![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.gif)
Unhoused and recently housed young people have often endured multiple axes of marginalization, including long-term abuse and neglect from systems which have failed to support them. Meanwhile, many young people find contexts and relationships which help them survive and thrive, including spending time in supportive places and seeking out communities of care. Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) is a formal intervention which seeks to offer stability and support, and is relatively new as employed with young adults. Burgeoning research suggests that permanent supportive housing settings may foster social and relational wellbeing outcomes, including psychological sense of community (PSOC). Our study explored: How do young adult residents navigate questions of inclusion and exclusion in building relationships with one another after moving into PSH?
Methods:
This study employed a qualitative longitudinal approach to understand experiences of community among PSH residents in a congregate setting in Western Colorado (N=27, young adults, ages 18-24) over four time points: before moving into PSH (retrospectively recalled), and 6, 12, and 18 months after moving in. Qualitative questions about residents’ PSOC before and after moving into PSH, and what experiences they identify as shaping their sense of community, were embedded in a 1-hour long mixed-methods interview. Longitudinal data were analyzed using McMillan & Chavis’ (1986) PSOC model to guide thematic analysis, with particular focus on the membership construct of PSOC.
Results:
Residents (27 young adults, ages 18-24 when entering PSH) described three key tensions in inclusivity and exclusivity when navigating community and belonging in the PSH setting. First, while PSH is meant to be an inclusive low-barrier housing opportunity, some residents felt safer in the community when certain folks (often, those who were engaged in community conflict and/or using substances in ways that felt distracting for others) - left. Secondly, residents described the tension of prioritizing adherence to rules versus low-barrier services. Rules and policies made some people feel safer; for others, such rules felt out of line with the needs and realities of one’s personal recovery journey. Finally, residents expressed the tension felt when making decisions around caring for yourself versus caring for your community. The needs and realities of one resident could harm or hinder another's safety and wellbeing – for example, when a resident sought sobriety and another resident’s substance use impacted their relapse. Further, residents had to make choices as to whether to share resources (e.g., food, cigarettes) with one another or keep resources for oneself.
Conclusions & Implications:
Substance use often sat at the center of each of these tensions, posing complex questions about how housing approaches should balance harm reduction and trauma-informed approaches with the developmental realities of emerging adults who have experienced chronic homelessness. While harm reduction and housing-first approaches are vital in offering accessible support services, residents’ conflicting needs suggest the potential value in sub-communities within PSH settings which attend to individual needs. Future research should explore how PSH settings – congregate and non-congregate- may best offer accessible care which centers young people’s self-defined needs and goals.