Peer support is an effective method of supporting people who are experiencing barriers, stresses, or disappointment. Peer support occurs when people use their lived experience to provide support to youth through knowledge sharing, joint problem solving, and providing advice in dealing with different things. All housing staff should be provided with appropriate training in providing peer support, including not over-stepping boundaries. 

Youth will navigate various life stressors throughout their time in the home. These could include family dynamics, relationships, school, and work, as well as gender-transition related stressors such as waiting for a gender-affirming surgery. Stressors will impact youth and disrupt their able to emotionally regulate. Housing staff will often be called upon to provide peer support and referrals during these times.

Food insecurity can be a major issues for queer youth and can be intensified depending in group living situations or depending on the location of your housing program. It is highly recommended that you provide food and groceries for the entire home as part of the general operations (rather than requiring that youth buy their own groceries). Staff should consult youth when developing the grocery list and invite youth to join for shopping or help with ordering groceries for delivery. If additional shopping is required in a particular week this should be discussed with staff and youth as neccessary. 

Pride Home spends 700-1000/month on food for six residents and they found that it was easy to fundraise for food among community and corporate donors. For example, a local clothing store (Hardpressed) covered annual food costs for Pride Home for its first three years of operation.

An important part of building independance and resilience is learning how to cook! Although staff will likely cook some meals throughout the week, youth-led cooking includes allowing youth suggest meals and lead the cooking process with the support of housing staff. You might want to set up a cooking schedule or have weekly "family" dinners. Encouraging youth to eat together creates a sense of community and builds relationships between youth and with staff. Staff can provide support in how to follow recipes, prepare ingredients, and model required cooking techniques.

Build a chore list and teach youth how to clean and tidy their own and public spaces. 

At Pride Home, all residents have weekly chores, but Thursday is cleaning day. On this day, Pride Home staff participate in cleaning the house, focusing on tasks that are not part of daily chores and modeling good hygiene and taking pride in one's space. 

Having a designated vehicle might not be possible, but it can be very helpful.

Pride Home received a donated vehicle from Sherwood Chevrolet in Saskatoon and it was used to instead of employee's personal vehicles for all work-related errands (ie: groceries, appointments). This vehicle can also be used to take youth to medical and counselling appointments. 

See the Pride Home policy manual for detailed transportation polices. 

Youth are usually responsible for their own medication, unless otherwise indicated. It is very important that staff follow all medication procedures appropriately and that medication is stored in a secure area. 

• Medication Sheet Template

Housing staff will need to be well-versed in community programs and services, relevant healthcare procedures and practices, and the specific needs of 2SLGBTQ+ youth as a great deal of their time will be spent supporting youth as they navigate systems and processes that often exclude them and create unnecessary barriers.

House meetings are places where youth can connect and bring up any concerns they may have, as well as concerns staff have about youth engagement, conflicts between youth and general updates about the home. This is also an opportunity for youth to let the staff know about changes they may want in the home and programming they would like the staff to look into.

Please see more in the Staffing section.

• Staffing

Residents in the home should have access to emergency and on-call contacts whenever staff are not in the home. These contacts can also include pre-existing community support programs. When deciding for your own organization what is best for you, consider the supports available in your community and whether they would adequately serve 2SLGBTQ+ youth in times of emergency. 

• On-Call Policy

When a staff has two or more staff, it is imperative that the staff are talking to one another regularly, filling each other in on what is happening, and debriefing any tough conversations or situations with youth that have happened during their shift. Debriefing sessions serve as staff peer-support as staff listen and suggest strategies on how to handle the situation with the youth, or how to destress after having tough shifts. This also allows all the staff to discuss whether any of the youth need extra support or are going through difficult experiences. 

Working in a group home is very different from working in an office environment and Housing Managers should also debrief with staff regularly. 

Shift notes capture conversations, descriptions of events and interactions with youth in writing that is detailed, concise and thorough. Writing can include details about updates in case management, meaningful conversations or incidents or involvement in programming. Shift notes help keep track of communication and serve as legal documentation in the case of allegations made against staff or other residents.

• Shift Notes Template

When there is an incident in the home - for example a violent episode, a visit from an unwanted guest, a fight between residents or between a youth and a staff - it is crucial that you take time to debrief with staff and all youth in the home, even those that weren't involved. Incidents such as these can have a big impact on the culture and safety of the home and when people are left out or excluded from the recovery conversations, it delays rebuilding of relationships and trust.

• Incident Report Template