="http://www.shjn.ca/winterplan/">to the solutions offered</a> by those who live closest to these realities. </p>
<p>In Ontario’s municipal election and in all elections, Canadians should consider whether <a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/centres/errn/about/past-events/beyond-the-right-to-vote">they are voting</a> for government officials who seek to restore legitimate and adequate places of refuge for all citizens who make up our vibrant and complex public.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190643/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Martin receives funding from SSHRC.</span></em></p>The redefining of ‘the public’ is a helpful step toward listening to those who have experienced homelessness.Timothy Martin, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Education, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1898992022-09-25T10:00:46Z2022-09-25T10:00:46ZConcussion is more than sports injuries: Who’s at risk and how Canadian researchers are seeking better diagnostics and treatments<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486306/original/file-20220923-16-bx9qew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C170%2C7171%2C4867&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Concussion doesn’t just happen in sports or only in teens and young adults; it affects people of all ages and backgrounds.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Concussions are becoming more common again as people return to regular activities following COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8873554/">when concussion rates declined</a>. Each year, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/htr.0000000000000503">about one per cent of Canadians sustain concussions</a>, amounting to some 400,000 concussions in Canada alone. Worldwide, that number grows to over 40 million annually.</p>
<p>Concussion is a critical public health concern. Up to 30 per cent of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2022.03.039">children</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/neu.2016.4677">adults</a> will have persistent problems after concussion that lower their quality of life and hinder their return to work, sport, school and other activities. </p>
<h2>Prevention, diagnosis and treatment</h2>
<p>Important questions remain about concussion prevention, diagnosis and treatment. In 2019, <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/HESA/report-24/">the Parliamentary Subcommittee on Sports-Related Concussions in Canada</a> called for the creation of a national expert group and a coordinated national research program. </p>
<p>In response, the <a href="https://ccn-rcc.ca/en/">Canadian Concussion Network/Réseau Canadien des Commotions</a> (CCN-RCC) was launched in 2020 to establish a Canadian research agenda spanning all causes of concussions, as well as to support knowledge translation to bring research evidence into clinical practice where it can improve patient care.</p>
<p>We are all members of the CCN-RCC Executive Committee or Advisory Council. We include a neuropsychologist, neurosurgeon and neuroscientist. We are all active researchers whose interests reflect the broader concussion research community in Canada, and two of us are also clinicians. Some recent advances in Canadian concussion research — including who is affected by concussions — may come as a surprise to readers.</p>
<h2>Who gets concussions?</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Person sitting on the ground" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484996/original/file-20220916-18-i7e2p1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484996/original/file-20220916-18-i7e2p1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484996/original/file-20220916-18-i7e2p1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484996/original/file-20220916-18-i7e2p1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484996/original/file-20220916-18-i7e2p1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484996/original/file-20220916-18-i7e2p1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484996/original/file-20220916-18-i7e2p1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Homelessness is linked to increased risk of concussion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Concussion doesn’t just happen in sport or only in teens and young adults; it affects people of all ages and backgrounds. Young children and older adults often sustain concussions in falls. Recently, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02699052.2019.1658129">intimate partner violence</a> has been identified as a common cause of concussion, with traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurring in up to 80 per cent of survivors, mostly women. </p>
<p>Concussion and TBI are also extremely common among individuals experiencing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/neu.2017.5076">homelessness</a>. About 35 per cent of study subjects experiencing homelessness reported a head injury with TBI symptoms. </p>
<p>More research on concussion is needed among systemically disadvantaged groups, especially Indigenous people, who <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-women-suffer-greatest-risk-of-injury-87164">experience higher rates of injury</a>. Building on Canada’s many advances in sport-related concussion research, we now need to ask how we can better prevent, diagnose and treat <em>all</em> concussions.</p>
<h2>Preventing sport-related concussion</h2>
<p>The best concussion is one that never happens. Prevention of sport-related concussion is a key focus of Canadian concussion research. When body checking was shown to increase the risk of concussion in <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2010.755">youth hockey</a>, policy changes disallowing body checking for players under 13 resulted in a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2019-101092">reduction of over 4,500 concussions annually</a>. </p>
<p>Recently, one of the largest <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2019-101011">studies of mouthguards</a> to date found they likely prevent concussions in youth ice hockey. This evidence will interest parents concerned about their children playing contact sports and may encourage sporting organizations to institute policies requiring mouthguards. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Field hockey team in a huddle" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484994/original/file-20220916-16-p2bwez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484994/original/file-20220916-16-p2bwez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484994/original/file-20220916-16-p2bwez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484994/original/file-20220916-16-p2bwez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484994/original/file-20220916-16-p2bwez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484994/original/file-20220916-16-p2bwez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484994/original/file-20220916-16-p2bwez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Contact sports are a common cause of concussions among adolescents.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pixabay)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More broadly, <a href="https://www.parachute.ca/en/">Parachute</a>, the largest charitable organization in Canada devoted to injury prevention, is leading the <a href="https://www.parachutecanada.org/en/professional-resource/concussion-collection/concussion-harmonization-project/">Concussion Harmonization Project</a>, supported by the Public Health Agency of Canada and in collaboration with Sport Canada. The project’s goal is to establish consistent concussion guidelines and protocols in more than 50 sports in Canada based on the <a href="https://parachute.ca/en/professional-resource/concussion-collection/canadian-guideline-on-concussion-in-sport/">Canadian Guideline on Concussion in Sport</a>, which is grounded in scientific evidence.</p>
