This study examined the impact of homelessness and the ability of homeless students to remain in their school of origin on the academic achievement of fourth through eighth grade students in Brevard County, Florida. To determine effects of homelessness, homeless students were compared to non-homeless students who qualified for free lunch utilizing developmental scale scores and learning gains from 2011 FCAT Reading and Mathematics. To determine effects of remaining in school of origin, homeless students who changed schools were compared to homeless students who did not change schools utilizing the same assessment data. Independent t-tests and chi-square tests of association were used with .05 significance levels. Findings showed that homeless and non-homeless students had no significant differences in reading scores, and homeless students had significantly higher mathematics scores. However, significantly fewer homeless students made an annual learning gain in reading and math learning gains were statistically equal. Remaining in school of origin also had no significant impact on reading and math developmental scale scores, but a significantly lower percentage of homeless students who changed schools made annual learning gains in reading and mathematics. These results led the researcher to develop a theory called the Weighted Saddle Effect, caused by homeless mobility, to describe the difficulty homeless students had in making annual learning gains commensurate with their developmental scale scores. Recommendations for policy included school districts ensuring transportation to school of origin was available for all homeless students as mandated by the McKinney-Vento Act

The aim of this qualitative study is to examine how social secretaries’ work with homeless clients and the factors that contribute to their recovery process from homelessness. Data from interviews with seven social secretaries were analyzed using Maslow's hierarchy of needs (2015) and the concept of social exclusion (2014). The study found that social secretaries take a holistic approach in investigating all clients' problem areas. However they experience limited room for maneuver due to social services laws and guidelines, as well as divided opinions on housing interventions. The research also identified central factors that strengthen clients' recovery process, including access to resources, strengthening social relationships and the clients' own motivation. Furthermore, social secretaries identified hindering factors such as negative social relationships and social exclusion that may impede the clients' recovery. The study also found that the lack of job opportunities and affordable housing, can act as an additional hindering factor. In conclusion, the study highlights the need for a comprehensive approach in social work with homelessness that takes into account the complex and multifaceted nature of the recovery process. A holistic perspective can help create sustainable solutions that help homeless individuals recover and rebuild their lives.

During 2022 the Swedish government announced a new strategy to combat homelessness. As the population is growing faster than housing construction there is a noticeable housing crisis in Sweden in terms of housing shortage. This means that more households risk ending up outside the housing market and becoming homeless. With the new strategy, the work of national and local authorities is expected to change. The aim of this study is to describe how national and local authorities manage acute homelessness within housing provision. Furthermore, the study intends to analyze and discuss challenges in dealing with acute homelessness in housing provision. To fulfil the aim, empirical material was collected through qualitative interview studies with people at national and local authorities in the capacity of their professional role. The results show that there are multiple difficulties in the work towards dealing with homelessness in housing provision in terms of strategies and cooperation between national and local authorities. This is partly a result of Sweden’s large multi-level system where responsibilities and duties are distributed across several different authorities. This is to some extent a consequence of unclearly formulated strategies, unclear division of responsibilities and small resources. Further, this makes it hard to get an overall picture of the extent of the problem and what can and should be done in the future. Some of these difficulties can be communicated and coordinated, while others are dependent of housing policy and market forces, which is difficult to influence. In the future, authorities and the population face great uncertainty. But there are clear ambitions with the strategy Bostad först being the foremost. This indicates a strong drive forward nationally and locally towards a more developed and socially sustainable housing provision.

