Researchers conducted 34 interviews with Caribbean homeless youth in Toronto. The majority of their respondents were between the ages of 17-24, were unemployed, and had a grade 11 education on average. A common pathway to homelessness was a breakdown of the family or other key relationships, and for women this often involved abuse. Participants explained that any contact they had with the police was negative and believed it was strongly related to racism and discrimination. A key finding of the project was that race and racism were important elements to understanding youth homelessness in Canada.

The ultimate objective of the program of research is to develop a plan for intervention to meet the mental health needs of street youth. A mixed methodology was used, triangulating qualitative, participatory action, and quantitative methods was used to capture data related to mental health needs of homeless youth. A purposive same of 60-80 subjects, ages 16-24 were invited to participate in the study. This initial survey will provide an increased understanding of the mental health needs of street youth, towards creating desired interventions.