Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Youth Housing and Homelessness Services.

Youth homelessness is a growing crisis in the United States that is associated with a range of adverse outcomes. A variety of social service programs exist to address youth homelessness and its consequences, such as street outreach and diversion services, emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, and rapid rehousing services, among others. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic reached the United States in early 2020, altering nearly every facet of daily life, including the way social service organizations structure and deliver their programming. To understand the implications of the pandemic on housing and homelessness services for youth, the current study examines data from interviews conducted with staff from a large non-profit in Austin, Texas, serving vulnerable transition-age youth. Through these interviews, programmatic changes that occurred as a result of COVID-19-as well as challenges and facilitators to service delivery-were identified. This article provides an overview of these key learnings, as well as recommendations derived from these key learnings, for other organizations adapting their housing and homelessness services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The impact of COVID-19 on research within the homeless services sector

Purpose: This paper aims to discuss the challenges of conducting research with homelessness services frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: Between 2015 and 2019, the research team surveyed frontline staff in three cities about their psychosocial stressors and needs. In 2020, the authors replicated the previous study and expanded data collection to seven cities across Canada to determine the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the well-being of frontline staff. This report describes how the authors adapted the research methodologies to continue work throughout the pandemic, despite various restrictions. Findings: The original studies had very high participation rates because of several methodological approaches that minimized barriers, especially in-person data collection. During the pandemic, distancing requirements precluded replication of these same methods. Research strategies that enabled staff participation during working hours, with designated time allotted for participation, was key for ensuring high participation rates, as access to technology, availability of free time and other factors frequently make online survey research a hardship for these staff. Restrictive interpretation and regional variations of COVID-19 guidelines by some research ethics boards were also a challenge to rapid and responsive data collection. Originality/value: Few studies describe the experiences of frontline workers in the homelessness sector, and quantitative reports of their experiences are particularly scant. Consequently, little is known about specific methodologies that facilitate large-scale data collection in the homelessness services sector. The present research advances the field by providing lessons learned about best practice approaches in pre and post COVID-19 front line worker contexts. A strength of this research is the well-controlled design. The authors collected data within several of the organizations that had previously participated. This fortunate baseline provided opportunity for comparison before and during the pandemic;the authors can highlight factors that might have had influence during the pandemic. © 2021, Jeannette Waegemakers Schiff, Eric Paul Weissman, Deborah Scharf, Rebecca Schiff, Stephanie Campbell, Jordan Knapp and Alana Jones.

Provision of services to persons experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study on the perspectives of homelessness service providers.

This study aimed to explore the perspectives of homelessness service providers on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on service provision, barriers encountered and learning for the future. Semi-structured online interviews were conducted with homelessness service providers (n = 15) identified through the network of homelessness services operating within the United Kingdom. Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically using framework technique. Six key themes were identified including the impact of the pandemic on health and well-being of persons experiencing homelessness (PEH); the changing needs of service users during the pandemic; impact of emergency provision of housing support on services offered; service adaptations; sustainability of services and learnings from the pandemic. Participants described that being able to offer accommodation through government schemes provided protection to PEH through 'wrap-around support'. The pandemic was deemed to have precipitated change and developed resilience in some services. However, lack of resources, donations and sponsors during the pandemic constrained the services forcing many to close or offer reduced services. Reduced face-to-face contact with PEH and lack of ability to offer skills sessions led to the exacerbation of mental health concerns amongst clients. The pandemic was also identified to have encouraged positive relationship building between clients and service providers, better communications between service providers and effective housing of PEH. There is a need to address the barriers, sustain the positive learnings and enable organisations and PEH to adapt to the transition when transient and emergency support from the government and local councils ends.