Dr Joanne Bretherton

Profile

Biography

Visit Joanne Bretherton's profile on the York Research Database to see a full list of publications and her research related activities.

Research Fellow

BA Hons Sociology (York)
MA (Distinction) Applied Social Research (in Japan via Westminster)
PhD, (York)

Joanne’s work focuses on innovative strategic and service level responses to homelessness and she has written widely on the pioneering developments in this field during the last five years. Her recent work has centred on evaluations of the introduction of Housing First services in the UK and Ireland and Sanctuary Schemes for women at risk of homelessness due to gender based (domestic) violence. Joanne’s work on inventive service responses to promote the social and economic integration of homeless people includes research she directed on the social enterprise approach developed by Emmaus UK and the evaluation of the first pilot which tested the viability of using Time Banking for homeless people for Broadway. She is currently co-directing a major evaluation of the national Crisis Skylight Programme, which uses a combination of education, training, arts-based activity and one-to-one support to promote social integration and paid employment for single homeless people.

Joanne also has expertise in the operation of the English homelessness legislation and her recent published work includes an examination of medical priority criteria in the statutory homelessness system. Other recent work explored the challenges of measuring and defining homelessness and housing exclusion in an exploration of the use of the European Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion (ETHOS) in Northern Ireland. Joanne has directed and co-directed research (in the UK and overseas) for Government, research councils, local authorities and charities.

Internationally, Joanne coordinates the Women’s Homelessness in Europe Network (WHEN), incorporating twelve European member states: http://www.womenshomelessness.org with Paula Mayock at Trinity College, Dublin. Her history as a long term resident of Japan has given her an interest in homelessness and housing exclusion within Japan and across the Asia Pacific region. Part of her comparative work has included a Visiting Fellowship at Nagoya Chukyo University in Japan during 2009.

Research

Overview

Research interests

homelessness and housing exclusion

social enterprise service models

service evaluation

gender-based (domestic) violence

negative area effects in relation to mixed communities

international comparisons with a particular interest in the Asia Pacific region and Japanese social and housing policy

Joanne has an interest in interdisciplinary and internationally comparative research that looks at issues such as housing exclusion and homelessness. She has a particular interest in chronic homelessness including street populations (people living rough) and service interventions used to help this group of people, including Housing First services. She is also interested in international comparisons of the experience and management of street homelessness. Joanne has undertaken a range of work on gender based (domestic) violence and is interested in the interrelationships between gender based violence and homelessness. This includes how services can be designed and delivered which improve service outcomes for homeless women and families at risk of gender based violence.

Joanne has extensive experience in the use of a wide range of social scientific methodologies, including longitudinal (cohort) research, qualitative work with highly vulnerable groups, rapid evidence assessment, diary methodologies and quantitative analysis. Alongside this expertise, she has wide-ranging knowledge and experience in service evaluation.

Projects

Crisis Skylight: An Evaluation, Crisis (2013-2015)
Evaluation of the Broadway Skills Exchange (Time Banking), Broadway (2010-2014)
Developing a measurement framework for homelessness and housing exclusion in Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Housing Executive (2013)
Evaluation of the SHP Housing First service in the London Borough of Camden, SHP (2012-2013)
Simon Communities of Ireland: Policy Research on the Homeless Strategy, Ireland Simon Community (2012)
The use of medical evidence in homelessness decision-making, ESRC (2011-2012)
New Growth for Emmaus, Emmaus (2011)
Violence against Women and Girls Refuge Provision in London, Greater London Authority (2011)
Allocations: Reasonable Preference used in Scottish Social Housing, Scottish Government (2011)

Recent projects

Longitudinal Study to Evaluate the Glasgow Homeless Hostel Decommissioning Programme, Glasgow City Council (2007-2010)
Giving up Home Ownership: A qualitative study of voluntary possession and selling because of financial difficulties CLG (2009-2010)
Homelessness in Japan and the UK: A comparison, Collaborative research priming exercise and visit. Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) (2009)
The effectiveness of Sanctuary Schemes to enable households at risk of domestic violence to remain in their own homes, CLG (2008-2009)
Evaluation of the experiences of those presenting as homeless in Glasgow after the conclusion of the hostel decommissioning programme (New Presentations), Glasgow City Council (2008)

Publications

Selected publications

2017

Maycock, P. and Bretherton, J. (eds) (2017) Women's Homelessness in Europe, Palgrave Macmillan.

