“When I think about my future, I just see darkness”: How youth exiting homelessness navigate the hazy, liminal space between socioeconomic exclusion and inclusion

Abstract

Objectives The overarching objective of this mixed methods longitudinal study was to understand whether and how rent subsidies and mentorship influenced socioeconomic inclusion outcomes for youth exiting homelessness. The focus of this paper is on the qualitative objectives, which evolved from a primary focus on exploring how study mentorship was working as a facilitator of socioeconomic inclusion to focusing on how participants navigated the hazy, liminal space between socioeconomic exclusion and inclusion. Methods This was a convergent mixed methods study scaffolded by community-based participatory action axiology. The quantitative component is reported elsewhere and involved a 2-year pilot randomized controlled trial where 24 participants received rent subsidies and 13 were randomly assigned a study mentor; proxy indicators of socioeconomic inclusion were measured every 6 months for 2.5 years. Qualitative objectives were explored using a qualitative descriptive design and theoretically framed using critical social theory. The lead author interviewed 12 participants every 6 months for 2.5 years. Qualitative interviews were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis with an emphasis on critical interpretation. Results Navigating the liminal space between socioeconomic exclusion and inclusion was complex and non-linear, and the way youth navigated that journey was more strongly associated with factors like informal mentorship (naturally occurring “coach-like” mentorship) and identity capital (sense of purpose, control, self-efficacy, and self-esteem), rather than whether or not they were assigned a formal study mentor. Conclusion A holistic approach integrating coaching and attention to identity capital alongside economic supports may be key to helping youth exiting homelessness achieve socioeconomic inclusion.

Making Homes in Un-Homelike Places among Young People in Vancouver: Implications for Homelessness Prevention

“…Our study contributes to previous work that shifts the focus away from home as housing (i.e., a physical structure) toward home as a set of day-to-day practices, routines, forms of sociality, and aspirations that both foster homing in the present and orient young people toward the homes they want in the future [62]. Homelessness prevention policies have often too narrowly defined homelessness as rooflessness and neglected to consider how young people also experience it as a lack of the predictable daily rhythms and senses of social connectedness and care that engender stability [33].…”

“…The young people we spoke with expressed a marked difference between being housed in the sense of physically having a place to stay and sleep, and having a home [62]. They often spoke about how they created a sense of home in places they lived only temporarily, such as youth shelters.…”