<h2>Diagnosing concussion with biomarkers</h2>
<p>Concussions are not usually visible using standard neuroimaging diagnostic tools, such as CT scans. The diagnosis of concussion relies largely on the observation of signs such as unconsciousness or vomiting and the reporting of symptoms such as headache, dizziness or “brain fog.”</p>
<p>However, injuries are not always directly observed, and people cannot or do not always report their symptoms accurately. Canadian researchers are studying <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2021.787480">biomarkers of concussion</a> — using biofluids like saliva or blood, or advanced neuroimaging — that may eventually be used on the sideline or in the emergency room to identify concussion more accurately. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Medical imaging of human brain" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484997/original/file-20220916-14-45ags5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484997/original/file-20220916-14-45ags5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484997/original/file-20220916-14-45ags5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484997/original/file-20220916-14-45ags5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484997/original/file-20220916-14-45ags5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484997/original/file-20220916-14-45ags5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484997/original/file-20220916-14-45ags5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Advanced neuroimaging may identify biomarkers of concussion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In collaboration with Statistics Canada, <a href="https://alz.confex.com/alz/2022/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/64762">age-based reference intervals</a> for blood-based biomarkers are being developed that could be applied in concussion diagnosis across the lifespan.</p>
<h2>Predicting concussion outcomes</h2>
<p>When a child sustains a concussion, parents want to know their prognosis and how long their recovery will take. Although most children recover in two to four weeks, some show more prolonged symptoms. </p>
<p>Researchers have developed a <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.1203">clinical prediction rule</a> for children and adolescents that can be used to tell families the likelihood of persistent symptoms. Physicians can reassure parents of children who are at low risk and target help for those with higher risk, based on easily accessible information.</p>
<h2>Promoting recovery from concussion</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman with gray hair on the floor, holding her head after a fall" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484993/original/file-20220916-22-p2bwez.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484993/original/file-20220916-22-p2bwez.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484993/original/file-20220916-22-p2bwez.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484993/original/file-20220916-22-p2bwez.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484993/original/file-20220916-22-p2bwez.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484993/original/file-20220916-22-p2bwez.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484993/original/file-20220916-22-p2bwez.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Falls are a leading cause of concussion in older adults.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>People with concussion used to be told to rest in a dark room until their symptoms stopped. However, we now know resting more than one or two days can slow recovery. </p>
<p>Instead, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2021-105030">early reintroduction of activity</a>, and even low-intensity exercise, can promote recovery and reduce persistent symptoms. </p>
<p>Researchers are also developing effective, targeted treatments for persistent symptoms. For instance, <a href="http://doi.org/10.1097/HTR.0000000000000504">cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia</a> is very effective at reducing the sleep problems that often happen after concussion.</p>
<h2>Concussion Awareness Week</h2>
<p>In 2013, high school rugby player <a href="http://doi.org/10.1017/cjn.2019.14">Rowan Stringer tragically died</a> after incurring multiple concussions in rugby over six days. Rowan’s death prompted the passage of <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/rowans-law-concussion-safety">Rowan’s Law in Ontario</a>, the only concussion legislation to date in Canada (by comparison, all 50 U.S. states have passed concussion legislation). </p>
<p>Rowan’s death was an impetus for the creation of the <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/HESA/report-24/">Parliamentary Subcommittee on Sports-Related Concussions in Canada</a>. One of the Subcommittee’s recommendations was to establish a pan-Canadian Concussion Awareness Week, which began in 2021 and takes place this year from Sept. 25 to Oct. 1.</p>
<p>We wanted to make Canadians aware that Canadian researchers are conducting innovative research to reduce concussion, improve its identification and diagnosis, and find better treatments. Promoting the translation of that research into more evidence-informed practices and policies, nationally and internationally, is a crucial next step.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189899/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Yeates receives funding from Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and has had recent funding from Brain Canada and Alberta Health Services. He also receives an editorial stipend from the American Psychological Association.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cheryl Wellington receives funding from Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Weston Brain Institute, Department of Defence, National Institutes of Health. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles H. Tator does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Canadian researchers are exploring unanswered questions about concussion: How to diagnose it accurately and quickly, how to predict outcomes and promote recovery, and how to prevent it altogether.Keith Yeates, Professor and Head, Psychology, and Ronald and Irene Ward Chair in Pediatric Brain Injury, University of CalgaryCharles H. Tator, Program Director, Canadian Concussion Centre, and Professor of Neurosurgery, University of TorontoCheryl Wellington, Professor and Vice Chair Research, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1865112022-07-19T15:33:53Z2022-07-19T15:33:53ZBetter emergency preparedness can protect older adults from climate change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474924/original/file-20220719-14-yk22a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=43%2C12%2C4133%2C2749&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Older adults experiencing homelessness and housing insecurities are some of those most impacted by climate change.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Luca Bruno)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last summer brought <a href="https://oceans.ubc.ca/heatwave">scorching hot temperatures and record-breaking heatwaves</a> to British Columbia. Unfortunately, the heat was not the only record that skyrocketed — what followed was <a href="https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/bc-news/bc-dominates-list-of-top-10-weather-events-in-canada-for-2021-4872233">a chain of extreme weather events</a>. </p>
<p>British Columbia saw unprecedented rainfall and flooding that forced nearly <a href="https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/bc-flooding-2021-timeline-how-once-in-a-century-flooding-unfolded">20,000</a> people from their homes, blocked essential highways and impeded necessary travel and resource distribution. </p>
