The COH identifies four types of homelessness: 1) the unsheltered persons who are absolutely homeless and living on the streets or in places not intended for permanent or private human habitation, 2) the emergency sheltered comprising persons in overnight shelters and those in crisis such as from family violence, or natural disasters such as fires or floods, other people experience temporary accommodation 3) staying in interim or transitional housing, or living temporarily with others, or in some other type of housing (e.g. The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (COH) defines homelessness as the situation of an individual or family without stable, permanent, appropriate housing, or the immediate prospect means and ability to acquire it. Findings from this study underscore the need for urgent housing protocols aimed at educating homeless families on how to navigate and understand the system, enhance their conflict resolution skills, and develop strategies beyond relocation to help them to cope with difficulties with housing.įamily homelessness is a global problem that has warranted unique preventive strategies in several countries, including the USA, United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and Australia. The findings illustrated the complex nature of family homelessness in Ontario that the interaction of multiple systems can put families at risk of homelessness. The analysis yielded five major themes including, life challenges, lack of understanding of the system, existing power differentials, escaping from hardship, and a theme of proposed solutions for reducing family homelessness in the community. Most of the participants were single-parent women.

The sample includes 36 family members residing at a family shelter who participated in focus groups over two years (between April 2016 and December 2017). This paper represents the qualitative findings of a project that explored risk factors associated with family homelessness and strategies that could mitigate and prevent homelessness among families using a focused ethnographic study guided by the principles of participatory action research (PAR). Homelessness is regarded as both political and socioeconomic problems warranting broad and consistent result-oriented approaches.

Homelessness is becoming an international public health issue in most developed countries, including Canada.

Family matters 2010 download