Homelessness, bedspace and the case for Housing First in Canada

- This paper draws attention to the act of problem formation in policymaking.
- We describe one form of problematization we call bedspace.
- Bedspace describes costs of ER visits, acute hospitalization and shelter use.
- Bedspace has helped to secure public investments in HF programs.

The act of problem formation is integral to the policymaking process. Moreover, the process by which certain situations, experiences or events are rendered problematic hinges upon the places, spaces and networks through which the issue is made visible and intelligible to policy makers and decision makers. In this paper, we explore these epistemic geographies by unpacking one such example - the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home/Chez Soi study - a federally funded, $110 million field trial of the Housing First (HF) model. HF prioritizes rapid rehousing of the chronically homeless, followed by separate support and treatment services. The model has become widespread in Canada since 2005, based in large part on understandings of its cost-effectiveness. In this article, we utilize At Home/Chez Soi as an illustrative case for examining how 'chronic homelessness' is translated into a discourse of costs and benefits, and given an accounting value, through a series of translations. This problematization advances a particular logic - what we refer to as 'bedspace'.