2016

Bretherton, J., & Pleace, N. (2016). Crisis Skylight: Journeys to Progression : Second Interim Report of the University of York Evaluation. Crisis.

Hunter, C. M., Bretherton, J., Halliday, S., & Johnsen, S. (2016). Legal Compliance in Street-Level Bureaucracy: A Study of UK Housing Officers. Journal of Law and Policy, 38(1), 81-95. 10.1111/lapo.12049

2015

Bretherton, J. and Pleace, N. (2015) Housing First In England: An evaluation of nine services. Housing First in England: An evaluation of nine services (PDF , 944kb)‌

Bretherton, J., & Pleace, N. (2015). Learn to Progress at Crisis Skylight Merseyside: Evaluation. London: Crisis.

Bretherton, J., & Pleace, N. (2015). Helping young homeless people at Crisis Skylight Oxford. London: Crisis.

Bretherton, J., & Pleace, N. (2015). Positive Progression at Crisis Skylight Newcastle: Evaluation. London: Crisis.

Bretherton, J., & Pleace, N. (2015). Crisis Skylight Birmingham: An impact assessment 2012 - 2014. London: Crisis.

2014‌‌

Pleace, N. and Bretherton, J. (2014) Move on, move up at Crisis Skylight Birmingham: evaluation report, London: Crisis http://www.crisis.org.uk/data/files/publications/BirminghamEvaluation_FINAL_email.pdf

Pleace, N. and Bretherton, J. (2014) Progression pathways at Skylight Oxford: project report, London: Crisis http://www.crisis.org.uk/data/files/publications/OxfordEvaluation_FINAL_web.pdf

Pleace, N. and Bretherton, J. (2014) The Crisis Skylight Informal Learning Project at Skylight London: evaluation report, London: Crisis http://socialwelfare.bl.uk/subject-areas/services-activity/education-skills/crisis/1697102014_LondonEvaluation_FINAL.pdf

Pleace, N. and Bretherton, J. (2014) Crisis Skylight An Evaluation: Year 1 Interim Report London: Crisis http://www.crisis.org.uk/publications-search.php?fullitem=412%20

Bretherton, J. and Pleace, N. (2014) An evaluation of the Broadway Skills Exchange Time Bank York: University of York Broadway Time Banking (PDF , 542kb)

Pleace, N. and Bretherton, J. (2014) A review of Crisis Skylight's mental health services London: Crisis Crisis Skylight's mental health service evaluation report (PDF , 1,248kb)

Bretherton, J. and Pleace, N. (2014, forthcoming) An Evaluation of the Broadway Skills Exchange Time Bank, London: Broadway.

2013

Hunter, C. Bretherton, J. & Johnsen, S. (2013), Officer Decision-Making in Local Authorities,Housing Quality Network: Evidence, 2, p. 6-7.

Pleace, N. and Bretherton, J. (2013) 'The case for Housing First in the European Union: A critical evaluation of concerns about effectiveness, European Journal of Homelessness, Volume 7.2 pp 21-41. Feantsa Research - Housing First (PDF , 803kb)‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌

Pleace, N. and Bretherton, J. (2013) 'Measuring Homelessness and Housing Exclusion in Northern Ireland: A test of the ETHOS typology', Belfast: Northern Ireland Housing Executive NI ETHOS Report (PDF , 1,060kb)‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌

Bretherton, J. Hunter, C. and Johnsen, S. (2013) 'You can judge them on how they look…’: Homelessness Officers, Medical Evidence and Decision-Making in England, European Journal of Homelessness, Volume 7.1, August 2013 (Print ISSN : 2030-2762, Online ISSN: 2030-3106)

Hunter, C., Bretherton, J. and Johnsen, S. (2013) 'Medical evidence in homelessness cases', Legal Action, October 2013 http://www.lag.org.uk/magazine/2013/10.aspx

