Table of Contents

Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 2
Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3
Tables & Figures……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6
Note to the Reader ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
A Housing First Model for Youth and its Relation to Social Integration …………………………… 8
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….8
Social Integration…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..9
Social integration and well-being …………………………………………………………………………………… 10
Social integration and Youth Experiencing Homelessness …………………………………………………. 15
Housing First Model and At Home/Chez Soi …………………………………………………………………… 18
Housing First and Social Integration ……………………………………………………………………………… 20
HF4Y ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 22
An Operationalized Framework of Social Integration ………………………………………………………. 25
Empowerment Theory, HF4Y & Social Integration ………………………………………………………….. 26
An Operationalized Framework of Empowerment …………………………………………………………… 29
Research Objectives………………………………………………………………………………………………. 31
Research Questions ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 31
Methodology ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 32
Research Paradigm ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 32
Personal Reflexivity …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 33
Method ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 33
Research Context. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….33
Participants. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….36
Data Collection. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..39
Analyzing the Data. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..42
Establishing the Quality of the Data. ……………………………………………………………………………… 43
Quantitative Results ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 46
Qualitative Results ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 53
Social Integration………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 53
Physical Integration …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 57
Psychological Integration ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 59
Other Themes …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 62
Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 64
Findings …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 64
Implications for Service Providers …………………………………………………………………………………. 69
Limitations of the Current Study …………………………………………………………………………………… 71
Summary and Future directions ……………………………………………………………………………………. 73
Knowledge Translation ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 74
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 74
References ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 76
Appendix A: Community Integration Interview Guide ………………………………………………… 84
Appendix B: Community Integration Scale (CIS) ………………………………………………………. 87
Appendix C: Multidimensional Screener of Perceived Social Support Scale (MSPSS) ………. 89
Appendix D: Informed Consent Form ……………………………………………………………………… 92
CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………97
Appendix E: Visual Timeline of Qualitative Data Collection ………………………………………… 98