YWCA Hamilton’s Safer Drug Use Space (SUS) is one of only two gender-specific safe consumption spaces in Canada, and the only one integrated into an emergency drop-in program. It is widely acknowledged in both the scholarly literature and by social service and healthcare providers that women and non-binary people are vulnerable to violence and coercion when using substances around men. They also have different needs from harm reduction programs that are not always met in all-gender safe consumption sites. Furthermore, the integration of safe consumption sites in emergency shelters and drop-ins has been found to lower the number of drug poisonings in the area. This study sought to build upon this existing body of literature by speaking with service users from SUS about how they have been supported by the program in its first year of operation, and how it could be improved. Five service users were engaged in individual, qualitative interviews conducted by one of the front-line staff at SUS who is also a student at McMaster University. The “in-between” position of the researcher and previously established rapport with the participants generated nuanced insights to come out of these conversations. Four themes came out of the data: (1) the importance of positive service user/staff relationships; (2) staff knowledge and expertise; (3) SUS being considered a “safe” place and like a “home” to service users; and (4) accessibility of the space for service users being a contributor to why people return to SUS. This study revealed that aligning their harm reduction framework to include safe consumption onsite has meant SUS staff and service users develop more trusting relationships with each other. This allows them cooperate in unique ways to keep the community safe and connect service users to necessary social and healthcare supports. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka hur socialarbetare från kommunala och ideella verksamheter upplever arbetet med hemlösa och hur deras arbete kan påverka de hemlösas möjligheter till stöd och eget boende. För att undersöka och svara på syftet etablerades två frågeställningar. Våra frågeställningar berörde kontakten och samverkan mellan stödverksamheterna samt deras kontakt till de hemlösa. Undersökningen är utformad med en kvalitativ ansats där sju stycken semi-strukturerade intervjuer har genomförts. De deltagande i studien arbetar på olika sätt med hemlöshet och kommer i direkt kontakt med hemlösa individer. Vi tog hjälp av teoretiska utgångspunkter om stigma, makt och samverkan för att kunna analysera vårt resultat. Vårt resultat visade att de hemlösas kontakt till socialarbetare är väsentlig för att kunna ta sig ur hemlösheten. Det framkom även att både de ideella och kommunala verksamheterna är viktiga eftersom deras arbete ser olika ut och därför kan möta hemlösa som befinner sig på olika plan i sin hemlöshet. Samverkan har också visat sig vara betydlig eftersom den möjliggör att de hemlösa som väljer att endast vistas på de ideella verksamheterna fångas upp genom ett samarbete mellan de kommunala och ideella verksamheterna. / The aim with this study was to explore how social workers from communal and non-profit organizations experience the work with homeless people and how their work can affect the homeless people’s opportunities to get support and their own home. To examine and answer the aim we established two questions. These questions referred to the contact and cooperation between the organizations and their relation to the homeless. The study has been designed with a qualitative method where seven semi-structured interviews have been made. The participants in the study are all working with homelessness and meet homeless individuals. To analyze our result we used theories such as stigma, power and cooperation. Our result showed that homeless people’s contact with social workers is essential to be able to get out of homelessness. What also emerged was that both the non-profit and the communal organizations are important since their work looks various which means they can meet homeless people that are on different levels in their homelessness. Cooperation has also been shown to be important since it makes it possible for the homeless that chooses to only visit the non-profit organizations to get help because of collaboration between the communal and non-profit organizations.

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According to the literature, youth experiencing with either homelessness or disabilities face severe barriers throughout their life-time which would negatively impact their physical development, psychological development, and mental health, but also contribute to a vicious circle of homeless and poverty. However, the intersection between homeless youth with learning, developmental and/or intellectual disabilities (LD/DD/ID) in the school system has rarely been explored. This population is invisible to the school system which indicates an urgency in identifying and understanding their experience at school. This research, as a part of the Partnering for Change initiative, aimed to provide some insight into the socially constructed problems which cause barriers for this invisible population. In this study, an interpretive lens and a critical approach were adopted as a guide to data analysis and as a means to identify constructed barriers based on the interviews with homeless youth with LD/DD/ID in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The data on homeless youth with LD/DD/ID was analysed for impacts on relationships, academic performance, and the effects of invisibility on multiple levels of their school life. The data also revealed the way schools respond to disabilities and homelessness. In the discussion I investigate the way policy, funding structure and implementation of support are significantly affected by the neoliberal context with its emphasis on market-driven pedagogy and individuals conceptualized as agents of self- capitalization. This thesis argues for a better alternative, as referenced from Finland. The Finnish approach emphasizes human rights, equality, and inclusion, and aims to demonstrate how changes in fundamental beliefs and values can construct a barrier-free and supportive education system for everyone. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

