Homes for Women / Toits pour elles a compilation of Recommendations to address women’s homelessness in Canada from Research Reports Available in electronic format on homesforwomen ca “News and Events” Table of Contents

Housing access & options

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  Access to women’s transition houses for girls escaping violence. [Bricks and Mortar]
  

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  Create priority-housing policies for women leaving abusive relationships - All three Territories must implement priority housing policies that ensure that women living in violence or exhibiting other high needs are prioritized on access lists held by subsidized housing providers. Women living in violent situations must also be in a position to retain access to their home and have their partner removed from the lease. [You Just Blink...]
  

Ensure removal of violent men from homes rather than the displacement of mothers and children, while ensuring safe houses, second stage housing and an adequate continuum of services are accessible for victims of violence when needed. [Gender Matters]

Increase second-stage housing options. In the North, second-stage housing is a rare occurrence. Yet women need time in addition to their limited stays in fjamily violence shelters to make the transition to living on their own free of violence…. Programs within second-stage housing can help women better understand the impacts of violence on themselves and their children, develop long-term safety plans, build supportive social networks, assess their options for the future, and build the skills for living on their own. [You Just Blink...]

Because violence is high in the North, many women spend time in shelters at some point in their lives. Because their options are few, women cycle through shelters year after year, with little hope of breaking out of violence. Although CMHC identifies their Shelter Enhancement Program as a funding source for acquiring or building second-stage housing (as well as for repairing or improving existing shelters), the amount of funds allocated to the northern Territories is not adequate for this purpose. [You Just Blink...]

Expand services

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  Provincial Violence Against Women (VAW) programs and services should be expanded and enhanced to provide prevention and support services for all victims of family violence and abuse. [Common Occurrence]
  

Provide additional funding for more family violence shelters. [On Her Own]

Respond immediately to violence against girls. [Bricks and Mortar]

9. Accessing Services

Health & health care

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  There is an urgent need for new and innovative strategies that will address the barriers to health care that homeless women face. Identifying and evaluating promising models and practices in service integration and coordination for women who are homeless or at risk of homelessness is one approach that might be used to improve access (Council Think Tank on the Health of Homeless and Socially Isolated Women, November, 2001).[Health Status]
  
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  Key stakeholders from the broad health care system should organize to undertake and sustain an Advocacy and Policy Agenda that exposes to policy and decision makers, the media and service providers in the formal and informal health care sector in Toronto the full extent of women’s homelessness and advocates for change in the major areas impacting on the health of visible and hidden homeless women. [Common Occurrence]
  

Organisations within the health care system should increase the leadership and involvement of visible and hidden homeless women on boards, committees, public education initiatives and outreach efforts so that their lived experiences can influence positive organisational decision making. [Common Occurrence]

Finally, efforts can be made to build networks of knowledge and expertise across health care and social service providers, as well as policy- and decision- makers in government and key institutions, to ensure that the unique health care needs of homeless women are known and taken into account.. [Health Status]

Family shelters should offer psychological evaluation and counselling to parents and children who have experienced homelessness. [Better Off in a Shelter?...]

Non-status persons should have access to all health, crisis, and other services without fear of being reported to immigration authorities. [Better Off in a Shelter?...]

Ensure that family planning services and prenatal, delivery, and postnatal care are available free to all mothers, whatever their status. [Better Off in a Shelter?...]

Newcomers should be given more guidance to help them find a doctor and dental health services they can afford. [Testing an Integrated…]

Newcomers who are earning less than a living wage should be given financial support to access the health care services they need. [Testing an Integrated…]

Proficient health interpretation services should be available to newcomers. [Testing an Integrated…]

Health care services should address the specific needs of newcomers that occur as a result of pre-immigration and immigration experiences as well as the specific cultural needs and beliefs of newcomers. [Testing an Integrated…]