“Living in Limbo: Homeless Young People’s Paths to Housing” – Report Launch 29th May 2017

Former President Mary McAleese launched Dr Paula Mayock and Sarah Parker’s (School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin) newly-published book “Living in Limbo” which details findings of a longitudinal study of young people experiencing homelessness. This study – which ‘tracks’ young people and their family members over time – marks a critical contribution to our understanding of youth homelessness in Ireland today. The report was funded by Focus Ireland, Simon Communities, Threshold, St Vincent de Paul, and Peter McVerry Trust. See the Irish Times news piece on the report here.

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Launch of Limerick Youth Housing Evaluation-  Report Launch 29 June 2017

Focus Ireland and Tusla co-launched an evaluation on Limerick Youth Housing which was conducted by Just Economics research consultants. The success of the project is seen to be linked to the effective and productive partnership approach between Focus Ireland, Tusla and Limerick City & County Council. It is hoped that Focus Ireland will be able to use the service as a model of good practice to be replicated elsewhere around the country through a partnership approach, as articulated in our recently-published Youth Housing Model.  There was extensive regional and national media coverage of the event, including RTE Drive Time and RTE News.
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Launch of “Food Access and Nutritional Health for Families in Emergency Accommodation” Report – 9th August 2017

Nuala Ward (Director of Investigations, Ombudsman for Children) launched a report on food access and nutritional health of families living in emergency homeless accommodation. The report – which was led by Dr Michelle Share from the School of Education (Trinity College Dublin) – explores families’ everyday experiences of food routines and strategies in homeless accommodation and the impact this has had on the nutrition and health outcomes on both parents and their children. This research was funded by DCYA and Department of Health and commissioned by Focus Ireland.

Lunchtime talks are open to all. Please RSVP using the links provided.

Venue: George’s Hill Chapel, Stanhope Green, Halston Street, Dublin 7. Click here for map.

Lunchtime Talks 2017

June 2017 – Dr Peter Mackie (Cardiff University), Steve Gaetz (Canadian Observatory on Homelessness), and Mike Allen (Focus Ireland)

Dr Peter Mackie, Dr Steve Gaetz and Mike Allen explored the topic of preventing homelessness in a roundtable event. This event took the form of an open discussion which considered international lessons on prevention of homelessness and how this can be applied in an Irish context.

May 2017 – Dr Tom Moore (University of Sheffield)

Dr Tom Moore presented findings from his comparative analysis of the private rented sector between Ireland and England. His report, which was co-written with Dr Richard Dunning (University of Liverpool) and funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation can be found here.

April 2017 – Sarah Sheridan, Research Officer, Focus Ireland

Sarah Sheridan (Focus Ireland’s Research Officer) presented analysis drawn from four waves of data collection during 2016. The findings – which are regularly published on the Focus Ireland website – yield insights into family homelesness which are of relevance to both services and policy-makers.

March 2017 – Dr. Bernie O’Donoghue Hynes, Head of Research, Dublin Region Homeless Executive

Dr O’Donoghue Hynes presented a detailed review of key data for the Dublin region.  A review of statistics relating to numbers of persons engaging and flowing through homeless services will be explored and past and future trends analysed.

February 2017 – Nicholas Pleace (University of York)

Nicholas Pleace presented on research he conducted with Dennis Culhane (University of Pennsylvania) which examined the financial implications of extending preventative services for single homeless people in England, drawing on the lessons of extending homelessness prevention in Wales.

January 2017 – Ruth Ceannt (Psychiatry Registrar, HSE).

This talk was based on a study into the experiences of staff members in Dublin’s homeless services on working with individuals who report mental illness and addiction issues. This research, which was carried out in May 2015 as part of a Masters in Global Health, involved interviewing staff in various homeless services using semi-structured interviews.

December 2016 – Alison Connolly (Policy Officer, Focus Ireland) and Daniel Hoey (Researcher)

This talk detailed the planning, roll-out and evaluation of a targeted homelessness prevention campaign in Dublin 15 funded by Bord Gais.

November 2016 – Prof Eoin O’Sullivan (Trinity College Dublin).