Pleace, N. and Bretherton, J. (2013) 'SHP and Camden Housing First: A successful pilot of 'Housing First' in London', SITRA Bulletin, No. 4, September 2013 http://issuu.com/sitra.org/docs/sitra_bulletin_issue_4_published

Pleace, N. and Bretherton, J. (2013) 'Camden Housing First: A Housing First experiment in London' York, Centre for Housing Policy, University of York Camden Housing First (PDF , 667kb)‌

Pleace, N. and Bretherton, J. (2013) Finding the way home: Housing led responses and homelessness strategy in Ireland, Dublin: Simon Community‌. Report

2012

Bretherton, J. and Pleace, N. (2012) New Growth for Emmaus, York: Centre for Housing Policy Report (PDF , 735kb)‌‌

Hunter, C., Bretherton, J. and Johnsen, S. (2012) 'The use of medical evidence in homelessness cases', Research Summary, York: University of York. Summary (PDF , 412kb)

Okamoto. Y & Bretherton. J (2012) 'Homeless People: Single Men in Japan', in Smith, S.J (Ed.) The International Encyclopaedia of Housing and Home, pp122-126, London: Elsevier.

Pleace, N. and Bretherton, J. (2012) What do we Mean by Housing First? Categorising and Critically Assessing the Housing First Movement from a European Perspective, European Network of Housing Research conference ‘Housing: Local Welfare and Local Markets in a Globalised World’ 24-27 June, Lillehammer. Norway-Housing First Paper (PDF , 286kb)

Pleace, N. and Bretherton, J. (2012) 'Will paradigm drift stop Housing First from ending homelessness? Categorising and critically assessing the Housing First movement from a social policy perspective'. Paper given at 'Social Policy in an Unequal World' Joint annual conference of the East Asian Social Policy Research Network and the UK Social Policy Association, University of York 16-18 July. Conference paper (PDF , 653kb)

2011

Bretherton, J. and Pleace, N. (2011) 'A Difficult Mix: Issues in achieving socioeconomic diversity in deprived UK neighbourhoods', Urban Studies, Volume 48 Issue 16, pp. 3429 - 3443

Bretherton, J. and Pleace, N. (2011) Reasonable Preference in Scottish Social Housing, Edinburgh: Scottish Government. Reasonable Preference (PDF , 317kb)‌

2010

Fitzpatrick. S, Bretherton. J, Jones, A., Pleace, N and Quilgars, D. (2010) The Glasgow Hostel Closure and Re-provisioning Programme: Final Report on the findings from a Longitudinal Evaluation, Glasgow City Council / Centre for Housing Policy: York

Ford. J, Bretherton. J, Jones. A. Rhodes, D (2010) Giving up home ownership: a qualitative study of voluntary possession and selling because of financial difficulties. London: CLG Report (PDF , 733kb) , Report summary (PDF , 45kb)‌

Jones, A., Bretherton, J., Bowles, R. and Croucher, K. (2010) The Effectiveness of Schemes to Enable Households at Risk of Domestic Violence to Remain in Their Own Homes, London: Communities and Local Government.Report (PDF , 1,065kb)‌

Jones, A., Bretherton, J., Bowles, R. and Croucher, K. (2010) Sanctuary Schemes for Households at Risk of Domestic Violence: Practice Guide for Agencies Developing and Delivering Sanctuary Schemes, London: Communities and Local Government.Practice Guide for Agencies Developing and Delivering Sanctuary Schemes (PDF , 741kb)‌

2009
Bretherton. J. (2009) Love Thy Neighbour, Roof Magazine, June 2009

Fitzpatrick, S., Bretherton, J., Jones, A., Pleace, N and Quilgars, D. (2009) The Glasgow Hostel Closure and Re-provisioning Programme: Interim Findings from a Longitudinal Evaluation, York: Centre for Housing Policy

Quilgars, D. and Bretherton, J. (2009) Evaluation of the Experiences of Single People Presenting as Homeless in Glasgow, York: Centre for Housing Policy

2008
Bretherton, J. & Pleace, N. (2008) Residents' views of new forms of high density affordable living Coventry/York: Chartered Institute of Housing/Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Croucher K, Myers L, Bretherton J (2008). Greenspace Scotland Research Report: The Links Between Greenspace and Health: A Critical Literature Review. Stirling: Greenspace

2006
Pleace, N and Bretherton, J. (2006) Sharing and matching local and national data on adults of working age facing multiple barriers to employment: Administrative Datasets for Measuring Impacts on Disadvantage, London : Department for Work and Pensions.

