Partnering with Other Systems
The information and resources here are intended to support your efforts to develop stronger connections between the homelessness response system and other community systems.
Keep checking back here as we will be regularly updating materials and adding further resources.
See sections below for information and resources to connect with many different system partners. Remember, you can also always search on the Homeless Hub and the Homelessness Learning Hub for further information.
- See Yourself as a Partner: Guide To Community Partnership Development (Homelessness Partnering Strategy, 2017)
Best Practices Manual for Discharge Planning (USA, 2008) – includes Mental Health & Substance Abuse Facilities, Hospitals, Foster Care, and Prisons and Jails. - Enhancing Coordinated Entry through Partnerships with Mainstream Resources and Programs, and accompanying sample housing assessment questions, help communities ensure their coordinated entry processes include mainstream programs and resources.
- Youth Homeless Innovations with Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice and Coordinated Entry (Los Angeles, 2018)
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A Way Home: Youth Homelessness Community Planning Toolkit (A Way Home Canada, 2017)
- Homeless Courts: Recognizing Progress and Resolving Legal Issues That Often Accompany Homelessness (USICH Blog, July 2020)
- Strengthening Partnerships Between Law Enforcement and Homeless Serving Systems (USICH & Justice Center, 2019)
- Partnerships Between Homelessness Services and Juvenile Justice Systems (USICH, 2019) – two US case studies for preventing youth homelessness.
- Calgary Policy Services: Innovative Police Responses to Homelessness (CAEH Conference Presentation, 2018)
- US Department of Justice – National Reentry Resource Center – Housing Page
- Prison Policy Initiative – a new report, “Nowhere to Go: Homelessness Among Formerly Incarcerated People” (USA 2018) explores the link between homelessness and incarceration and includes recommendations for how different sectors can work together to break the link between incarceration and homelessness.
- Reentry Starts Here: A Guide for Youth in Long-Term Juvenile Corrections and Treatment Programs (USA 2018) – this user-friendly guide is designed to help youth in juvenile corrections and treatment programs prepare for reentry and success in their community (housing covered briefly on page 4).
- Restorative Policing Model – City of Santa Barbara (2018). Watch this 5 min video.
- Reintegration in Ontario: Practice, Priorities and Effective Models (John Howard Society of Ontario & University of Guelph, 2016)
- Domestic Violence – The Homeless HUB
- The Intersection of Homelessness and Domestic Violence – Video (US, 2017) (3 min)
- Safe Housing Partnerships – the website for the Domestic Violence and Housing Technical Assistance Consortium. Find useful resources and tools that advance your work at the critical intersection of domestic violence, sexual assault, homelessness, and housing. See also the Safe Housing Partnerships YouTube Channel.
- Strengthening Housing Outcomes for Domestic Violence Survivors – Blog (UISCH, 2019) – providing the latest news and resources from the Domestic Violence and Housing Technical Assistance Consortium (DVHTAC).
- Webinar: Housing First and Rapid Re-Housing For Survivors (NASH, 2017) (1.5 hours) is designed for domestic violence programs who participate/want to participate in their Continuum of Care.
- Housing and Domestic Violence – Podcast – Opportunity Starts at Home (2019) (60 minutes) – In this episode, we talk about the intersections between affordable housing and domestic violence with two experts at the National Network to End Domestic Violence: Monica McLaughlin, Director of Public Policy; and Debbie Fox, Senior Housing Policy & Practice Specialist.
- Trauma and Violence Informed Care (TVIC): An Orientation Tool for Service Providers in the Homeless Sector (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2019) – 5 pages
- Re-visioning Our Approach to Stop Violence Against Women in the Movement to Prevent and End Homelessness (System Planning Collective, 2018) – a 1.5 hour webinar describing a new paradigm for domestic violence shelter operations, with a focus on renewing shelter objectives, service models, policies, and practices. Key evaluative and reflective tools provided for participants to take back to their organizations and communities to further explore these concepts in their own work.
- Closing the Gap: Integrating Services for Survivors of Domestic Violence Experiencing Homelessness – A toolkit (National Center on Family Violence, 2013)
- Serving Domestic Violence Survivors in the Homelessness Response System (2013) – NAEH pre-conference presentation from NAEH and communities
- Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing for Survivors of Domestic Violence (NAEH, 2011) – an 8 page brief
Coordinated Access Considerations
- Checklist: Incorporating Domestic Violence Providers into a Coordinated Assessment Process (NAEH, 2016)
- Coordinated Entry and Victim Services FAQ (HUD)
- Trust and Collaboration Drive Family Coordinated Entry in Phoenix, Arizona
- Houston Pilots Coordinated Entry for Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence
- Domestic Violence Providers and Coordinated Assessment (presentation from 3 communities)
Emergency Shelter and Housing Program Considerations
- Emergency Shelter Series – Safely Serving Families and Victims of Domestic Violence (NAEH, 2018) – a 90 min webinar – Download slides
- Safety Planning for Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence: A Toolkit for Homelessness/Housing Programs (NASH, 2018)
- Housing, Homelessness and Violence Against Women (Women’s Shelters Canada, 2017)
- Gender Integrated Shelters: Experience and Advice (FORGE, 2016)
- Safety and Privacy Consideration When Using Hotels for Shelter Stays (NNEDV, 2013)
- Homeless Services and Education System Linkages (USA 2018)
- The Benefits of Housing and Education Cross-Systems Collaboration (USICH)
- Coordinated Entry Processes: Building Mutual Engagement Between Schools and Continuums of Care is a brief developed by ED’s National Center for Homeless Education.