<p>All of this is a result of climate change, which hasn’t impacted everyone equally. Older adults experiencing homelessness and housing insecurities <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs11524-009-9354-7">are some of those most impacted</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-rely-on-older-adults-especially-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-143346">How we rely on older adults, especially during the coronavirus pandemic</a>
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<p>As Vancouver is currently predicted <a href="https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2022/07/01/fraser-river-flood-fears-weekend/">to experience flooding in the coming weeks</a>, followed by possible heat domes throughout the summer, governments and organizations need to <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/about-homelessness/homelessness-101/what-needs-be-done-end-homelessness">allocate their time and resources to prioritize the needs of the older adults experiencing homelessness and housing issues</a>. </p>
<h2>Without warning</h2>
<p>In B.C., more than <a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021PSSG0062-001295%20%20%20">700 deaths</a> were <a href="https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/hundreds-who-died-from-heat-exposure-in-b-c-were-mostly-seniors-found-alone-in-unventilated-suites-says-coroner">reported during the extreme Pacific Northwest heat wave</a>.</p>
<p>The majority were older adults living alone without adequate housing, ventilation or protection. Like the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11687-8">COVID-19 pandemic</a>, severe and deadly weather conditions exposed yet another layer of inequity that needs to be addressed. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A paramedic in a mask bending down to talk to a seated man pressing a hand to his head. The paramedic is pointing to the screen of a small laptop he is holding." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472881/original/file-20220706-4568-5bbj7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472881/original/file-20220706-4568-5bbj7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472881/original/file-20220706-4568-5bbj7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472881/original/file-20220706-4568-5bbj7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472881/original/file-20220706-4568-5bbj7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472881/original/file-20220706-4568-5bbj7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472881/original/file-20220706-4568-5bbj7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A paramedic treats a man experiencing heat exposure during the Pacific Northwest heat wave in June 2021 in Salem, Ore.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Nathan Howard)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>During last year’s record breaking heat, formal supports like <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/10/05/canada-disastrous-impact-extreme-heat">emergency health services were limited by long wait times, specifically impacting those with chronic conditions</a>. In Vancouver, for example, an older person had to wait <a href="https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/bc-news/bc-heat-wave-leads-to-11-hour-ambulance-wait-time-spike-in-sudden-deaths-3918823">11 hours</a> before receiving treatment for heat exhaustion.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cities-need-to-embrace-green-innovation-now-to-cut-heat-deaths-in-the-future-185101">Cities need to embrace green innovation now to cut heat deaths in the future</a>
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<p>Although services and resources like cooling centres, with air-conditioned public spaces were made temporarily available, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/05/27/one-year-deadly-heatwave-canada-protections-still-needed">there was a lack of consideration for senior-specific accessible supports that accommodated those with assistive devices or mobility aids</a>. </p>
<p>Without warning and with little time for preparation, older adults without access to the internet or electronic devices, community or family support were left to overcome wide-ranging obstacles on their own.</p>
<h2>Emergency preparedness</h2>
<p>For most people, extreme heat or wildfire smoke may mean a night of tossing and turning and increased indoor time. <a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2013/03/natural-disasters-are-especially-hard-seniors">For older adults experiencing homelessness or housing issues, it could mean life or death</a>.</p>
<p>So, how can solutions that consider these folks be implemented? </p>
<p>Emergency preparedness is one step. For example, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/world/canada/canada-heat-wave-record.html">municipalities across the country organized public cooling centres during the heatwave</a>. And ensuring these resources are accessible to all is critical, but it doesn’t always happen. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/worried-about-high-energy-bills-some-canadians-risk-discomfort-illness-and-even-death-186371">Worried about high energy bills, some Canadians risk discomfort, illness and even death</a>
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<p>Solutions need to account for everyone and establish ways to reduce mobility, language and technological barriers. Increased relevant outreach and transportation to nearby cooling centres could be one way municipalities address these barriers and increase accessibility to necessary resources during a heat wave.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man unfolds a blanket above a mattress lying on the floor of a large room. There are several identical mattresses lying on the floor nearby." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472883/original/file-20220706-160-7idlvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472883/original/file-20220706-160-7idlvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472883/original/file-20220706-160-7idlvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472883/original/file-20220706-160-7idlvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472883/original/file-20220706-160-7idlvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472883/original/file-20220706-160-7idlvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472883/original/file-20220706-160-7idlvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A man prepares his bed at a cooling shelter run by the Salvation Army at the Seattle Center during the Pacific Northwest heat wave in June 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/John Froschauer)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bolstering emergency services like paramedics and the number of health care professionals <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/attachments/Climate%20Change%20and%20Homelessness_Exposure_Jun_8.pdf">working during these times is also essential</a>. In addition, by providing them <a href="http://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/planning/abc/Pages/homeless-trauma-informed.aspx">with trauma informed resources</a> they’ll be better able to support and meet the unique needs of older homeless and housing insecure adults during an emergency. </p>
<p>In the long term, city planning can also support the homeless community by <a href="https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/urban-forest-strategy.pdf">increasing tree canopy and shade opportunities</a> that are located near benches, to provide cooler resting areas.</p>
<h2>Understanding lived experiences</h2>
<p>Beyond these immediate measures, the impacts of extreme climate conditions on older adults should be explored through research to inform policies and programs. More importantly, understanding the <a href="https://doi.org/10.5206/ijoh.2021.1.13651">lived experiences of those impacted is necessary for identifying barriers and implementing appropriate solutions</a>. </p>