The presentation analysed trends in expenditure over the past 4 years, exploring the breakdown of expenditure between preventative and emergency services, the extent of funding by service provider and regional variations.

October 2016 – Dr Anne O’Farrell (HSE)

Dr Anne O’Farrell from the HSE examined inpatient hospitalisation admission data and found a 400% increase of individuals who were categorised as having “no fixed abode” over the last ten years.

September 2016 – Dr. Helen Johnston (NESC)

Helen Johnston of the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) talked about research on the circumstances of these jobless households, and explored the links between homelessness and joblessness.

June 2016 – Dr Mary Murphy and Zuzanna Kucharski (NUI Maynooth) and Reinvest Peer Research Team (Paul Haughan, Emma Richardson, Kathleena Twomey and Tom Thompson)

‘Hearing it from the ground up’: An account of peer research into the social damage of the crisis in Ireland. This study forms part of a wider EU-funded Horizon 2020 study.

May 2016 – Dr Steph Holt (School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin)

‘Evaluation of Sonas Safe Home Project’. Dr Steph Holt presented research findings from a mixed methods study of a Sonas housing service for victims of domestic abuse.

April 2016 – Prof. Tim Aubry (University of Ottawa), Freek Spinnewijn (Director, FEANTSA) and Adrian Quinn (Focus Ireland)

Roundtable discussion on the implementation of Housing First in both an Irish and a European Context. This event provided an opportunity to explore barriers and opportunities in implementing Housing First in Canada and across Europe and to generate discussion on how we apply these learnings to an Irish context.

March 2016 – Prof. Eoin O’Sullivan (School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin)

‘Recent Trends in Homelessness in Ireland’. In analysing statistical reports on homeless populations published by Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, Prof. O’Sullivan presenting emerging trends in both the prevalence and profile of individuals and families becoming homeless across Ireland.

February 2016 – Alison Connolly (Policy Officer, Focus Ireland)

‘A Preliminary Analysis of Children and Families in Emergency Homeless Accommodation’. Alison presented key findings from an analysis of administrative data relating to families becoming homeless in 2015.

Public evening event on “Preventing Homelessness: Lessons from Wales and Canada”- 28th June 2017 – Royal Irish Academy

Dr Peter Mackie (University of Cardiff), Melanie Redman (A Way Home, Canada) and Dr Steve Gaetz (Canadian Observatory of Homelessness) presented on homelessness prevention in Wales and Canada.

Focus Ireland 10th Annual Conference: “No Going Back- Building Sustainable Pathways out of Homelessness” – Tuesday 27th September 2016 – Aviva Stadium

Prof. Guy Johnson –

Keynote session: What can 80 Aussie’s tell us about Homelessness?

• Bairbre Nic Aongusa ( Department of Housing, Planning, Community & Local Government)-Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness
• Dr Lorcan Sirr (DIT)-Measurement & Management of the Irish Housing Stock
• Karen Doyle (Focus Ireland)-Housing First & Deinstitutionalisation- My Home, My Choice
• Triona O’Connor (Focus Ireland)- Housing First for Youth Service
• Adrian Quinn (Focus Ireland)- Implementing Dublin Housing First
• Wayne Stanley (Focus Ireland)- Does it matter who is allocated the housing?
• Rosalind Carroll (RTB)- Matching people with the housing

‘Ireland’s Forgotten Homeless: Youth Homelessness and Lessons from the Canadian Campaign to End Youth Homelessness’:

An Open Meeting Event with Prof Steve Gaetz (Homeless Hub), Melanie Redman (A Way Home: Working Together to End youth Homelessness) and Dr Paula Mayock (TCD). Chaired by Gordon Hill (National Youth Council of Ireland). This even took place on 28^th June 2016 in the Royal Irish Academy, Dawson Street.

‘Developing Housing First in Canada’ – Professor Tim Aubry

Professor Tim Aubry (At Home/Chez Soi Demonstration Project, University of Ottawa) gave a presentation on Housing First in Canada on 19^th April 2016 in Trinity College Dublin.