Uncovering homelessness in Durban:

First steps towards supporting street and shelter-living

populations

eThekwini-Academic Research Symposium 2017

01 – 02 June 2017, Durban ICC

Study team:

Timol, F., Groenewald, C., Sausi, K., Khalema, E. and Desmond, C.

Defining and understanding

homelessness

Individuals who have homes somewhere but are homeless within the

cities

What support do they need?

Migrants who have homes in their country of

origin but live on the streets in the country

they migrated to

What support do they need?

People living in shelters

What support do they need?

People that do not have a home to return to

What support do they need?

In many cases homelessness has been viewed as a problem that

encroaches on the rights of other citizens or businesses in the area.

The solution has been merely relocating the homeless to other

less visible areas. Little consideration is given to the

rights of the homeless as citizens to occupy these spaces. 1

The way we understand

homelessness and the subgroups

that exist is important for the

development of contextually

relevant interventions to support

these populations

1. Cross, Seager et al. (2010)

Evidence based research to

inform decisions

•2009

•360 homeless people interviewed

•Warwick Junction region

•Recommendations:

•Develop databases on the homeless, available shelters and their associated services

•Census on homeless population in the city

•Services to promote job creation

•Safe and affordable accommodation

i-Trump homelessnes

s survey

•2013

•354 homeless individuals interviewed and profiled

•Albert Park, Victoria Embankment area

•Recommendations

•Involve various local and national stakeholders to address issues related to substance abuse amongst the homeless

•Accommodation/shelter

Albert Park Profiling

study

HSRC

study

July

2015

-

June

2016

•CBO’s

•FBO’s

•Local government employees

Wealth of knowledge that exists within the

community

Methodology

Community-based Participatory Research

Acknowledging the wealth of knowledge that exists within the community

Involves all stakeholders in all aspects of the research process

All stakeholders contribute expertise and share in decision making process thereby fostering project ownership

In adopting this methodology it was hoped that in addition to the project

outcomes, the process itself would be beneficial

Work with existing organisation on the ground to ensure findings are easily filtered back to those working on the ground

Work with existing organisations facilities so that financial resources can be filtered back into the community.

Three Phase Study

Phase 1: Formative phase

• Focus on the relationship building aspects of the

processes by developing research and community networks, understanding supportive systems, and

fostering joint project ownership

• Consultation Process

• Gaining entry

• Establishing Steering Committee

• Establishing Advisory committee

• Qualitative data collection

• Interviews

• Focus group discussions

• Life grid/life histories

• Asset mapping

Phase 2: Homelessness census

• A census of all persons sleeping on the streets/in

shelters within the demarcated study site.

• Census questionnaire developed from qualitative component of the study (phase 1)

• Guided by steering committee

• Involved stakeholders in data collection

• Collaborative

• Skills sharing

• Build on existing relationships and trust

• Foster project ownership

Phase 3: Feedback workshops/ roundtable

policy discussions

• Feedback results to stakeholders

• Foster project ownership

• Stakeholder representatives invited to policy discussion meetings

• Collectively develop policy recommendations

Summary of fieldworkSummary of fieldwork

• A pilot study was

conducted between 28

and 29 January 2016

• Interviews on the street

were conducted from 6 –

13 Feb 2016 between

3.00AM and 6.30 AM.

• Interviews in shelters

were conducted from 8 -

12 Feb between 7PM and

9PM

Street and Shelter-living persons

-Roughly the same size

Street-Living

1959

1746

Shelter-living

1974

505

24

13

Count

Interviewed

Number of

shelters included

in count

Number of

shelters visited

Demographic Breakdown

Street-Living Shelter-living

88% Male 80% MaleGender

87% Black 62% BlackRace

Region of origin 42

31

14

12

1

Ethekwini

KZN

SA

Foreigner

Unknown

45

22

22

9

1

Ethekwini

KZN

SA

Foreigner

Unknown

3

26

45

15

93 60 years and

over45-59 years

35-44 years

25-34 years

19-24 years

Under 18 years 2

20

40

18

14

7 60 years andover45-59 years

35-44 years

25-34 years

19-24 years

Under 18 years

Age Breakdown

1959 1974Count

Primary reason for coming to

the streetEmployment & Family related issues (disagreements/close family death)

Street-Living Shelter-living

40

20

11

96

Seeking employment

Family disagreement

Substance abuse

Close family death

Nowhere else to go

36

20

13

94

“I do not have mother and father and I give up on life. Sometimes we take life for granted. I was staying with

my step-mother and things where not too easy so I just gave up. She was mistreating me and I just felt that I

am useless. So I just saw there is no hope. The only hope is the streets, so I went on the streets”

(Street-living male)

Current living arrangements

Street-Living Shelter-living

9

16

29

14

19

102 More than 20 years

10-20years

5-10years

3-5years

1-3years

6months to 1year

less than 6months

Length of current stay on street/in shelter

4

17

36

27

853

60years and older

45-59 years

35-44 years

25-34 years

18-24 years

11-17 years

10 years and younger

Age when first came to stay on street/shelter

6

13

26

16

22

13

3

5

12

26

27

13

11

7

Movements Home

69% of the street-living and 58% of shelter living populations have a place elsewhere that they refer to as home.