- Supporting Whole Family Approaches to Housing Stability – (2 pagers from USICH 2018):
Employment
- Heartland National Alliance:
- Pathways Forward Challenge – a website for the two and a half year project with five communities to increase employment among homeless job seekers with a focus on those not typically prioritized for housing resources.
- How and Why to Integrate Income & Employment-Related Questions Into Coordinated Entry Assessments (Heartland Alliance) provides a set of sample questions communities can use to assess the employment needs and interests of people experiencing homelessness.
- Systems Work Better Together: Strengthening Public Workforce and Homeless Serving Systems Collaboration (March 2018)
- Connections Project – The Connections Project is a three-year (2015-2018), place-based, systems-level collaboration and capacity-building project aimed at increasing employment and economic opportunity for homeless job seekers.
- Workforce and Homeless Serving System Reports.
- Partnerships for Opening Doors: A Summit on Integrating Employment and Housing Strategies to Prevent and End Homelessness (USICH, DOL, HUD, 2015)
- Youth Employment Toolkit (COH, 2015)
- Street Cleaning Does Not End Homelessness (OrgCode, Feb 2019) – A caution about being “employment first” rather than “housing first” and offering “practice jobs”.
- Sample of Canadian Employment and Social Enterprise projects aimed at preventing and ending homelessness:
- HireUp, an online platform that connects job seekers who face barriers in finding employment, apply to jobs with employers who practice impact hiring. Read about the evaluation conducted through Hub Solutions here.
- Construct social enterprise through BlueDoor in York Region – providing residential and commercial construction and property services to clients from across the public and private sectors in the Greater Toronto Area. Our company recruits, trains and employs motivated individuals to learn and work on-site with qualified trades people to prepare for a career in the construction industry.
- Train for Trades program at Choices for Youth in St. John’s, NL works directly with local trade unions to enable young people to learn on the job, gain credentials and work on a personal plan towards long-term sustainable and viable employment
- Eva’s Phoenix Print Shop is a social enterprise that offers a job training program for homeless and at-risk youth.
- Argus’ Uptown Thrift is a social enterprise offering job training and experience for youth
- Friend’s Restaurant through Fred Victor offers low-cost meals while serving as a training component of their Career Directions in Hospitality Program
Financial Empowerment
- Prosper Canada – resources and tools for financial empowerment – works with partners in all sectors to develop and promote financial policies, programs and resources that transform lives and help Canadians to prosper
- Integrating Financial Empowerment into Housing and Homelessness Prevention Programs (CFED – now Prosperity Now, 2012)
- Case Studies: Connecting Supportive Housing and Health Systems to End Chronic Homelessness (USICH, 2019) – lessons from Portland, Chicago and Asheville
- Better Health Through Housing Program – Chicago
- Housing as a Hub for Health, Community Services, and Upward Mobility (Economic Studies at Brookings, 2018)
- Developing Housing and Health Collaborations: Opportunities and Challenges (Urban Institute, 2016)
- Health & Housing Partnerships Guide (Corporation of Supportive Housing, 2015) – Overview of Challenges and Opportunities.
- Solutions: Discharge Planning for Hospitals and Mental Health Facilities (Homeless Hub Blog, 2014)
- Hospital Discharge: Safe and Effective Models for People Experiencing Homelessness (Waterloo Region, 2013) – program overviews from the UK and US.
