(HOU2) Sociological Perspectives on Homelessness

In 2008, the City of Calgary was the first municipality in Canada to implement a 10-year plan to end homelessness. Other Canadian cities soon followed suit, yet 15 years later, homelessness continues to be a significant social problem. Recent reports from Vancouver, for example, suggest that the number of unhoused individuals and families has increased over the last couple of years. All major cities saw a surge in and greater visibility of encampments, and the predominant response is the forceful removal of residents and their belongings from public spaces. What is the current state of sociological research focusing on homelessness in Canada? This session invited theoretical contributions, methodological discussions, empirical findings, and critical examinations of homelessness and people experiencing homelessness in the Canadian context. Tags: Communities, Equality and Inequality, Home And Housing

Organizer: Annette Tézli, University of Calgary; Chair: J Overholser, University of Calgary

Presentations

Laura Fisher, Dalhousie University

"Everyone's Fed Up": A Case Study of Housing Systems in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and Medicine Hat, Alberta

According to Statistics Canada, approximately 235,000 people experience homelessness in Canada each year, which researchers know is an underestimate. Using a systems lens, this study compares homelessness in two smaller communities: Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM), Nova Scotia, and Medicine Hat, Alberta. Similar in socio-economic characteristics and both using a Housing First approach to assist those who are at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness, these two communities have had vastly different successes in responding to housing insecurity over the past decade. For example, CBRM’s last (2021) homelessness count identified 325 people experiencing homelessness, an increase from 2016 and 2018 enumerations. Moreover, Cape Breton’s Ally Centre claims the number of homeless clients they see doubled in 2023 from the previous year, and the number of people living in tents has recently doubled as well. Meanwhile, Medicine Hat’s numbers are much lower; they declared a brief end to chronic homelessness in 2021 (the first city in Canada to do so), while the most recent point-in-time count identified 120 people without housing. Through case study design, we explore why these communities have such different track records in addressing homelessness, despite their similar characteristics. At the same time, we also explore underlying factors which are curtailing even the best efforts of community organizations, given the return of homelessness in Medicine Hat. Our data consists of semi-structured interviews with 10 CBRM- and 13 Medicine Hat-based service providers (such as housing and harm reduction organizations) that assist individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, and we also draw upon government documents. While data analysis is not yet complete, work to date reveals the differing roles of inter-related systems in these two regions, including Child Protection, the Criminal Justice System, and Income Assistance, in “manufacturing homelessness” (using the term used by housing advocates in Saskatoon). The role of the provincial government, the coordination of efforts (or lack thereof) across community stakeholders, and differences in community leadership are also emerging as factors. Intersectional framing is used to emphasize the compounding issues faced by those with marginalized identities such as racialized and Indigenous peoples, women leaving abusive situations, youth, and older single adults (specifically men). Data analysis to date also points to shared struggles in providing safe and secure affordable housing to those in need, including problematic landlords, discrimination, and state of disrepair of rental units. Meanwhile, substance use was identified as a major challenge in both communities, as was the lack of non-market housing. Beyond contributing to the literature on housing systems and the sociology of homelessness, we will conclude our presentation by making policy recommendations and recommendations for non-profit organizations.

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Non-presenting authors: Catherine Leviten-Reid, Cape Breton University; Kristen Desjarlais-deKlerk, Cape Breton University

Carolyn Horwood, University of Calgary

Older homelessness in point-in-time counts: Out of sight, out of sample.

