This case study of Covenant House, an emergency shelter for street kids in downtown Toronto, focuses on the experiences that draw kids into youth shelters and that drive them out. The analysis stresses the importance to street kids of feeling "cared for". Street kids were drawn to Covenant House because they felt cared for there by its open intake policy, appealing facilities (clean surroundings and good food), and staff who listened to and were interested in their problems. But residents were rather swiftly turned off by its rigidly enforced, elaborate and "uncaring' rule structure, and either walked out or got kicked out. Given the limited alternatives in Toronto's "shelter world", however, Covenant House has become the preferred choice for street kids who find themselves in a cycle of entering, leaving and returning.

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Due to their disproportionate risk of tenancy non-sustainment there have been concerns raised for young people making a pathway out of homelessness into independent living. Despite these concerns, there has been limited research looking at how young people experience tenancy sustainment or where they move onto after terminating a tenancy. This thesis, drawing on Bourdieu’s (1990a) theory of practice, presents a reconceptualisation of tenancy sustainment as a practice of sustaining a tenancy. The theoretical-empirical analysis is based on data collected through longitudinal research involving two waves of semi- structured interviews with 25 young people, aged 16-25, who had recently made a pathway out of homelessness into their own independent tenancies. The interdependency between a tenant and their tenancy presented young people with pressures which they developed techniques of independent living in response to in order to sustain their tenancy and make it a home. Young people not only had a particular housing position of being a tenant, they held family and education-employment positions which took part in the formation and shaping of the pressures they experienced living independently. Tenancies were not seen as an end in themselves by young people who desired, through the experience of sustaining a tenancy, increasingly independent positions within their other social positions as well. An uneven process of actually existing neoliberalism across policy areas through its influence on young people’s constellation of interdependent relations also created a dissonance within the positions held by young people fostering social suffering. Young people ending a tenancy viewed this as a ‘step backwards’ when it meant decreasing independence such as a return to supported accommodation; ambivalence where it arose from the end of a relationship; and as a move forwards, or ‘getting on with life’, when making a youth transition and housing pathway towards establishing their own family household.

The purpose of this study was to gain a deep phenomenological understanding of how young adults living in a detoxification centre for people with no fixed abode made the life changing decision to free themselves from substance use and provide insights that could be helpful for counselling psychologists working therapeutically with this client group. An exploratory study was conducted using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The participants were between the ages of 25 and 29 years old (1 female and 5 males). All participants had spent 6 weeks in the detoxification centre at the time the interview took place. Two specific areas were pinpointed for exploration during the semi-structured interviews: (1) self-concept before entering the project and after having entered the project and been abstinent for at least 6 weeks, and (2) possible links between homelessness and substance use. Emerging themes were clustered in terms of polarities and existential dimensions. Four superordinate themes comprising of eight existential polarities were extrapolated: control-chaos; connectedness-disconnection; meaning-meaninglessness; responsibility-guilt. The data analysis revealed participants’ struggle to resolve the conflict between these polarities. Identity issues seemed to be crucial, as well as a sense of having lost touch with or possibly never developed an authentic self and a struggle to live and accept emotions in the present moment. Another aspect that emerged was difficulties in grieving losses as well as death anxiety. Connecting with others and caring about oneself seemed to be closely linked and conducive to wellbeing in participants’ experience of abstinence from substance use. On the basis of this study recommendations are made for professionals working therapeutically with this group of clients. These include taking an existential approach and using mindfulness techniques to support clients to accept the polarities we experience in life and to develop the capacity to embrace the contradictions of our existence.

Several studies showed adolescents living in temporary housing face multiple risks. The Floating Hospital (TFH), a non-profit organization serving homeless families in New York City, created the Camp Rise Up intervention as a six-day overnight camp to address these risks via a 14-lesson curriculum on the following topics: 1) communication; 2) self-esteem/body image; 3) anatomy; 4) alcohol and drugs; 5) puberty; 6) peer pressure; 7) pregnancy; 8) contraception; 9) gender and sexuality; 10) healthy relationships; 11) consent; 12) STIs/HIV; 13) media literacy; 14) managing emotions and conflict negotiation. Evaluation of Camp Rise Up compared pre-camp to post-camp mean scores for stage of change, self-efficacy, knowledge and social support for five behaviors of focus: saying “no” to sex, if pressured to have sex; talking about the need to use a condom every time, if you have sex; saying “no” to drugs, if pressured to use them; saying “no” to alcohol, if pressured to drink; and ending unhealthy relationships, if being abused. A secondary analysis of existing data collected by TFH on their August 2019 camp included a sample (n=24) that was 50.0% (n=11) Black, 36.4% (n= 8) Latinx, and 13.6% (n=3) mixed race with 13 girls (54.2%) and 11 boys (45.8%) with mean age of 13.26 (SD= 1.322, min=11, max=16). Results showed: a significant increase from pre-camp to post-camp for knowledge of how to say “no” to sex, if pressured (p=.002); self-rated knowledge for all 14 topics covered in the curriculum increased significantly from pre-lesson to post-lesson (p=.000); post-camp ratings for counselors, teachers, overall camp experience, and 14 lessons were all very good to excellent; and, majority of participants would recommend the camp to others, diffusing the innovation of Camp Rise Up. Emergent themes from qualitative data analysis were: camp was a fun positive experience, they made new friends, learned new things, and tried new things beyond their comfort zone, Findings may serve as preliminary studies data to justify grant funding to support a camp of longer duration with a larger sample size and long-term follow-up. The curriculum may find application in meeting needs of this vulnerable population for vital health education.

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In America, it is estimated that between 500,000 and two million children run away each year. A majority of these runaways become involved with illegal substance abuse. This study questions whether children experience substance abuse prior to their running away or if their substance abuse is an attempt to cope with the new stressors created by street life. Data collection will include having 50 volunteers complete a questionnaire, with consideration of race and gender. The findings suggested that no relationship exist between runaways engaging in drug use and the amount of stress experienced at home or during the runaway.