Accomplishments of YPNFA

  • YPNFA created 27 units of affordable housing at 1900 Sheppard Ave W. for young single homeless women and their babies. All of us on the network call it Jordan’s Village.
  • YPNFA created a Parent Relief program at Jessie’s Centre and at Etobicoke Women’s residence.
  • One of YPNFA’s first accomplishments as a network was the Passport to
    Parenting Program at St. Michaels Hospital which serves over 300 vulnerable young homeless women every year and this program has resulted in 85% of those women delivering healthy and full term babies.
  • YPNFA advocated for child welfare (CAS & CCAS) to take responsibility for their pregnant youth in care and we are supporting CCAS in developing an Alternate Care Placement option for young pregnant crown wards.
  • Wrap Around services (Lumenus Community Services) developed responses to provide service for homeless young parents in partnership with YPNFA.
  • Our network developed an agreement with Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) for access to 20 units of permanent subsidized housing with supports provided by YPNFA agencies. In the end we housed over 40 young families.
  • We offer our support to other networks/community groups who are working to improve the lives of vulnerable young mothers and their families.

Toronto Public Health, in collaboration with the YPNFA network, devised an innovative approach to collect birth information to estimate the number of births to people experiencing homelessness in Toronto. Historically, this population has been under-recognized as traditional data collection systems fail to accurately capture the number of births as disclosure of housing status could impact child custody. Accurate data is essential for advocating for appropriate resources and informing targeted programs and services for this population. Over the years, the TPH-YPNFA Birth Count initiative has consistently shown that there are over 300 babies born into homelessness each year in Toronto. More information about this initiative can be found here. link to article – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5804840/

Homelessness During Pregnancy Symposium 

The YPNFA’s subcommittee PATHS (Providers Advocating Towards Housing Sustainability), in partnership with researchers from Toronto Metropolitan University, held a one day symposium in Toronto in June 2023. The symposium focused on the housing needs of WGD individuals experiencing homelessness during pregnancy. Please see the attached manuscript and presentation with the Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network that provides details about findings from the symposium. 

Manuscript: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/9/486
Presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4R5HNPuGZs

Articles: 

Jordan’s Village
Paediatrics & Child Health

Models of Care Subcommittee Research

A sub-committee of the wider YPNFA network in partnership with the Young Families Clinic at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto Public Health, and the University of Toronto began to meet in mid 2016 to explore the pathways to care taken by young pregnant and parenting youth in Toronto.

We looked at current models of practice and research already available as well as consider how we can ensure that all young pregnant and parenting youth are able to access pre and postnatal services seamlessly and ​address barriers they may face in their attempts to do so.The YPNFA network along with SickKids, Toronto Public Health, and the University of Toronto are extremely grateful for the support and funding from the Women’s College Hospital: Women’s Xchange $15K Challenge allowing us to take on this research initiative.

Women’s Xchange is advancing a gender-sensitive approach to improve the health and quality of life for women and all Ontarians, by connecting researchers, students, community organizations, policy makers, clinicians and individuals interested in women’s health research.
 

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The Infographic

The infographic below outlines the unique healthcare needs of adolescent-led families. It is a tool for clinicians interested in better understanding and empathizing with patients, as well as pregnant and parenting teens who may not feel comfortable communicating these needs. This resource was a joint effort between SickKids, Young Parents No Fixed Address (YPNFA), Toronto Public Health, and the University of Toronto.

OPEN PREZI

A Path to Safety

This video was prepared by the Young Parents no Fixed Address (YPNFA) network and one of their subcommittees called PATHS (Providers Advocating Towards Housing Sustainability). The animation video was created to spread awareness of the experiences of those who are homeless during pregnancy and was debuted at a symposium held on June 8, 2023 (together with Kaitlin Schwan from the Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network).