Surrounding Black Youth with Care: A Data-Informed Approach to Transitional Housing Programming

June 4, 2024 press event at 360°kids to release Understanding Black Youth Homelessness to Inform a Comprehensive Housing Model report.

The struggle for affordable housing is a real and pressing issue across Canada, affecting countless individuals. This challenge is even more daunting for homeless individuals, especially Black youth, who are disproportionally affected. Enter 360°kids, an organization leveraging years of experience to assist over 2,500 at-risk youth annually in overcoming these hurdles in York Region.

360°kids offers robust supports based on four foundational pillars: Housing, Employment, Education, and Well-Being. These comprehensive programs are critical in helping young people pave a path towards stability and independence. 

360°kids took a major step forward in bolstering their Transitions program with a new property in 2023, made possible through a collaboration with the United Way Greater Toronto and the Government of Canada's Reaching Home homelessness strategy. The new building integrates five affordable housing units, creating new transitional housing opportunities for five Black youth. To ensure this transitional home meets the unique needs of the community it will serve, 360°kids contracted LogicalOutcomes in fall 2023 to design evidence-based programmatic guidelines tailored for this pioneering transitional housing initiative. 

LogicalOutcomes assembled a research team comprising individuals with specialized expertise on youth homelessness, including Travonne Edwards, PhD candidate from Toronto Metropolitan University. The project involved research and consultations with an Advisory Group comprising individuals and organizations that support the Black community in York Region. It was imperative for the team to grasp the structural, institutional, and interpersonal dynamics shaping housing insecurity and homelessness among Black youth in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). and for the research to adopt a culturally affirming approach.

Emerging findings include (1) emphasizing the importance of collective support over individual efforts and (2) highlighting the pivotal role of community connections, particularly mentorship from individuals sharing similar lived experiences. 

On June 4, 360°kids released the action report at a press event. 360°kids is already in the process of establishing program parameters, with the objective of welcoming new clients in the coming months. 

The collaboration between 360°kids, the Advisory Group and LogicalOutcomes presents an opportunity for positive transformation across Canada. This work aligns with LogicalOutcomes' unwavering commitment and enthusiasm for supporting Black-focused organizations and initiatives within and beyond the GTA.

Learn more about 360°kids, their programs, and how you can support their mission, visit www.360kids.ca