<p>As researchers working for the <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/airp.html">Aging in the Right Place Partnership</a> project — which explores housing related practices that support older adults experiencing homelessness — we hope to capture the lived experiences of those facing housing insecurities, as well as advocate and make essential changes in the way research, policy and programs related to housing issues are developed and implemented.</p>
<p>Climate change will continue to impact our communities and serve as a danger to older adults who are experiencing housing insecurities. By connecting and amplifying their voices, we can inform research and policy innovation that focuses on accessible emergency preparedness and safety measures. </p>
<p><em>Juanita Mora and Emily Lam, undergraduate research assistants, co-authored this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186511/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Atiya Mahmood receives partnership grant funding from Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for the Aging in the Right Place (AIRP) project. This Op Ed was developed as a part of the research and knowledge mobilization work in that project.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gracen Bookmyer receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in affiliation with the AIRP project, which is in association with this piece. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachelle Patille receives funding Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in affiliation with the AIRP Project which this piece is linked to. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>The AIRP project receives funding from Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). </span></em></p>Governments and organizations must listen to older adults’ experiences with extreme heat, flooding and wildfire smoke to create effective policies and programsAtiya Mahmood, Associate professor, Gerontology Department, Simon Fraser UniversityGracen Bookmyer, Research Assistant, Aging In The Right Place | MA student, Simon Fraser UniversityRachelle Patille, Researcher, Aging In the Right Place | M.A. in Gerontology, Simon Fraser University, Simon Fraser UniversityShreemouna Gurung, Researcher, Aging In the Right Place | PhD Candidate, Gerontology, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1770662022-05-13T03:17:34Z2022-05-13T03:17:34ZGambling and homelessness in older age: hidden and overlooked, but preventable<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454611/original/file-20220328-13-1uko5d4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2400%2C1598&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Erik Mclea/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gambling and homelessness are clearly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107151">linked</a>. Australians over 50 are particularly vulnerable. They have high rates of <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/agrc/publications/gambling-activity-australia">regular gambling</a>, and are the <a href="https://www.launchhousing.org.au/ending-homelessness/research-hub/australian-homelessness-monitor-2020">fastest-growing</a> age group of Australians experiencing homelessness.</p>
<p>Data from <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/housing-assistance/problem-gambling-among-seeking-homelessness/contents/summary">homelessness services</a> across Australia reveals older service users have the highest rates of gambling problems.</p>
<p>Until now, little attention has been given to the issue. For example, there’s no mention of gambling in any current state or territory homelessness strategy. This is a startling oversight, especially given Australia ranks <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2017/02/09/the-worlds-biggest-gamblers">highest globally for gambling losses per capita</a>, according to 2016 data.</p>
<p>To better understand this issue, myself and a research team at Monash University studied how gambling and homelessness are linked in older adults.</p>
<p>We found gambling and homelessness <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/gambling-and-homelessness-among-older-people-an-exploratory-study-971/">often occur together</a>, but the problem is generally hidden and not well measured in Australia. So it’s often overlooked by policymakers and service providers.</p>
<h2>Higher rates of harmful gambling</h2>
<p>We <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107151">reviewed</a> the international research on how commonly gambling and homelessness occur together, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15756">explored</a> the possible reasons for this in older Victorians.</p>
<p>Research suggests up to <a href="https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2006/5/4/article-p592.xml">60-80%</a> of the general population gambled in the past year in countries including Australia (64%), New Zealand (86%) and the United States (82.2%). But studies find <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107151">less than 30%</a> of people experiencing homelessness report any gambling. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Person sports betting" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454574/original/file-20220328-23-1j3dgmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454574/original/file-20220328-23-1j3dgmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454574/original/file-20220328-23-1j3dgmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454574/original/file-20220328-23-1j3dgmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454574/original/file-20220328-23-1j3dgmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454574/original/file-20220328-23-1j3dgmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454574/original/file-20220328-23-1j3dgmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research consistently finds up to 80% of people have gambled.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, the prevalence of harmful gambling is higher in <a href="https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2006/5/2/article-p318.xml">people experiencing homelessness</a> (10–20%) compared to the general population (approximately 1–7%). Harmful gambling is repetitive gambling resulting in recurring harms. These include financial problems, addiction, and mental health issues.</p>
<p>This <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107151">paradox</a> – of lower rates of past-year gambling among people experiencing homelessness but higher rates of harmful gambling – was evident across the dozen countries we examined.</p>
<p>The body of research we reviewed also shows the rate of experiencing periods of homelessness is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.07.002">disproportionately high</a> in people who gamble harmfully.</p>
<p>On average, around one in six people who gamble harmfully experience housing problems or periods of homelessness. </p>
<h2>Two-way relationship</h2>
<p>To more deeply understand the relationship between gambling and homelessness in older age, we interviewed 48 workers in health care, financial counselling, gamblers’ help and homelessness services across Victoria. We looked for reasons why gambling and homelessness often occur together and what can be done to prevent the harm.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15756">We found</a> experiencing homelessness into older age is often accompanied by gambling. We also found gambling can contribute to older adults becoming homeless.</p>
<p>However, the link between gambling and homelessness in older age is often complex and indirect. Frequently, it depends on personal circumstances and societal factors outside an individual’s control. </p>
<p>For example, a key factor is the isolation and hardship of homelessness for older adults. This makes gambling seem attractive.</p>
<p>Often added to this is a mix of individual vulnerabilities, including early life adversity, substance use, mental health disorders, and relationship breakdown.
