Despite the challenges of the pandemic, changes to treating chronic youth homelessness in Guelph and Wellington County have led to a 43 per cent reduction in cases over the past year.
“Our numbers continue to decrease and I think we could be poised to end chronic youth homelessness in the coming months and even a year if we are able to really increase health and mental health support for our most complex young people that we support,” said Kristen Cairney, the interim program director of Wyndham House Youth Service Hub.
Chronic youth homelessness is defined as someone who is currently experiencing homelessness and it has been ongoing for six months, or a cumulative total of 18 months in the past three years.
In August 2018, 51 youth were experiencing chronic homelessness. At the beginning of the pandemic, 23 youth were on a by-name list for chronic homelessness in the area, and now only nine remain as of February.
Since 2018, the total reduction of chronic youth homelessness in this region has now reached 76 per cent.
These changes occurred through data gathered through Built for Zero Canada. It is a local group involving Wyndham House, Family and Children’s Services, the Welcome In Drop-In Centre, and Stonehenge Therapeutic Community, which look at data trends within homeless groups to examine potential solutions to homelessness.
Cairney explains they aim to figure out what’s really going on in the lives of youth in this subgroup, to treat their issues, and have them experience some recovery and stability in their lives.
“We’re looking at who needs intensive services, or moderate services, or who could benefit from peer support,” explains Cairney.
Some new systems they implemented to prevent and decrease chronic youth homelessness include more access to mental health services, addiction treatment and new permanent supportive housing.
Access to mental health and addiction services is a key component to helping reduce chronic youth homelessness, she said.
In 2020, 86 per cent of 230 youth Cairney worked with were suffering from a mental health issue and 68 per cent were dealing with an addiction issue.
“These are the sort of issues that come up again and again,” she recalls about those experiences.
“The pandemic helped us see where the gaps were, it shined a light on them.”
Since this age group also experiences the highest number of life changes, Cairney mentions the housing and support needs of youth are constantly shifting.
“When it comes to housing, it’s kind of recognizing that this might work right now, and then we might have to make some changes in a year or two to ramp up support or pull back, depending on what’s going on with the young person,” she said.
Besides increasing additional supports, rehousing and diversion workers is another tactic being used by Wyndham House to intervene in the cycle of chronic homelessness.
“For the past two years we’ve had a rapid rehousing and diversion worker and that has had a huge impact on the number of people coming into the shelter,” said Cairney, “We know that first-time entering into the shelter can put someone at risk of chronic homelessness.”
Lori Richer, the housing stability manager of the County of Wellington, who is also part of Build for Zero, explains when they spoke with adults experiencing homelessness in 2018, almost half of respondents reported first experiencing homelessness as a young person.
“The work being done now to reduce youth chronic homelessness will have a significant impact in the future,” said Richer in an email, “Finding creative and innovative solutions to support youth with intensive wrap around supports and appropriate housing placements is key to ending chronic homelessness.”
Cairney explains the next step is the development of a concurrent hub to continue providing care for these youth. Currently, she and other community partners are trying to determine where it will fit within the spectrum of current services.
“Once we figure that out, we could really see some significant improvements,” she said, “and I really think it’s not that complex or expensive to do, so I’m hopeful.”
