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Best Practices with Homeless Immigrants and Refugees

Best Practices for Working with Homeless Immigrants and Refugees was a three-year community-based action research project. The overall objectives of this project were to:

  • document the experiences of adult immigrants and refugees who have used single men’s or women’s shelters or drop-in centres in Toronto;
  • develop best practices among shelter and drop-in staff for working with immigrants and refugees.
  • facilitate the linkage of shelter/drop-ins with health, settlement, legal and community based social services.

Funder

The project was supported by the Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative (SCPI).

Findings and Actions

Best Practices for Working with Homeless Immigrants and Refugees: A Community-Based Action-Research Project (PDF format, 761KB, 64 pgs)

This report highlights twenty-one recommendations that were identified through the research process. These were organized into four priority themes that were addressed during the action phase of the project:

  • culturally appropriate service delivery in shelters and drop-ins
  • linguistic accessibility of shelters and drop-ins
  • co-ordination of services between shelters, drop-ins and other sectors
  • co-ordination of training on issues affecting homeless immigrants and refugees

Through the efforts of a community based Planning and Implementation Committee and its working groups, steps were taken to address the recommendations. Some of the successes include:

  • Guiding principles on cultural competency were developed and shared with the community;
  • A pilot project to coordinate services between shelters, drop-ins, settlement services and health was developed, received funding and was implemented in the fall of 2004;
  • A campaign to eliminate language barriers resulted in funding for interpretation services in shelters on a pilot basis beginning in the fall of 2005;
  • An environmental scan on training gaps among staff working with homeless immigrants and refugees was produced.

Best Practices for Working with Homeless Immigrants and Refugees: A Community-Based Action-Research Project: Phase II: Action (PDF, 322 KB, 44 pgs) reports on the processes and outcomes of the action phase and outlines possible next steps for the community to continue the work now that funding for this project is finished.