The fact that gambling is readily available also contributes, along with poverty and housing insecurity.</p>
<p>This aligns with <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/INFORMIT.659354563147675">previous research</a> showing gambling during homelessness is sometimes motivated out of desperation and in the hope of financial gain.</p>
<p>Studies also show the <a href="https://haushofer.ne.su.se/publications/Haushofer_Fehr_Science_2014.pdf">psychological effects of poverty</a>, such as chronic stress, can create a feedback loop of behaviours and economic decision-making that reinforces disadvantage. For example, in our research we heard basic necessities such as shelter, food and medications were sometimes forgone because an individual had lost all of their money gambling. As one participant, who works for Gambler’s Help, said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] They become that desperate that even if they have $20 left, that they can use on food, they’d rather put that in there to double it up or make some sort of jackpot.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For some people, gambling also contributes to becoming homeless for the first time in their lives at an old age. As another Gambler’s Help worker said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] I’ve come across people who specifically blame their entire homelessness on gambling and basically say “I’m homeless because I gamble”. It’s pretty much just as straightforward as that.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Often, those who experience homelessness for the first time later in life have had significant, rapid losses from high-intensity gambling such as online betting or pokies.</p>
<p>Major life events and changes can also trigger harmful gambling in older adults, including bereavement, job loss, or relationship difficulties. Recognising these as potential markers for increased risk of gambling and homelessness in older age is important for prevention.</p>
<p>We found the design of high-intensity gambling products, <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(17)30467-4/fulltext">especially pokies</a>, and the conduct of <a href="https://www.financialcounsellingaustralia.org.au/docs/duds-mugs-and-the-a-list-the-impact-of-uncontrolled-sportsbetting/">gambling operators and creditors</a>, can accelerate financial harm from gambling.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Person experiencing homelessness" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454612/original/file-20220328-23-1vs575.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454612/original/file-20220328-23-1vs575.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454612/original/file-20220328-23-1vs575.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454612/original/file-20220328-23-1vs575.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454612/original/file-20220328-23-1vs575.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454612/original/file-20220328-23-1vs575.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454612/original/file-20220328-23-1vs575.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gambling during homelessness is sometimes motivated out of desperation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>Moves signalled by Victoria’s regulators to introduce new <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/crown-to-face-nation-s-toughest-pokies-pre-commitment-rules-20220216-p59x0j.html">pre-set time and loss limits</a> on Crown Casino pokies may be a step towards preventing harm. </p>
<p>There’s also a need for <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.15876">developing and testing interventions</a> on an individual level for people who are experiencing homelessness and gamble. However, this can be challenging, because gambling is often hidden in older homeless adults, in part because of the <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(20)30257-7/fulltext">stigma and shame</a> that surrounds it. This can hinder service providers’ attempts to effectively identify gambling issues and offer help. </p>
<p>A related challenge is that homelessness services sometimes neglect tackling gambling issues because they <a href="https://jgi.camh.net/index.php/jgi/article/view/4052/4454">lack the capacity to respond</a>, or view it as a lower priority for older homeless adults with many other pressing needs. </p>
<p>The recent Victorian parliamentary inquiry into homelessness <a href="https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/lsic-lc/inquiries/inquiry/976">acknowledged</a> more should be done to measure how many people gamble and experience homelessness. The inquiry’s <a href="https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/SCLSI/Inquiry_into_Homelessness_in_Victoria/Report/LCLSIC_59-06_Homelessness_in_Vic_Final_report.pdf">final report</a> echoed our call to expand routine screening and early detection of gambling issues in the homeless population.</p>
<p>The state government’s response to the inquiry is now <a href="https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/publications/parliamentary-inquiry-homelessness-victoria">overdue</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, cuts to JobSeeker and the coronavirus supplement have <a href="https://homelessnessaustralia.org.au/we-can-and-did-dramatically-reduce-homelessness-with-increased-income-support-new-data-shows/">seen a jump in people seeking help for homelessness nationally</a>. And gambling losses have <a href="https://www.e61.in/index-tracker">risen sharply</a> since gambling venues re-opened.</p>
<p>It’s time to strengthen policies and improve services that can prevent and reduce the substantial but avoidable harm from gambling and homelessness in older age.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177066/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Vandenberg receives funding from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. This story is part of The Conversation's Breaking the Cycle series, which is about escaping cycles of disadvantage. It is supported by a philanthropic grant from the Paul Ramsay Foundation.</span></em></p>Gambling during homelessness is sometimes motivated out of desperation and in the hope of financial gain.Brian Vandenberg, Research Fellow, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1748602022-02-23T13:36:32Z2022-02-23T13:36:32ZCOVID-19 pandemic poses unique challenges for students who are homeless<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447329/original/file-20220218-27-r243na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=19%2C0%2C6349%2C4239&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Before the pandemic about 1.28 million children were experiencing homelessness.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/elementary-schoolboy-on-class-royalty-free-image/1269252662?adppopup=true">Johnce/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Before the pandemic hit in March 2020, Faith – a single mother with two children, one in third grade and one in fifth grade – worked at a sports stadium in Houston. Her focus at the time was “paying for a room and trying to pay for child care,” she stated during an interview.</p>
