Intellectual disability and homelessness.
Homeless Montrealers with ID have layered risks, but women stabilize faster when services match their pace and literacy level.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Spanoudis et al. (2011) followed homeless adults with intellectual disability in Montreal.
The team watched who used shelters, drop-in centers, and outreach teams for months.
They wrote short stories about each person to see who got stable housing and who stayed on the street.
What they found
Women with ID were more likely to find and keep housing.
Some men cycled in and out of shelters for years.
Almost everyone had extra problems like mental-health needs or substance use.
How this fits with other research
Matson et al. (2009) show that most adults with ID already have tiny social networks and little paid work.
C et al. add that once these same adults lose housing, those weak ties make it harder to climb back indoors.
Webb et al. (1999) describe adults with ID and alcohol problems who also fall through service cracks; the two papers together paint a picture of Canadian systems that miss the same group.
Yalon-Chamovitz (2009) argues that pace, literacy, and stigma create invisible walls; C et al. give real-life examples of those walls keeping people homeless.
Why it matters
If you assess adults with ID during intake, slow the interview down and use plain words.
Ask about housing history every visit; eviction can start a fast slide.
Team up with shelters and add visual move-in checklists so clients with ID can keep their keys.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: The association between poverty and intellectual disability (ID) has been well documented. However, little is known about persons with ID who face circumstances of extreme poverty, such as homelessness. This paper describes the situation of persons with ID who were or are homeless in Montreal and are currently receiving services from a team dedicated to homeless persons. AIMS: (1) To describe the characteristics, history and current situation of these persons; and (2) to report within-group differences as a function of gender and current residential status. METHODS: The data were collected from files using an anonymous chart summary. Descriptive statistics on the whole sample (n = 68) and inferential statistics on cross-tabulations by gender and residential status were performed. RESULTS: Persons with ID exhibited several related problems. Some of these persons, primarily women, experienced relatively short periods of homelessness and their situations stabilised once they were identified and followed up. Other persons with ID experienced chronic homelessness that appeared to parallel the number and severity of their other problems. When compared with a previous epidemiological study of the homeless in Montreal, the population of homeless persons with ID differed from the overall homeless population in a number of respects. CONCLUSION: The results suggest prevention and intervention targets. The need for epidemiological research appears particularly clear in light of the fact that below-average intellectual functioning has been identified as a risk factor for homelessness and a predisposing factor for vulnerability among street people.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2011 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2010.01366.x