A community health and wellbeing approach to addressing the UK youth homelessness crisis

在英国，16至24岁的年轻人是最有可能无家可归的人。新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19，即2019冠状病毒病）大流行、多年的紧缩政策以及福利制度的变化，都导致了更广泛的系统性问题，这意味着青年无家可归者的人数现在达到了创纪录的水平。无家可归者组织必须应对当地和区域对其服务日益增长的需求，服务用户的需求日益复杂，资源减少，成本增加。地区当局还在无家可归问题战略方面承担更多责任，这些战略需要以现有最佳证据为依据。这些组织比以往任何时候都更需要有效、廉价和易于实施的方法，以改善受益最多的年轻人的成果。该项目将通过进一步了解以前共同创建的心理技能培训工具包的核心组件如何在圣巴西尔新的过渡中心服务中交付来满足这一迫切需求。St Basils是一家位于西米德兰兹郡的青年无家可归者慈善机构，为16-24岁无家可归的年轻人提供支持。这三个工具包（活动、交付方式和评估）是与无家可归的年轻人共同创建的，以满足他们的需求。这些工具包是基于10年的研究与圣巴西尔，开发，交付和评估我的优势培训生活计划MST 4Life计划。参与MST 4Life已帮助600多名无家可归的年轻人取得积极成果，如改善健康和福祉，参与就业，教育和培训，以及在独立生活方面取得进展。该奖学金旨在建立在我的ESRC资助的博士学位的基础上，该博士学位对MST 4Life计划进行了过程评估，以了解前线服务人员在多大程度上可以提供心理上知情的计划，坚持以实力为基础的交付风格。该奖学金将有助于评估过渡中心的优势方法，该中心支持最受排斥和社会孤立的无家可归的年轻人，他们的需求比以前在与圣巴西尔的研究合作中看到的更为复杂。在无家可归问题部门开展进一步的跨学科工作，既直接支持无家可归的年轻人（例如，这项奖学金旨在解决的重要问题包括：通过MST 4life方案，间接挑战对无家可归者产生负面影响的社会和系统性污名和陈规定型观念，以及边缘化和歧视。国际研究访问了2个加拿大机构和无家可归者部门的当地合作伙伴（例如，青年服务局）是一个关键的机会，介绍我的研究，以国际学术观众（例如，城市青年研究中心（CUYR）和社区组织，扩大了我的博士学位和这项奖学金的研究影响。通过这次访问，我也将继续建立自己的研究网络和合作（例如，通过成为CUYR的附属成员）和通过了解不同文化背景和不同学科视角下的无家可归问题的交叉性。因此，该奖学金旨在：1）进一步了解工作人员在复杂环境中可以提供基于优势的方法的程度，以支持年轻人发展必要的软成果和独立的进步。3)从关于城市治理的学术文献中纳入新的观点，并向广泛的受众传播研究成果，以影响关于无家可归问题的公共和政策辩论。

Young people aged 16 to 24 years old in the UK are amongst those most at risk for experiencing homelessness. The covid-19 pandemic, years of austerity and changes to the benefits system have all contributed to wider systemic issues that means youth homelessness is now reaching record numbers. Homeless organisations are having to respond to a rising demand for their services locally and regionally, for service users with increasingly complex needs, and with reduced resources and higher costs. Regional authorities are also taking on more responsibility for homelessness strategies which need to be informed by the best available evidence. More than ever, these organisations need effective, inexpensive, and easy to implement approaches to improve outcomes for young people who stand to benefit the most. This project will meet this urgent need by understanding further how the core components of previously co-created Mental Skills Training Toolkits are delivered within St Basils new Transition Hub Service. St Basils is a West Midlands-based youth homeless charity that supports young people aged 16-24 who are experiencing homelessness. These three toolkits (activities, delivery style and evaluation) were co-created with young people experiencing homelessness to support their needs. These toolkits are based on 10 years of research with St Basils, to develop, deliver, and evaluate the My Strengths Training for Life programme MST4Life programme. Engaging in MST4Life has helped over 600 young people experiencing homelessness to achieve positive outcomes such as improved health and wellbeing, engagement in employment, education and training and progress towards independent living. This fellowship aims to build on work from my ESRC funded PhD which conducted a process evaluation of the MST4Life programme to understand the extent to which frontline service staff could deliver a psychologically informed programme in adherence to the strengths-based delivery style. The fellowship will contribute to the evaluation of strengths-based approaches in the Transition Hub which supports the most perpetually excluded and socially isolated young people experiencing homelessness, whose needs are more complex than has been previously seen throughout the research collaboration with St Basils. Further interdisciplinary work within the homelessness sector that both directly supports young people experiencing homelessness (e.g., the MST4life programme), and indirectly through challenging societal and systemic stigma and stereotypes that negatively impact those experiencing homelessness, through marginalisation and discrimination are important aspects this fellowship aims to address. The international research visit to 2 Canadian institutions and local partners within the homeless sector (e.g., Youth Services Bureau) is a key opportunity to present my research to international academic audiences (e.g., Centre for Urban Youth Research; CUYR), and community organisations, extending the impact of research from my PhD and this fellowship. Through the visit I will also continue to build my own research network and collaborations (e.g., through affiliate membership to the CUYR) and intersectionality through learning about homelessness in different cultural contexts and different disciplinary perspectives. This fellowship therefore aims to: 1) Further understand the extent to which staff can deliver a strengths-based approach in a complex setting to support young people to develop essential soft outcomes and progress towards independence.2) Understand how public engagement events based on the collaborative work between St Basils and the SPRINT Research project can help reduce societal stigma towards homelessness. 3) Integrate a novel perspective from the academic literature on urban governance, and to disseminate research to a wide range of audiences to influence public and policy debate on homelessness.