<p>But after the pandemic began, the stadium canceled games and Faith found herself out of work. Not long afterward, she and her children were evicted.</p>
<p>“When they’re cutting hours and … work’s getting shut down … nobody making no money,” Faith, a young African American mother who did not finish high school, said during an interview held at a large and secure family shelter for the homeless. Faith – that name is a pseudonym to protect her privacy – spoke with my research team for a study designed to better understand student homelessness during the pandemic.</p>
<p>Like many children across the nation, Faith’s children began virtual schooling in March 2020 but experienced technical problems, such as slow and spotty internet.</p>
<p>“I mean, you got to be in the right spot, right time and then the signal went bad anyway,” Faith explained of her children’s challenges with finding reliable internet service.</p>
<p>Faith also struggled to keep her children engaged. For instance, when they were supposed to be paying attention in their online class, they would instead be watching TikTok videos.</p>
<p>She wondered how working mothers could be expected to sit down with their children all day. Despite the challenges of virtual learning, Faith said, she preferred online learning because she wanted her children “to be healthy” – that is, away from the risks of contracting COVID-19.</p>
<p>However, Faith felt pressured to send her children back to in-person school in Houston’s public school system in fall 2021, which made her “very nervous.” “We don’t have an <a href="https://www.khou.com/article/news/education/houston-isd-virtual-learning-or-in-person-for-2021-2022-school-year/285-e76f77f2-34b6-426a-ac6a-0eaec19665ec">option to do virtual</a>,” she said.</p>
<p>Faith’s children are just two of the roughly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584211064305">7,000 students</a> in the Houston Independent School District – the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_215.30.asp">eighth-largest public school district</a> in the nation – who are experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic. There were <a href="https://nche.ed.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Student-Homelessness-in-America-2021.pdf">1.28 million students</a> experiencing homelessness nationwide as of the 2019-2020 school year, federal data shows.</p>
<h2>A hard-to-see population</h2>
<p>Student homelessness is defined by <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title42/chapter119/subchapter6/partB&edition=prelim">the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act</a> as lacking a “fixed, regular, and adequate” place to sleep at night. Homelessness doesn’t always mean being out on the street. Rather, being homeless can <a href="https://nche.ed.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Student-Homelessness-in-America-2021.pdf">take on different forms</a>, such as “doubling up,” or staying with others because of loss of housing or economic necessity, as do about 78% of students who are homeless. Another 11% rely on shelters, 7% use motels, and 4% are in unsheltered places, like cars and parks.</p>
<p>Students from families who are homeless tend to <a href="https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2019/08/14/keeping-uprooted-students-in-school">move around a lot and frequently change schools</a>, which disrupts their relationships with friends and teachers and can hurt their progress in school. Students experiencing homelessness tend to have lower <a href="https://herc.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs3001/files/inline-files/HERC%20-%20Complexity%20in%20Student%20Homelessness%20brief.pdf">attendance</a>,
<a href="https://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=21840">test scores</a> and <a href="https://educationleadshome.org/2019/02/12/education-leads-home-releases-homeless-student-state-snapshots-2/">graduation rates</a> than other low-income classmates who aren’t homeless.</p>
<p>These disparities remain despite the fact that <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11256-017-0422-0">federal law</a> is meant to ensure that students experiencing homelessness have the same access to a “<a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title42/chapter119/subchapter6/partB&edition=prelim">free, appropriate public</a>” education as everyone else.</p>
<p>[<em>More than 150,000 readers get one of The Conversation’s informative newsletters.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140K">Join the list today</a>.]</p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has <a href="https://edtrust.org/the-equity-line/understanding-students-and-their-families-who-are-experiencing-homelessness-or-housing-insecurity-during-a-pandemic/">made it harder to identify children who are homeless</a>.</p>
<p>As part of a <a href="https://herc.rice.edu/">research partnership</a> between the Houston Education Research Consortium and the Houston Independent School District, my colleagues <a href="https://www.smu.edu/simmons/About-Us/Directory/Education-Policy-Leadership/Richards">Meredith Richards</a>, an education policy professor, and postdoctoral fellow <a href="https://www.smu.edu/Simmons/About-Us/Directory/Education-Policy-Leadership/Roberts">J. Kessa Roberts</a> and I are examining how the pandemic has affected students experiencing homelessness and the schools and various organizations that support them.</p>
<p>Below are four broad areas on which educators, school leaders and others can focus to help students and families experiencing homelessness.</p>
<h2>1. Figure out which students are homeless</h2>
<p>Identifying students who are homeless can be a challenge because often families don’t reveal that they are homeless – because of stigma, fear or other factors – and educators aren’t always aware of the signs of homelessness. The pandemic <a href="https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/lost-masked-shuffle-pandemic-shields-real-number-homeless">made it that much harder</a> because many students were attending school virtually.</p>
<p>When a school district fails to identify students who are experiencing homelessness, the students do not get the benefits to which they are entitled <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0145935X.2011.583176">under federal law</a>. These include the right to stay in the same school even if they move, to request school transportation and to access other resources, such as school uniforms or field trip fee waivers.</p>
<p>While schools typically collect housing information at the beginning of the year, schools can ask housing-related questions <a href="https://annenberg.brown.edu/sites/default/files/EdResearch_for_Recovery_Brief_5.pdf">throughout the year</a> as well.</p>
<h2>2. Collaborate and share data</h2>
<p>Schools and districts can <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0034654311415120">collaborate</a> with shelters and various organizations to make sure that students who experience homelessness get the resources to which they are entitled by federal law.</p>