La pandémie de la COVID-19 a eu des impacts sur tout un chacun. Or, force est de constater que certains groupes ont été plus durement touchés que d’autres. À cet effet, les femmes en situation d’itinérance représentent une population dont la recherche fait peu état de leur situation alors qu’elles sont extrêmement vulnérables et encore plus en temps de pandémie (Schiff, J.W., Pauly, B. et Schiff, P, 2016). Ce mémoire souhaite étudier les impacts de la COVID-19 sur le quotidien des femmes en situation d’itinérance à Montréal. Comment est-ce que l’imposition des mesures sanitaires a-t-elle été vécue ? Quelles en sont les répercussions ? Les données recueillies proviennent de la recherche : La réorganisation des services institutionnels et communautaires auprès des personnes en situation d’itinérance et les besoins des personnes en situation d’itinérance pour faire face à la pandémie de COVID-19. Une quinzaine d’entrevue semi-dirigées ont été réalisées auprès de femmes vivant une situation d’itinérance durant les périodes de l’automne 2020 et de l’hiver 2021. Les résultats ont par la suite été analysés dans une perspective féministe intersectionnelle par l’utilisation de l’analyse différenciée selon le sexe de même que la théorie de l’intersectionnalité. Les résultats de ce mémoire démontrent que l’imposition des mesures sanitaires a entraîné des conséquences négatives sur le quotidien des femmes en situation d’itinérance. Elles ont vu leur capacité à répondre à leurs besoins de base diminué jusqu’à parfois disparaitre. Le confinement, le couvre-feu ainsi que la fermeture des services non-essentielles ont aussi forcé une visibilité du phénomène de l’itinérance au féminin. Par ailleurs, la charge émotive de ces femmes s’est alourdie. Malgré toutes ces intempéries, celles-ci ont fait preuve d’une grande résilience et d’une capacité d’adaptation inouïe. En sus, les résultats démontrent qu’il y a eu un manque flagrant de considération de la part du gouvernement du Québec envers la situation spécifique des femmes en situation d’itinérance lors de l’imposition des mesures sanitaires. Cette absence de considération est venue brimer plusieurs de leurs droits fondamentaux impunément. Ce mémoire démontre les lacunes étatiques lors d’une crise sanitaire et proposent des pistes d’action pouvant y remédier. / The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone. However, it is clear that some groups have been more severely affected than others. In this regard, women living on the streets represent a population whose situation is not well documented in research, even though they are extremely vulnerable, and even more so during a pandemic (Schiff, J.W., Pauly, B. et Schiff, P, 2016). This thesis aims to study the impacts of COVID-19 on the daily lives of women experiencing homelessness in Montreal. How was the imposition of the health measures experienced? What are the repercussions? The data collected is drawn from the research titled La réorganisation des services institutionnels et communautaires auprès des personnes en situation d’itinérance et les besoins des personnes en situation d’itinérance pour faire face à la pandémie de COVID-19. Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with women experiencing homelessness during the fall of 2020 and winter of 2021. The results were then analyzed from an intersectional feminist perspective using gender-based analysis. The results of this thesis demonstrate that the imposition of COVID-19 restrictions has had a negative impact on the daily lives of women experiencing homelessness. They have seen their ability to meet their basic needs diminish and sometimes disappear. Confinement, curfews and the closing of non-essential services have also forced the visibility of homelessness on women. In addition, the emotional burden of these women has increased. Despite all the bad circumstances, they showed great resilience and an incredible capacity to adapt. In addition, the results show that there was a flagrant lack of consideration by the provincial government for the specific situation of women experiencing homelessness when imposing health measures. This lack of consideration has led to the violation of many of their fundamental rights with a lack of accountability. This thesis demonstrates the state's shortcomings during a public health crisis and proposes possible courses of action to address these deficiencies.