Pathways to Youth Homelessness in Ireland. Challenges and Interventions by Social Care Workers.

This book explores the complex and often overlooked pathways that lead young people into homelessness in Ireland. Drawing on qualitative interviews with frontline social care professionals, policy practitioners, and mental health workers, the study reveals how youth homelessness rarely results from a single event, but rather from the interaction of structural housing failures, economic exclusion, trauma, and gaps in service delivery. The book critically examines Ireland's reliance on market-led housing responses, including private rental subsidies, and questions their effectiveness in providing long-term stability for vulnerable young people. Particular attention is given to mental health access, cultural competence, and emerging pathways into homelessness among migrant and LGBTQ+ youth, including those exiting Direct Provision. By integrating practitioner perspectives with sociological and social care theory, this work highlights the ethical and professional responsibilities of social care workers within an increasingly pressured system. The book concludes by proposing evidence-informed reforms, including youth-adapted Housing First approaches, improved inter-agency collaboration.