<p>When shelters and schools <a href="https://research.steinhardt.nyu.edu/scmsAdmin/media/users/ks191/STH/Research_Alliance_Homelessness_in_Elementary_Schools_Brief_final.pdf">agree to share data</a>, school districts are able to be notified more promptly when students enter a shelter and in turn can hook students up with school supplies, tutoring or other services.</p>
<p>Rather than wait for families to notify schools of their needs, schools can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584211064305">proactively reach out to families</a> to share <a href="https://annenberg.brown.edu/sites/default/files/EdResearch_for_Recovery_Brief_5.pdf">positive news</a> about their children, or <a href="https://www.schoolhouseconnection.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Preparing-for-School-Reopening-and-Recovery.pdf">send supplies</a>. Strong, trusting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085915613547">relationships between families and schools</a> can help overcome whatever hesitancy families may have to ask for help.</p>
<h2>3. Make sure kids stay connected when necessary</h2>
<p>If schools, classrooms or certain students are temporarily remote, schools can ensure students have <a href="https://annenberg.brown.edu/sites/default/files/EdResearch_for_Recovery_Brief_5.pdf">digital devices and Wi-Fi</a> to connect to class. </p>
<p>They can also work with shelters, libraries and other organizations to facilitate computer labs and academic support access for families experiencing homelessness. </p>
<h2>4. Recognize and respond to mental health needs</h2>
<p>Feelings of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10796120305435?journalCode=cjcp20">social isolation</a>, common in homelessness, can be made worse by school closures, quarantines or family death. Many people, like Faith, lost their jobs because of COVID-19 – and were then <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/11/23/texas-evictions-rent-relief/">evicted</a>.</p>
<p>When helping families who have experienced these kinds of challenges, schools can offer services that focus on their <a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-rockets-nea-guide/social-emotional-learning-during-covid-19-strategies-and-more">social and emotional needs</a>.</p>
<p>Educators can also connect families with mental health care and <a href="https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/blog.smu.edu/dist/8/489/files/2021/10/mental-health-resources-1.pdf">other resources</a>, such as apps, websites and phone numbers to call to get additional services, as needed.</p>
<p>As families experiencing homelessness search for a stable place to stay, schools and districts can play an important role in alleviating some of the challenges that such families face.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174860/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandra E. Pavlakis has received funding to support her research on student homelessness in Houston from the Spencer Foundation, Moody Foundation, Sam Taylor Fellowship, and internal university research council grants. Beyond her role as an Associate Professor at Southern Methodist University, she is an external researcher for the Houston Educational Research Consortium at Rice University.</span></em></p>When it comes to helping students who are homeless during the pandemic, identifying who they are is crucial, says a researcher studying the issue in one of the largest US school districts.Alexandra E. Pavlakis, Associate Professor of Education Policy & Leadership, Southern Methodist UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1725012021-11-25T19:04:30Z2021-11-25T19:04:30ZWe identified who’s most at risk of homelessness and where they are. Now we must act, before it’s too late<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433860/original/file-20211125-17-yrlvg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C28%2C3825%2C2504&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Homelessness is traumatic. It affects not just housing arrangements but whether or not someone can get enough food, feel safe and maintain relationships with friends and family. The physical and mental health effects often persist long after people are rehoused, and the community and government costs are high.</p>
<p>Much of the current response to homelessness is focused on supporting people after they become homeless or just before they do so.</p>
<p>However, to really reduce homelessness we need to prevent those at risk from ever becoming homeless in the first place. It’s akin to turning off a tap at the source to prevent a flood downstream.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/370">recent research</a>, published by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, gives critical insights into how we can do that.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/400-000-women-over-45-are-at-risk-of-homelessness-in-australia-142906">400,000 women over 45 are at risk of homelessness in Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>Who is at risk of homelessness?</h2>
<p>In our study, people were considered at risk of homelessness if they lived in rental housing and were experiencing at least two of the following: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>low income</p></li>
<li><p>vulnerability to discrimination in the housing or job markets</p></li>
<li><p>low social resources and supports</p></li>
<li><p>needing support to access or maintain a living situation due to significant ill health, disability, mental health issues or problematic alcohol and/or drug use</p></li>
<li><p>rental stress (when lower-income households put more than 30% of income towards housing costs).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>From here, it often doesn’t take much to tip those at risk into actual homelessness.</p>
<p>To estimate the number, profile and geography of the Australian population at risk of homelessness we combined data from two sources: the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey and the 2016 Census. We estimated the size of the population at risk at the national and also small area (SA2/suburb) level. </p>
<p>We found between 8.5% and 11.7% of the total population aged 15 years and over were at risk of homelessness. This equates to between 1.5 and 2 million people. </p>
