Beyond Housing 2016: Raising the Roof and Homelessness in Canada

Transcription

1 Beyond Housing 2016: Raising the Roof and Homelessness in Canada

2 Agenda A Snapshot of Homelessness in Canada About Us: Raising the Roof Public Educa<on Child & Family Homelessness Breakout Discussions

3 Introduc<ons Carolann Barr, Execu<ve Director of Raising the Roof Over 20 years of progressive senior leadership and program development experience in health and social service environments.

4 Introduc<ons Caitlin Boros, Marke<ng and Communica<ons Manager at Raising the Roof Experience in Strategic Communica<on planning and development in the public, private and nonprofit sectors.

5 Introduc<ons

6 A Snapshot of Homelessness in Canada

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11 Who is homeless?

12 Who is homeless?

13 Who is homeless?

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15 The Causes of Homelessness

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17 Can we move from THIS... PrevenCon Emergency Response Housing and Supports

18 ... to This! PrevenCon Emergency Response Housing and Supports

19 Momentum for Change: Government Federal Government Established as the Na<onal Homelessness Ini<a<ve (NHI) in 1999 Became Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) in 2006 Housing First mandate In 2016: First NATIONAL homelessness point- in- <me count

20 Momentum for Change: Government Federal Government New Liberal Government (November 2015) Prime Minister: Jus<n Trudeau Promise for ten- year investment in social infrastructure Affordable housing priority Addressing poverty with new tax benefits

21 Momentum for Change: Government Provincial Governments Leading the Way Alberta the first province to implement a 10- year- plan for ending homelessness Ontario has just released it s 10- year- plan for ending chronic homelessness All provinces have provisions to address homelessness EXCEPT Bri<sh Columbia

22 Momentum for Change: Government Municipal Governments FederaCon of Canadian MunicipaliCes Ci<es were the first to adopt 10- year- plans to end homelessness Municipali<es receive Federal support for implemen<ng Housing First programs Renewed investment in infrastructure

23 Momentum for Change: Organiza<ons A Way Home (Canada) Newly established na<onal coali<on to end youth homelessness in Canada 10- year Mandate to reduce, prevent and end youth homelessness Support governments and communi<es in developing and implemen<ng plans

24 Momentum for Change: Organiza<ons Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH) Ini<ated the push for community and government adop<on of 10- year- plans to end homelessness Support communi<es in adap<ng these plans by providing informa<on, tools and knowledge In 2014, began the 20K Homes campaign to house 20,000 Canadians by 2018

25 About Us: Raising the Roof

26 Who are We? Raising the Roof provides naconal leadership on long- term solucons to homelessness Have supported over 184 community Partner Agencies na<on- wide, and con<nue to support 50+ each year Develop ground- breaking research and tools Bring public aqencon to Canada s homeless

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28 New Strategic Direc<ons 1. PrevenCon 2. EducaCon and Engagement 3. Local Community Support

29 What We Do Toque Campaign Na<onal Ini<a<ves Public Educa<on

30 What the Heck s a Toque? Toque = Beanie (or warm winter hat)

31 Toque Campaign Since 1997, Raising the Roof s Annual Toque Campaign has supported long- term solu<ons to homelessness across Canada. To date, the Toque Campaign has raised $7 million na<on- wide for las<ng solu<ons to homelessness.

32 Youthworks This na<onal ini<a<ve aimed to address youth homelessness One of the first homelessness ini<a<ves in the country to specifically focus on youth Two na<onal reports and a Youth Employment Toolkit developed

33 The Upstream Project School- based youth homelessness prevencon Proven model adapted from The Geelong Project Assessment tool idencfies students at- risk and provides them with wraparound supports Connec<ng and coordina<ng mul<ple partners

34 Public Educa<on: Genera<ng Awareness and Facilita<ng Engagement

35 Public Educa<on: Our Role Have played a significant role in bringing aqencon to the issue of homelessness and engaging Canadians Strategic Priority LEAD public educacon and engagement on issues and solucons related to prevencng homelessness To mo<vate change at all levels, we need to mobilize the public and make the issue a priority

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38 Humans for Humans Nearly 1.5 million views to- date Garnered interna<onal media ahen<on Millions of impressions generated on social media 85,000+ unique website visits

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42 Public Educa<on: Our Partners Pro Bono Partners Leo Burneh Toronto M&K Media 100% donated media space Na<onal TV, Radio, Print, Digital, OOH Na<onal Reach