Of these people, roughly half indicate that they go home with many reporting going

home often or when they have money to give their family

Of those that have homes, but do not visit, primary reasons

why this is so include a lack of resources at home and no longer having relationships with their family/ community

What do the street & shelter living

need to get off the street/out of a

shelter (multiple selection allowed)

9%

Money

73%

Employment

10%

Money to give to family

16%

Rehabili-tation for

substance use

8%

Rebuilding relationships with family

3%

A place to store goods

5%

Reasonable accommo-

dation close to

employment opportunities

1%

Do not want to leave the

street/ shelter

Street

Shelter 10% 72% 8% 10% 6% 4% 6% 2%

39

24

4342

42

59

3

3

4

3

2

3

24

Street0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

52

35

6

6

3

2

24

52

3

7

6

4

4

23

Shelter

Employment and financesDays worked for pay in the week preceding the census

Access to servicesQuestion: Have you received any of the following support services?

Street-Living Shelter-living

27

2 1 2 17

75

44 52 51 50

80

49

16

26

42 44 44

12

27

7

24

4 3 4 717

Sk

ills

de

velo

pm

en

t

ID d

ocu

me

nt

Psyc

ho

so

cia

l su

pp

ort

Su

pp

ort

fo

r

reu

nif

ica

tio

n/re

inte

gra

tio

n

Su

pp

ort

fo

r re

ha

bilit

ati

on

Em

plo

yme

nt

su

pp

ort

He

alt

h S

erv

ice

s

%

Yes

No and do not require

No, but require it

Yes, but still need

additional help

3 4 1 1 18

61

27 35 35 35

64

37

23

33

56 59 60

24

39

13

35

7 5 411

16

Sk

ills

de

ve

lop

me

nt

ID d

ocu

me

nt

Psych

oso

cia

l su

pp

ort

Su

pp

ort

fo

r

reu

nif

ica

tio

n/re

inte

gra

tio

n

Su

pp

ort

fo

r re

ha

bilit

ati

on

Em

plo

yme

nt

su

pp

ort

He

alt

h S

erv

ice

s

%

Sh

elt

er-

Liv

ing

Str

ee

t-livi

ng

1

1

1

16

4

2

1

1

20

8

9

2

2

32

24

88

96

96

32

63

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Local resident

Service provider

Business

Police

Street person

1

2

1

6

4

2

1

2

7

8

6

2

5

18

20

91

95

91

69

68

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Local resident

Service provider

Business

Police

Street person

Yes, on a daily basis Yes, on a weekly basis Yes, occasionally No

Experiences of intimidation/violence

“…the attempt to resolve that issue but it focused on very specific area so the response of the city and

Metro police has largely been displacement, so you just move people around, you chase people from this

area to somewhere else or you arrest them for loitering or you try to arrest them for drug related issues or

whatever the case may be…” (Government representative)

Substance use

Street-living61% report any drug use

60% report frequent drug use

33% report frequent “hard” drug use

33% report any alcohol use

18% report frequent alcohol use

Shelter-living51% report any drug use

50% report frequent drug use

22% report frequent “hard” drug use

37% report any alcohol use

21% report frequent alcohol use

“I mean you see its kind [of] like, you know when you are seeking for happiness and you know if I can have

one or two sips then I can feel better, at least for that certain time. But to be honest we do not like to do it but

for the sake of you want to feel better and forget about what is happening; you poverties and stuff like that you

know? That is why we are like, we are drowning our sorrows” (street-living participant)

Where to from here - we are

only at the start

Public

AwarenessText Here

Job

CreationShelters

Referral &

advice

centres

Law

enforcementTargeted

services

Key theme areas identified during the policy discussion need to be

thoroughly investigated and plans be developed in these areas based

on the findings of the study, work done elsewhere in the country and

world

Benefits to the eThekwini

Municipality

Municipally funded study: Shows interest in addressing challenges related to homelessness

Identification of the various sub-population groups that exists allowing for a more holistic understanding of

homelessness

Evidence base to support and guide interventions

Highlights key policy related areas requiring further research – Required next step