|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Staying in a homeless shelter was challenging for many reasons. But the main problem that Alicia had to contend with was lack of money. Without an income, and dependent on a very modest amount of social assistance, she knew that affording first and last months’ rent would be difficult. She needed to find a job.
For youth in Alicia’s situation, the barriers can feel insurmountable. She had challenges maintaining clean clothing. She faced long queues for shower facilities. Her sleeping situation was difficult in a room with five other women. And safety was an ongoing concern.
Through Operation Come Home, Alicia found support. She enrolled in an employment program and met a new worker, Danielle, who was not just an Employment Support Worker on the Employment Matters team, but also someone with lived experience of homelessness.
This made all the difference for Alicia. Danielle had first-hand knowledge of the challenges youth face in the homelessness system. Like Alicia, she had also sought employment to help secure her own apartment. Danielle could truthfully say that Alicia’s situation was not unique. That it was solvable. And that she needed to keep going.
The role of peers in employment support
When you are facing a big challenge, it can be helpful to talk with people who have been there before. This is true in life generally, and especially true in the world of supported employment.
These two observations are not just common sense but also borne out in research data. People with past experience of substance use challenges make excellent mentors for those looking to reduce their own substance use. Those who have lived experience of homelessness are excellent guides to help people navigate the housing system. And people who experienced barriers to employment can help open doors for people coming after, who are facing the same issues.
“Danielle could truthfully say that Alicia’s situation was not unique. That it was solvable. And that she needed to keep going.”
In Alicia’s case, this made a significant difference. She and her worker, Danielle, met twice per week to talk about challenges and troubleshoot problems. Within a month of entering the homelessness system, Alicia was able to obtain a new job at a tourist attraction. Danielle helped with advice on a number of subjects – not just interview and resume preparation, but also how to ensure you arrive for work on time, how to maintain a professional appearance and how to ensure she didn’t lose her bed in shelter if her shift went late.
The need for new approaches
Operation Come Home works with youth experiencing homelessness in Ottawa, helping them achieve goals in education, housing and employment. Over the past three years, program participants, staff and researchers worked to design and implement a new supported employment model. The model combined elements from traditional employment programming alongside a focus on peer involvement, leading to significant increases in the number of youth able to achieve employment.
As an employment agency operating in Ottawa for many years, Operation Come Home staff used the Individual Placement and Support (“IPS”) model in their employment programming. IPS was originally developed in the U.S. and targeted at people who experience significant mental illness. Some of the key elements of IPS included rapid job search, zero-exclusion, consideration of worker preferences and systematic job development.
IPS had been an effective model for Operation Come Home’s programs for many years, but post-pandemic, it seemed to be faltering. As unemployment rose, and the cost of living increased with it, many young people in Operation Come Home’s programs started to become discouraged. The focus on rapid employment seemed ill-suited to a job market that required participants to wait several months for entry-level jobs.
Building on IPS with peer support
To improve results, the team worked with researchers at Carleton University to develop a new supported employment model, once that could transform how employment services were delivered. The research team was composed of people who themselves had lived experience of homelessness. They interviewed and held focus group sessions with program participants, and ultimately, used their feedback and interests to develop a new supported model: a hybrid involving IPS and peer support.
From IPS, the team kept the systematic approach and the focus on moving youth into employment opportunities rapidly. Peer support workers provided additional insight and support to participants along the way. The role of peers in the project was twofold – to remind the participants that meaningful progress was happening while job searching, while providing social and wrap-around support. The research also uncovered operational needs for the management team. One of the key learnings was that peers need ongoing debriefs and clinical support to help ensure they maintain their own well-being, given the risk that they can become personally invested in the successes of their clients.
Participants have enjoyed the new model and are engaging more often that in the past. The data has been encouraging as well. Since the project started, 146 youth have obtained employment in external, private-sector organizations – an average of six youth each month. Youth also enjoyed the project more often, and especially engaging with peer support workers. The amount of engagement increased, and motivation improved, leading to improved results.
In Alicia’s case, the program was successful. She was able to maintain her employment and, within three months of first entering the system, obtain a new apartment with rent subsidies and the income she had earned. With luck and perseverance, her experiences in the system will become an increasingly distant memory.