External activities

Memberships

Coordinator of Women’s Homelessness in Europe Network (WHEN) http://www.womenshomelessness.org/

Member of European Network for Housing Research

Member of Asia Pacific Network for Housing Research

Member of East Asian Social Policy Network

Invited talks and conferences

Pleace, N. and Bretherton, J. (September 2013) Recognising and Overcoming the Barriers to Housing First in the European Context: Case Studies from Ireland and England, Paper given at FEANTSA Annual Research Conference, Berlin, Germany.

Bretherton, J. et al (September 2012) “Vulnerability” and the use of medical evidence in homelessness decision-making, Paper given at FEANTSA Annual Research Conference, York, UK

Pleace, N. and Bretherton, J. (July 2012) Will paradigm drift stop Housing First from ending homelessness? Categorising and critically assessing the Housing First movement from a social policy perspective, Paper given at joint annual conference of the East Asian Social Policy Research Network and the UK Social Policy Association, York, UK

Bretherton, J. et al (June 2012) 'You can judge them on how they look: homelessness officers, medical evidence and decision-making', Paper given at European Network of Housing Research conference, Lillehammer, Norway. http://www.york.ac.uk/media/chp/documents/2012/MedicalEvidenceLillehammer.pdf‌

Pleace, N. and Bretherton, J. (June 2012) What do we Mean by Housing First? Categorising and Critically Assessing the Housing First Movement from a European Perspective, Paper given at European Network of Housing Research conference, Lillehammer, Norway. What do we mean by Housing Frst - paper (PDF , 296kb)

Bretherton, J. (December 2010) Sanctuary Schemes – effective in preventing homelessness for households at risk of domestic violence? Invited speaker, CPPS, Royal Commonwealth Society, London, UK

Bretherton, J. & Ford, J. (September 2010) Voluntary Sales and Possessions to Manage Debt, Invited speaker, Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Mortgage Arrears and Possessions Conference, London, UK

Bretherton, J. and Jones, A. (June 2010) New Sanctuaries: An effective option for households at risk of domestic violence? Seminar given, CHP Seminar Series, York, UK

Bretherton, J. (March 2009) An overview of homelessness in the UK, Guest Lecture as Visiting Fellow, School of Public Policy, Nagoya Chukyo University, Japan

Bretherton, J. (July 2008) New forms of high density housing: helping or hindering policy objectives for mixed communities and affordable city living? Paper given at European Network of Housing Research Conference, Dublin, Ireland.

Bretherton, J. (April 2007) New Forms of Innovative High Density Housing in the UK: Understanding the Pathways, Experiences and Aspirations of Residents, Paper given at Housing Studies Association Conference, York, UK

Bretherton, J. and Pleace, N. (January 2007) Vulnerable People and Employment: Issues in meeting social policy objectives for excluded populations through data sharing. Seminar given, CHP Seminar Series, York, UK.

Bretherton, J. (April 2006) Exploring life in innovative High Density Housing in the UK. Paper given at Sustainable Development Research Conference, Hong Kong

Pleace, N and Bretherton, J. (October 2005) Sharing information: joined up services for employment, education and training for homeless people. Invited speaker, Homeless Link Annual Conference, Birmingham, UK

Teaching

Undergraduate

Joanne's current and recent teaching for BA Applied Social Science, BA Social Policy, BA Social and Political Science:

Social Enterprise Module (3rd Year undergraduates)
Social Policy in the World Cities Module (3rd Year undergraduates)
Social Research Methods (2nd Year undergraduates)
BA Dissertation Module (3rd Year undergraduates)
Undergraduate Personal Supervisor (2nd and 3rd year undergraduates)

Postgraduate

PhD supervision:

Homelessness
Women's homelessness
Housing inequality
Poverty and precarity
Housing and domestic abuse
European and Asia Pacific comparative research, with particular interests in Japan.