Joanne Bretherton

Dr Joanne Bretherton's work focuses on innovative strategic and service level responses to homelessness and she has written widely on the pioneering developments in this field during the last five years. Her recent work has centred on evaluations of the introduction of Housing First services in the UK and Ireland and Sanctuary Schemes for women at risk of homelessness due to gender based (domestic) violence. Joanne’s work on inventive service responses to promote the social and economic integration of homeless people includes research she directed on the social enterprise approach developed by Emmaus UK and the evaluation of the first pilot which tested the viability of using Time Banking for homeless people for Broadway. She is currently co-directing a major evaluation of the national Crisis Skylight Programme, which uses a combination of education, training, arts-based activity and one-to-one support to promote social integration and paid employment for single homeless people.

Joanne also has expertise in the operation of the English homelessness legislation and her recent published work includes an examination of medical priority criteria in the statutory homelessness system. Other recent work explored the challenges of measuring and defining homelessness and housing exclusion in an exploration of the use of the European Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion (ETHOS) in Northern Ireland. Joanne has directed and co-directed research (in the UK and overseas) for Government, research councils, local authorities and charities.

Internationally, Joanne coordinates the Women’s Homelessness in Europe Network (WHEN), incorporating twelve European member states: http://www.womenshomelessness.org with Paula Mayock at Trinity College, Dublin. Her history as a long term resident of Japan has given her an interest in homelessness and housing exclusion within Japan and across the Asia Pacific region. Part of her comparative work has included a Visiting Fellowship at Nagoya Chukyo University in Japan during 2009.