1. Homelessness, A New Phenomenon In Canada May 12, 2014All Our Sisters Conference 2014 Dr. Abe Oudshoorn Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing

3. History of Homelessness Pre-1977: transience and skid row “Report on Skid Row” – City of Toronto Planning Division, 1977

4. 1977-1987 Homelessness as a real problem in developed nations To 1985: 136,334 social housing units developed UN 1987 – International Year of Shelter for the Homeless

5. A Reaction Food Banks Canada – 1989 400 shelters developed across Canada by 1990 (including domestic violence shelters) The charitable impulse

6. Current Situation 1,086 shelters; 28,495 shelter beds 146,726 unique individuals accessed shelter 5,263,182 shelter bed nights

7. The Pressure

10. Ontario’s Affordable Housing Policy Vision 1.Demonstrating outcomes 2.Housing First 3.Collaboration with non-profit and private market 4.Integration with other services 5.Priority populations 6.Environmental sustainability

11. Housing First All things held equal…

12. Policy Issues Orders to reside

13. Policy Issues Hospital discharge to shelter

14. Policy Issues Rent supplement, direct to landlord

15. Therefore… Where is the housing?

17. New Model London CAReS A municipal commitment Flexibility Monitoring outcomes Outreach partnered with housing stability

18. Current Housing Status * as of August 31 st, 2013 18

19. Participant #8 19

20. Fiscal Impact $800 per ED visit $335 per street arrest $255 per night in prison $75 per night in shelter source: HomelessHub

21. Women’s Homelessness

22. Violence and Homelessness 26% of all people experience homelessness report family violence as cause of admission to shelter Rises to 40% for homeless families Rises to 73% for homeless women Intersectionality of other social locations (LGBTQ, Aboriginal, new Canadians, households with substance use)

23. Best Practices Risk escalates during intervention/separation A place unknown to abusive partner Involved and aware professionals Focus on maintaining custody of children A safety plan All services aware of no contact orders Connection with legal and financial advocacy

24. Chronic/Episodic Housing First has best results with chronic homelessness to date Women’s homelessness more likely to be episodic than men’s homelessness

25. Social Exclusion, Peers, and The Support of Women

27. Questions Contact aoudsho@uwo.ca @abeoudshoorn