<p>These numbers are large but shouldn’t be surprising. In the nine years between July 2011 and July 2020, some 1.3 million people received assistance from <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/hou/322/specialist-homelessness-services-annual-report/contents/clients-services-and-outcomes">specialist homelessness ervices</a> (agencies that provide support to people experiencing homelessness).</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433855/original/file-20211125-15-11q1b9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman and her child ponder some bills." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433855/original/file-20211125-15-11q1b9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433855/original/file-20211125-15-11q1b9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=898&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433855/original/file-20211125-15-11q1b9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=898&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433855/original/file-20211125-15-11q1b9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=898&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433855/original/file-20211125-15-11q1b9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1129&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433855/original/file-20211125-15-11q1b9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1129&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433855/original/file-20211125-15-11q1b9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1129&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It often doesn’t take much to tip those at risk into actual homelessness.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who’s at risk of homelessness?</h2>
<p>Compared to the national population, those at risk of homelessness are more likely to be: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>female</p></li>
<li><p>Indigenous</p></li>
<li><p>living in a lone-person or lone-parent household</p></li>
<li><p>low income</p></li>
<li><p>unemployed or outside the labour force</p></li>
<li><p>in receipt of income support payments. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>They are more likely to identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual, and report fair or poor health. </p>
<p>Those at risk have lower levels of education and are more likely to report difficulty paying bills and rent on time. </p>
<p>They are also more likely to experience rental stress and forms of material deprivation such as skipping meals and being unable to heat their home.</p>
<p>A third have children in their care.</p>
<h2>Where are they?</h2>
<p>The highest rates (per head of population) of homelessness risk are typically found in remote areas and small pockets of capital cities. </p>
<p>However, the greatest numbers of people at risk of homelessness are located in capital cities on the eastern coast of Australia. These high numbers extend well beyond inner city areas and into the suburbs.</p>
<p>In several states (Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia), high rates of homelessness risk are spread across greater capital cities and regional areas.</p>
<p>In Victoria, however, risk is concentrated in Greater Melbourne.</p>
<p>And in the Northern Territory, risk is highly concentrated in remote areas.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433804/original/file-20211124-13-1fx0pyo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433804/original/file-20211124-13-1fx0pyo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433804/original/file-20211124-13-1fx0pyo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433804/original/file-20211124-13-1fx0pyo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433804/original/file-20211124-13-1fx0pyo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433804/original/file-20211124-13-1fx0pyo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433804/original/file-20211124-13-1fx0pyo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Risk of homelessness (rate per 10,000 people), unit-level SA3 estimates.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Batterham et al, 2021</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Preventing homelessness in Australia</h2>
<p>Our findings suggest Australia urgently needs more rental housing specifically targeted to those on low incomes and at risk of homelessness.</p>
<p>Our fine-grain data on homelessness risk can help state and territory governments, as well as local governments, decide where this housing will be most effective to reduce homelessness risk.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1463655795145334786"}"></div></p>
<p>Australia also needs more <a href="https://www.launchhousing.org.au/housingsupport/private-rental-support">private rental access programs</a>, which provide ongoing subsidies and financial help with rent arrears to people at risk of homelessness. They also provide advocacy help in negotiations with landlords.</p>
<p>Given Indigenous Australians are over represented in the at-risk and homeless populations, especially in remote areas, we need targeted support developed in consultation with Indigenous communities.</p>
<p>Those living with a disability or reporting fair or poor health are particularly vulnerable. There is a clear role for state and territory governments in ensuring access to health and disability supports, especially for those on low incomes. </p>
<p>Key priorities for the federal government and agencies include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>increasing the levels of income support payments and <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/housing-support/programmes-services/commonwealth-rent-assistance">Commonwealth Rent Assistance</a></p></li>
<li><p>increasing the wages for the lowest paid workers; </p></li>
<li><p>increasing funding for the construction of social and affordable housing, and;</p></li>
<li><p>playing a coordinating role in primary prevention policy through a national housing and homelessness strategy.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted homelessness can be closer than many think – especially after sudden loss of employment or a health crisis.</p>
<p>Now we know who is at risk of homelessness and where they are, it’s time for governments to act.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-puts-casual-workers-at-risk-of-homelessness-unless-they-get-more-support-133782">Coronavirus puts casual workers at risk of homelessness unless they get more support</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172501/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deb Batterham works part-time for Launch Housing - a Specialist Homelessness Service in Melbourne and receives or has received funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christian A. Nygaard receives or has received funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, the Community Housing Industry Association, other housing peak bodies, and a number of not-for-profit community housing organisations and homelessness service providers.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jackie De Vries receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) and has recently begun working for the Tasmanian government in the Department of Communities.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Margaret Reynolds receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI). </span></em></p>To really reduce homelessness we need to prevent those at risk from ever becoming homeless in the first place.Deb Batterham, Post doctoral research fellow, Launch Housing and Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of TechnologyChristian A. Nygaard, Associate Professor in Social Economics, Swinburne University of TechnologyJacqueline De Vries, Project Manager and Data Analyst, Institute for Social Change, University of TasmaniaMargaret Reynolds, Researcher, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.