In our second edition of the Media Matters blog series, we explore the appeal and shortcomings of silver bullet solutions for tackling homelessness. These quick fixes often offer immediate relief but fail to provide sustainable long-term outcomes. Let’s delve into why a multifaceted approach is essential and how media professionals can pivot towards narratives that advocate for enduring solutions.
Want more information about how to shape the narrative around homelessness? Check out this collection of resources on the Homelessness Learning Hub!
The Appeal of Silver Bullet Responses to Homelessness
Silver bullet responses are attractive because they offer seemingly simple answers to complicated problems. Although silver bullet solutions may provide immediate relief to crisis, they often fail to address the underlying issues that contribute to the problem in the first place. Consequently, they resemble a quick patch on a leak that requires extensive repairs.
Today, the challenges of homelessness are increasingly discussed in the media, often accompanied by suggested solutions and various stories of what local communities are doing. Many publications highlight common initiatives ranging from tiny homes, eviction bans, local charity events, and food banks.
Although these efforts provide immediate relief and it is valuable to recognize the actions taken by communities, it is crucial to frame these discussions clearly for the general public, they are not solutions to homelessness. When local debate centres on where to build tiny homes, for instance, we aren’t talking about long-term solutions and aren’t seeing the whole picture. It can be appealing to think that if only the tiny homes could be built, then the problem of homelessness would vanish, but this is far from the truth. Similarly, broadcasting an appeal for donations from a food bank is important, but if the coverage of homelessness and poverty goes no further, the public is not being adequately informed. But why is this a problem?
The Limitations of Quick Fixes
Silver bullet responses create a false sense of security. They give the impression that the problem of homelessness is being adequately addressed, when in reality, the deeper, systemic issues remain unresolved. As well, such coverage funnels public pressure for action around homelessness into short-term fixes, which can also lead to government funding and policy decisions following suite.
Research in the UK has shown that most media coverage tends to overlook the relationship between homelessness and structural factors like poverty, tending to focus on individual life choices and events. This influences the kinds of solutions that are discussed, pushing the discussion towards silver bullets.
For instance, an article about encampments in a neighbourhood might focus on individual-level factors like mental health and addiction and then offer individual-level responses, such as the need for low-barrier shelters. This falls short in two ways. First, it doesn’t discuss structural causes of homelessness (such as the underfunding of mental health care). Second, it offers a silver bullet solution that doesn’t actually resolve the person’s homelessness, as someone in a low-barrier shelter is still homeless.
Articles like these create a context in which communities rally behind silver bullet solutions based on an individualized understanding of homelessness. How can we look at homelessness more holistically, and what are real, lasting solutions to the issue?
Homelessness Is a Complex Issue
Although discussion of homelessness tends to focus on its most visible manifestations, like tents in a park, established definitions of homelessness encompass a much wider range of experiences. For instance, Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy defines it as follows: “The situation of an individual or family who does not have a permanent address or residence, and does not have the immediate prospect, means, and ability of acquiring it.” This includes people staying with friends or in short-term rentals just as much as it does people living in shelters or in parks. Solutions to homelessness need to respond to that whole range.
Homelessness also doesn’t look the same for everyone. Women, for example, are less likely to access homelessness services due to safety concerns and are more likely to rely on their social supports. How do we respond to the hidden homelessness of women? Similarly, Indigenous people are more likely to experience unsheltered homelessness and also experience homelessness at a hugely disproportionate rate. How are solutions to homelessness adapted to meet the specific needs of Indigenous people and to address the causes of Indigenous homelessness?
Shifting to Prevention and Long-Term Solutions
Rather than silver bullet solutions, the evidence shows that a Housing First approach is the key to breaking the cycle of homelessness. Housing First can also be adapted to meet the needs of specific populations, so we see the emergence of Housing First for Youth, Indigenous-led Housing First, and even Housing First adaptations for Indigenous youths.
However, helping people exit homelessness is only useful if we also stop new people from becoming homelessness. For this reason, prevention needs to play a leading role in any response to homelessness. Some proven prevention interventions aimed at people of all ages include eviction prevention and shelter diversion, but any prevention strategy needs to focus on youths. This is because 40% of homeless youth have their first experience of homelessness before age 16, and 46% of chronically homeless adults had their first experience of homelessness before the age of 25. This is why we see the emergence of school-based interventions like Upstream Canada and youth-focused frameworks like Family and Natural Supports.
Housing First and prevention go way beyond the silver bullets, and yet they struggle to gain visibility, public enthusiasm, and stable government support. This is despite the fact that both kinds of interventions are in use across Canada.
Changing the Narrative
Although it can be tempting to offer a simple solution to a complicated problem, focusing on silver bullets doesn’t contribute to finding long-term solutions. Although short-term, individualized responses to homelessness are essential—we aren’t arguing against paying attention to shelters and foodbanks—their inclusion in coverage of homelessness doesn’t contribute to public understanding of the issue. By reframing from individual-level causes of homelessness to structural ones, we open the door to interventions that go beyond the typical crisis response to the issue.
Homelessness is in the news every day across the country, and there is a real public appetite to discuss it in a more substantive way. Let’s set aside the silver bullets and look at what it would take to prevent and end homelessness in our communities.
For more information about how to shape the narrative around homelessness, check out this collection of resources on the Homelessness Learning Hub.