Trent University Forensic Science

This report has two main purposes. The first is to identify which social service providers are involved in finding rental accommodation for clients and determining the challenges which are faced by these organizations as a consequence of landlord's concerns about renting to marginalized individuals. The second is to identify the approaches social service providers use to mitigate these landlord concerns to create best practice recommendations for the Haliburton- Kawartha Lakes-Pine Ridge (HKPR) region. Research was completed using an extensive and thorough literature review, email fact-finding and an online survey. Findings from this research included the identification of organizations within the HKPR region that work in housing and with individuals who are marginalized. The mitigation methods these organizations use such as rent supplements, arranging for repairs, and paying for damaged property to mitigate different landlord concerns were also identified. The main concerns landlords have are non-payment of rent, damaged property, and neighborhood. Innovative programs such as RentSmart Ontario and the critical role these programs play is highlighted in addition to new adaptations on the previously established Housing First ideology with the Tiny Homes program.

This paper examines provincial post-custody accommodation. The purpose of this research, was to investigate what is currently occurring in the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge (HKPR) region and review any existing best practice or programs for post-custody accommodation. To achieve this goal, a grey literature review was conducted and a survey addressing post-custody accommodation was emailed to social service organizations in the HKPR region. The survey consisted of qualitative and quantitative questions. The organizations were asked if they provided any services or support for post-custody clients, if they directly operated housing for post-custody, what problems post-custody clients experience, any barriers and challenges to meeting accommodation needs, any services that should be implemented and if the federal mandated post-release planning should be implemented provincially. The research demonstrated that the biggest barrier was a lack of housing. In terms of services, housing support workers and long term permanent housing should be implemented. The research also alluded to organizations wanting to see similar post-release planning, as mandated at the federal level. Recommendations include: targeting organizations that directly operate post-custody accommodation, disperse yearly surveys, test other post-custody accommodation models and fight for adequate housing.

The purpose of this research was to determine what feedback the City of Peterborough should gather from recipients of its supplement programs, what survey structure can be implemented on an annual basis, what impact on quality of life financial support has had on tenants, and how the rent supplement has affected the recipients' living arrangements. The City of Peterborough rent supplement program provides rent subsidies to individuals of low income to reduce the amount that they have to allocate to rent. To accomplish the goals of this study, recipients of rent supplements participated in a survey and focus group. The survey consisted of quantitative and qualitative questions inquiring about the participants' experiences since receiving the supplement. The focus group expanded on the results from the survey. Grey literature research was conducted to determine what information other municipalities have gathered on residents' experiences with their rent supplement programs. The data shows that overall the quality of life and living arrangements have improved for individuals receiving a rent supplement. Residents can now afford healthier groceries and social activities. In order to conduct the survey on an annual basis the questions should be quantitative and responses collected on a scale of strongly agree to strongly disagree. This paper is a continuation of a project that is interested in the experiences of residents receiving supplements from the City of Peterborough. Part one of this research focused on geared-to-income programs. This part focuses on flat-rate rent supplements offered by the Housing Resource Centre.

Working with Tekdesk in Peterborough, the purpose of the research was to determine all the current laws and legalities of Canadian law and where we, as Canadians, stand compared to similarly developed countries. This report contains the current research of important Canadian Laws as found in the Criminal Code, refined by relevant case law as found on canlii.org.

Homelessness is a serious problem in North America today. In 1990, women comprised between 15% and 29% of the homeless population and are steadily increasing because of multiple economic, historic and political factors.