- See also Emergency Shelter page – Health in Shelters
information
- Indigenous Definition of Homelessness (COH)
- Considerations for Engagement with Indigenous People (AWH) – From the Youth Homelessness Planning Toolkit
- Aboriginal Homelessness – Point in Time Count Toolkit (COH, 2017)
- Fostering Aboriginal Partnerships and Cultural Competency During Your Point-in-Time Count (COH, 2018)
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action
- Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls Calls to Justice
- Jesse Thistle:
- Video – Jesse Thistle – Culture Has the Power to Heal (33 min)
- Back Into the Circle: Q&A With Jess Thistle Blog (CAEH, 2019)
- From the Ashes – Book
Indigenous program approaches
- Revisioning Coordinated Access: Fostering Indigenous Best Practices Towards a Wholistic Systems Approach to Homelessness (SPRC Hamilton & COH, 2020)
- Pekiwewin (Coming Home): Advancing Good Relations with Indigenous People Experiencing Homelessness (CMSH, 2020) – 2 page journal article with eight key points including four protocols to be followed by health and social service providers: 1) situating one’s self, 2) keeoukaywin (visiting), 3) hospitality, and 4) treat
people as you would treat your own relative. - Indigenous Case Management Model: Adapting Housing First for Youth for Indigenous Youth (HF4Y) – video (10 min)
- Localized Approaches To Ending Homelessness: Indigenizing Housing First (Institute of Urban Studies University of Winnipeg, 2019)
- Localizing Housing First as a Culturally Responsive Approach to Understanding and Addressing Urban Indigenous Homelessness (Urban Aboriginal Knowledge Network, 2018)
- Indigenous Harm Reduction: Reducing the Harms of Colonialism Policy Brief (Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development, 2019)
- A Summary of Indigenous Housing and Case Management Engagement Sessions (Calgary, 2019)
- Trauma-Informed Practice with Indigenous People Across the Life Span – 1 hour webinar (VAW Learning Network, Thompson River University, May 2017))
community plans
- Giwetashkad Indigenous Homelessness Strategic Plan (Atlohsa, 2020) – a three year plan to to reduce Indigenous homelessness in London, ON
- Meeting in the Middle: Engagement Strategy and Action Plan (Toronto, 2018) – Co-developed by the City of Toronto Shelter, Support and Housing Administration (SSHA) Division and the Toronto Aboriginal Support Services Council (TASSC)
- Finding Safe Spaces and Services: A Community Action Plan to Address Indigenous Homelessness in Halton (Halton Community Legal Services, 2018)
- Plan to End Aboriginal Homelessness in Calgary (2012)
CAEH National conference on ending homelessness INDIgenous stream presentations
- Building Community & Indigenous Governance (2018)
- The healing journey process: learning from the life stories of Indigenous women having experienced homelessness in Montreal (2018)
- The Right to Housing For First Nations Communities On Reserve (2018)
- Indigenous Independent Housing (2018)
- Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition (2018)
- Victoria Aboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness (2017)
Examples of community programs
Edmonton:
- Nikihk Aboriginal Housing First – Bent Arrow Housing Society
- Housing First Program – Native Counselling Services of Alberta
- Oskapewis/Indigenous Cultural Helper Program
- Educational Helper at Homeward Trust Edmonton – contact karmstrong@homewardtrust.ca
- The Indigenous Cultural Helper Program: Report of Research Findings (2018)
- Housing First in Edmonton Nikihk Housing/Homeward Trust (COH, 2013) – Chapter from Housing First in Canada book
- Perspectives on the Housing First Program with Indigenous Participants (Homeward Trust, 2011)
Hamilton:
- Homeward Bound: De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre – see also July 2018 Hamilton Spectator article
- Endaayaang Youth Housing First: Hamilton Regional Indian Centre (Nov 2017) and an update article (Jan 2019) – one of 12 “A Way Home-Making the Shift “demonstration projects over 2017-2019) – Endaayaang Navigator – amasters@hric.ca
North Bay:
- Suswin Housing First Program – North Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre (CAEH18 presentation)
Ottawa:
Winnipeg:
- A Place to Call Home: Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre
- Localizing Housing First as a Culturally Responsive Approach to Understanding and Addressing Urban Indigenous Homelessness (Urban Aboriginal Knowledge Network, 2018)
- Resource Assistance for Youth (RaY) – Incorporating Indigenous Teachings Helps Youth Succeed (Parity, 2019)
Vancouver – RainCity Housing:
- Librarians Guide to Homelessness – a book and website offering information and education to assist librarians working with patrons experiencing homelessness
- Strengthening Communities: The Role of Public Libraries As A Site of Connection (COH Blog, February 2020)
- Libraries Putting Social Workers on Staff (Sun Journal, August 10, 2019)
- How Our Libraries Can Help The Homeless (Sun, September 19, 2018) – highlighting the work of the Toronto Public Library
- The Public – Trailer (2019) – a feature length film starring Emilio Estevez and Alec Baldwin. What begins as an act of civil disobedience becomes a stand-off with police and library officials when a conscientious librarian turns the Cincinnati Public Library into an impromptu homeless shelter for one night during the most brutal cold snap in recent Cincinnati history.
Program Areas
Emergency Shelter | Diversion | Outreach | Housing Help & Landlords | Housing with Support | Prevention | Partnering with Other Systems | Peers & Lived Experience