Housing First for Youth (HF4Y) is a youth-focused adaptation of the well-established Housing First program used to address homelessness for adults. Housing First asserts that housing should not be contingent upon readiness or on ‘compliance’ (for instance, sobriety) because housing is a human right. Therefore, it challenges all of us to think differently about what it takes to meet people where they’re at and create long-term change. 

We know it’s a bold approach to take, but we also know that it works.

To kick off 2025, January’s Prevention Matters! panel discussed new research demonstrating that young people are more successful in moving forward with their lives if they are first housed. Watch us and our partners, A Way Home Canada and Making the Shift, unpack evidence-based* insights on Housing First for Youth, its benefits and what our research has taught us about what it takes to prevent youth homelessness.

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