Despite housing stability being a key concept in housing and homelessness policy, research, and service provision, it remains poorly defined and conceptualized, and to date there are no standard measures. We use in‐depth qualitative interviews with 51 young people transitioning away homelessness over the course of a year to examine the core dimensions of housing stability. Due to the potential for sudden change, we define housing stability as the extent to which an individual's customary access to housing of reasonable quality is secure. We define housing security among 8 main dimensions: housing type, recent housing history, current housing tenure, financial status, standing in the legal system, education and employment status, harmful substance use, and subjective assessments of housing satisfaction and stability. Based on these dimensions, we suggest a brief 13‐question scale that measures housing security.

This paper provides a critical reflection on participatory action research (PAR) methods as they pertain to community psychology. Following a brief review of the fundamental aspects of PAR, key developments in the field are examined. These developments include the redefinition of the research enterprise among groups such as Indigenous and consumer/survivor communities, challenges that attend the "project" framing of PAR, academic and practice context challenges, and important domains in which PAR methods need to become more engaged (e.g., social media and disenfranchised youth). Three illustrative case studies of programs of work in the areas of youth homelessness, consumer/survivor engagement, and Indigenous research are provided to illustrate these contemporary challenges and opportunities in the field. The authors make the argument that without an effort to reconsider and redefine PAR, moving away from the stereotypical PAR "project" frame, these methods will continue to be poorly represented and underutilized in community psychology.

This study examined the process of establishing post homeless lives among 51 recently homeless youth in two major urban centers in Canada. A mixed methods strategy was employed to characterize this process. Quantitatively, a range of mental health, community integration, and quality of life measures were employed four times over the course of 1 year to describe how these indicators of wellbeing shifted in this period. It was found that over the course of 1 year gains were not made in community integration, quality of life and mental health were highly variable, and hope declined significantly. Further, it was found that youth in supported housing arrangements experienced better mental health and community integration. Qualitatively, we identified three major stages in the process of exiting homelessness. These stages included a period of substantial fluctuation and instability, a period of gaining a basic level of stability but being demoralized due to difficulties making progress with life goals, and a period of making some gains with life goals which cultivated a sense of hope. Progress across these stages, which took place in a timeframe considerably longer than 1 year, was characterized by a range of setbacks, individual and systemic challenges, and trauma which were addressed through a persistent effort facilitated by youth resilience and key supports.

This article examines the feasibility of a complex intervention designed to facilitate the transition of youth out of homelessness. It is intended to contribute to efforts to build out the youth homelessness intervention literature, which is underdeveloped relative to descriptive characterizations of risk. The 6-month intervention examined here, referred to as the Housing Outreach Program-Collaboration (HOP-C), is comprised of transitional outreach-based case management, individual and group mental health supports, and peer support. The intervention was delivered through a multiagency, interdisciplinary collaboration. Feasibility was assessed using a mixed methods design that included prepost intervention metrics and the study site was a large Canadian urban center. A total of 31 youth participated in the study with 28 completing the intervention. Overall, implementation and youth engagement was successful though patterns and intensity of engagement were quite variable. While prepost, self-report metrics improved modestly, substantial gains were observed in employment, education, and mental health service connectedness. Qualitative themes focused on the benefits of a flexible, multicomponent approach, close attention to seamless delivery and common factors, and supporting youth in the balance of isolation versus independence. These findings suggested that this tertiary prevention approach is feasible and warrants further investigation. Public Policy Relevance StatementThere is very little evidence regarding the types of services and collaborations that are necessary to support youth in transition out of homelessness. This article describes an example of a multiservice intervention that can inform growing policy-level efforts to replace crisis-oriented care systems with prevention-oriented systems. Fostering collaborations between service sectors is a priority of policymakers in many contexts and is a requirement for effective service delivery for homeless, transitionaged youth. The collaborative, codeveloped design described in this article can inform city-level

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While there exists an extensive body of knowledge regarding the risks associated with youth homelessness, very little work has addressed the process of exiting street contexts. This paper reports baseline findings from an ongoing longitudinal study assessing factors associated with a successful transition out of homelessness. Fifty‐one formerly homeless youth who obtained stable housing in the past 2 months to 2 years participated in this study which took place in two Canadian urban centres. Findings include poorer functioning across all domains for youth residing in housing contexts without supports, a lack of relationship between psychological and behavioural aspects of community integration, and the central role of self‐concept in mental health and quality of life. These findings suggest the need for ongoing support for youth exiting street spaces and social contexts, with attention to the importance of self‐concept and psychological aspects of community integration.