In search of employment: Tackling youth homelessness and unemployment

an article by Jo Axe, Elizabeth Childs and KathleenManion (Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC, Canada) published Children and Youth Services Review Volume 113 (June 2020)

Highlights

• Employment is an important, yet sometimes overlooked, aspect of assisting vulnerable youth in moving to independence.
• Understanding the multiple perspectives of the avenues into, and out of, homelessness for young people helps ground effective supported employment programs.
• Strong resilient partnerships that bridge across employment, housing and support provide a better foundation for programs that can foster participant success and a reciprocal success for the community and workplaces they live and work in.
• Communicating the expectations of participants and partners fosters smoother processes.
• Capturing the success of a supported employment program requires careful tracking of the unique value-add they bring to their participants, their employers and their communities.

Abstract

At a time when homelessness, inequality and poverty plague Canadian society, an organisation in Whistler, British Columbia has been working for over 20 years to combat some of the associated issues faced by vulnerable youth.

This multi-year research project explored one of the programs offered by the organisation with the intent of gaining an understanding of the short- and long-term impact, the future requirements for sustainability and growth, and the alignment of the program to local and regional needs.

Through a series of focus groups, qualitative data was collected and, while the focus of the research project fell across the identified program foci of housing, employment, participant experience, and support, this article focuses specifically on the findings related to employment.

The five themes that were identified in the data collected included:

• participants’ context,
• processes to support accountability,
• contributors to success,
• challenges, and
• participants’ suggestions for improvement.

Across these themes and sub-themes, it was clear that stable employment is a necessary component of a comprehensive program that supports youth as they build resilience and combat homelessness.

Labels:
youth_homelessness, youth_employment, youth_unemployment, supportive_employment, reciprocity,

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