Young People's Homeless and Housing Pathways: Key findings from a 6-year qualitative longitudinal study

This report documents key findings from a qualitative longitudinal study of homeless young people in Dublin city. The study was initiated in 2004 and has involved three waves of data collection over a 6-year period. The first phase of the research was funded by the Office of the Minister for Children (OMC) – now the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) – under the National Children’s Research Programme. At baseline, biographical interviews were conducted with 40 homeless young people during late 2004 and early 2005. Summary findings of this phase of the research were published in December 2006 by the Office of the Minister for Children (Mayock and Vekic, 2006) and the full findings were subsequently published in a book entitled Lives in Crisis: Homeless Young People in Dublin (Mayock and O’Sullivan, 2007). In 2006, the Homeless Agency and Health Service Executive granted funding to embark on a second phase of research that involved tracking and re-interviewing the young people who enlisted in the study at baseline. This work was undertaken during 2005-2006 and the findings were published in 2008 by the Homeless Agency as Young People’s Homeless Pathways (Mayock et al, 2008). A third phase was initiated following a period of approximately 3 years, during 2009-2010, and this wave of data collection was jointly funded by the DCYA and the Homeless Agency – now the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE). The following chapters introduce the background and methodological approach to the study and document findings related to the homeless and housing pathways of the study’s young people over the 6-year period of the study. Much attention is given to the ‘routes’ taken by young people into, through and out of homelessness. It is important to note that this report does not document all aspects of the study’s findings and does not claim to present a complete account of the lives and experiences of the study’s young people. The report is structured as follows: Chapter 1 provides an overview of the background and rationale for the study and outlines its conceptual framework. Chapter 2 outlines the research methodology, describing the study’s recruitment and tracking strategies, as well as the data analysis procedures. The value of qualitative longitudinal research is also discussed. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 present key findings under the following headings: young people’s homeless pathways, the process of exiting homelessness and the process of remaining homeless. Chapter 6 concludes the report by discussing five issues that are central to understanding the dynamics of the homeless and housing pathways of young people: the importance of speedy exits from homelessness; the transition from the child welfare system to adult services; the incremental process of exiting homelessness; the ‘institutional circuit’ and the process of remaining homeless; and facilitators and barriers to housing stability. Finally, the chapter outlines several key messages for policy arising from the study’s findings. The report ends with a list of References that informed the research and an Appendix summarises the ETHOS Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion by FEANTSA (European Federation of National Associations Working with the Homeless).