Following implementation of the 10-year plan to end homelessness in Calgary in 2008, Calgary homelessness had decreased by 26% in the year 2016 (Turner and Krecsy, 2019). In the same year, older shelter use in the city of Calgarys largest shelter had increased from 6% in 2001 to 39% in 2016 (J Rowland, personal communication of internal data, Calgary Drop-In and Resource Centre). The most recent point-in-time (PiT) count in Calgary indicates that the percentage of older persons experiencing homelessness (OPEH) aged 45+ had decreased from 43.6% of all persons experiencing homelessness (PEH) in 2018 to only 26.3% in 2022 (Calgary Homeless Foundation, 2022). This contrasts national reporting by Dionne et al. (2023) reporting that the number of OPEH experiencing homelessness across Canada increased from 61.2% of all PEH in 2018 to 66.6% in 2021. Moreover, a 2021 study suggested that older shelter users were the only age demographic to demonstrate a significant increase in shelter access over the past two decades - comprising 24% of shelter users across Canada (Humphries and Canham, 2021). This is of particular concern as older people are known to experience hidden homelessness: staying temporarily with friends or family; living in financially unsustainable rentals, or settings with inadequate supports; or residing hospital long after acute care needs have been met, awaiting suitable community placement (Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness). Confidence in enumeration of older people in homeless counts is important for system planning, especially in light of the unique health challenges that face OPEH, who often experience geriatric health conditions up to 20 years earlier than the general population (CSH and Hearth, Inc., 2011; McDonald et al., 2009; Tsai and Alarcón, 2022). Unfortunately, PiT counts enumerating OPEH are inconsistent in definition, and the methods for undergoing PiT counts in Canadian cities are largely non-standardized (Hay et al., 2023). Canadian intra-city PiT count methods vary year-to-year, impacting comparisons of the number of OPEH over time. For example, the 2016 Calgary PiT count was performed in October, while the 2018 count was conducted in April – potentially creating a discrepancy in the number of individuals counted due to PEH migrating to warmer cities prior to the October count in anticipation of the city’s cold winter season (Calgary Homeless Foundation, 2018; Campbell et al., 2016). Further, PiT counts likely undercount OPEH due to the exclusion of comprehensive reporting of OPEH in hospital settings, OPEH unable to access traditional shelter services due to mobility or health limitations, and OPEH that are unsuitably or precariously housed (Hay et al., 2023). Older people living in poverty with serious mental illness including addiction are at particular risk of housing precarity as they may be ineligible for, or decline, in-home supports and lose their housing due to lease non-renewal (Carter, 2010; Crane and Warnes, 2000). PiT counts that occur on a single night thus risk undercounting individuals accessing shelters as a part of a cycle of accessing unstable or unsuitable housing, then subsequently losing supports and housing and utilizing shelter supports short-term (Carter, 2010; Tsai et al., 2020). The current project utilizes a case study methodology building on existing work exploring the experiences of aging for OPEH and a recent systems and policy analysis by Hay et al. (2023). The present case study evaluates existing PiT counts across Alberta, current literature, community and policy reports, key informant interviews, and knowledge-exchange based community consultation to inform future mixed-methods investigation into improved definition, enumeration, and service needs of OPEH. Subsequently, this paper explores interventions for effectively counting OPEH, such as partnerships with alternative level of care programs in provincial health services systems and extended term shelter surveys to aid in identifying precariously housed OPEH. Finally, the proposed solutions will be paired with an analysis of policy implications, exploring how current policies in the province of Alberta may prevent OPEH from accessing homelessness supports.

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Non-presenting authors: Emma Mierau, University of Calgary; Lynn Nixon, University of Calgary

Daniel Kudla, Memorial University

Housing First as a Global Fast Policy, Economic Tool, and Disciplinary Tactic

While there are an abundance of studies evaluating the effectiveness of Housing First programs, there has been a recent surge in critical social science research that situates Housing First within broader debates about contemporary neoliberal homelessness governance. This paper provides clarity to this evolving and somewhat fragmented work by highlighting three main conceptualizations of critical Housing First research. First, it is interpreted as a technocratic global fast policy that, while appealing to policymakers and government officials, ultimately fails to adress the structural causes of housing insecurity and homelessness. Second, it is seen as an economic tool that prioritizes housing for a narrow cohort of “chronic homeless” that is believed to incur a high cost to scarce public resources. Third, it is seen as a disciplinary tactic that ignores people’s alternate expressions of home and compels them to abide by the norms of the private rental market. After outlining these three conceptualizations, we offer suggestions for future theoretical and empirical avenues for each of these themes. While this research often condemns Housing First as yet another form of neoliberal homeless governance, we argue future critical Housing First scholarship should employ comparative case studies across different nation states, examine instances of resistance and tension in its policy translation, diagnostic tools, and disciplinary tactics, and understand the convergence of myriad social actors and assemblages in its local implementation.

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Non-presenting author: Andrew Clarke, University of New South Wales