43 Using Public Responses as a Catalyst Over the past several years we ve seen our campaigns garner increasing ahen<on Next step in development: CTAs that move beyond giving and galvanize Canadians to take ac<on on the issue of homelessness

44 Child & Family Homelessness

45 Child & Family Homelessness: The Issue 380,600 Canadian households experiencing severe housing insecurity Between 2005 and 2009, the es<mated number of children using emergency shelters grew by 50% 1,334,930 children (19%) living in poverty in Canada 5

46 Child & Family Homelessness Ini<a<ve We believe that by: educacng Canadians, learning from and sharing innova<ve community- based work, and developing a pracccal planning framework, we can develop solucons to child and family homelessness in Canada. 5

47 C&F Ini<a<ve: Our Goals Ø Learn about current programs and services across Canada and interna<onally Ø Create a comprehensive early intervencon and prevencon framework Ø Develop pracccal tools and resources that can be used by community organiza<ons and government to encourage promising prac<ces and generate recommenda<ons.

48 6 Emerging Framework

49 8 Methodology

50 Homelessness is not a social concern that occurs in a vacuum, but one that intersects with mulcple social concerns, including affordable housing, income, food security, discrimina<on, and gender and in<mate partner violence (IPV). When it is viewed this way, solucons can be envisioned in a holiscc manner, where interven<ons are geared at strengthening the founda<ons of our society, not just ensuring people have housing. - Beyond Housing First (Report) 9

51 Framework: Primary Preven<on Primary PrevenCon addresses the root causes of homelessness Without addressing these fundamental issues there will always be new families entering homelessness or recurrent episodes of homelessness Poverty cannot be separated from homelessness A family that becomes housed but remains in poverty con<nues to remain at risk of homelessness 10

52 A Need for Preven<on Affordable Housing Limited availability of units combined with the unique needs of families Income Income insecurity from low wages, precarious employment, or decreasing social safety net Food Security 841,191 persons visited food banks across Canada; over 1/3 of them children DiscriminaCon Visible minori<es, young parents, single dads or simply the s<gma of poverty InCmate Partner Violence (IPV) 1 in 4 of all reported violent crimes are incidents of IPV 11

53 Sometimes I feel like we refer our clients to the same system that keeps them oppressed because it doesn t empower them...the entire system is actually a barrier. So how do you pull yourself out of poverty when you re on income support? It s like nothing, so how do they pay their bills? How do they get out of debt? When they re making $700 a month or less...like yeah we want to take them out of poverty but we put them on income support, which keeps them in poverty. -Shane, Agency Staff Member 12

54 Framework: Systems- level Response Lacking and inefficient services lack of necessary services (par<cularly for mental health needs), long wait- lists for services, eligibility criteria and rules leq to be enforced at the discre<on of individuals workers We get some workers who are absolutely fabulous, more than willing to help, here s informa<on, here s resources and then there s some that will go there and be like nope, they aren t employable, denied. Angela, Front- Line Worker 13

55 Systems- level Response CT d Limited and conflic<ng systems A Housing First philosophy can be difficult when working within systems that have conflic<ng mandates, goals and philosophies Most of the systems are puni<ve. Like as a worker going in I feel like a criminal trying to access some of these services I ve been sternly talked to or told to do something that s not part of our job I feel like everybody, us and the workers in different agencies, are frustrated and they re trying to access the different resources, and everybody is just grasping for the few resources there are. Donna, Follow- up Support Worker 14

56 I see a lot of helping in these programs, but then what about when they end? You re done, goodbye? And then it s like you get kicked out of the nest when your wings aren t quite developed. Where are you going to go? Straight down...i m going to stay in the program as long as possible. I m basically 16 going on 37 and am scared shitless. I ve come too far to go back now. - Anthony, single dad of 5 15

57 Housing First as an Early Interven<on Response Housing First has shiqed the homelessness sector toward a more humane, rights- based approach where housing is not concngent on whether an individual agrees to receive services or treatment Housing retencon rates consistently measuring in the 75-90% range aqer one year of programming Thousands of individuals and families have been housed under Housing First programs in Canada However, structural and systemic barriers to escaping homelessness have become increasingly apparent These include high- levels of poverty and the lack of affordable housing 7

58 Limita<ons of Housing First for Families Mandates to graduate clients in months Limited <me oqen prevents greater support of clients Insufficient <me to work with par<cipants Par<cipants oqen express great anxiety when discussing gradua<ng from Housing First Limita<ons around the types of units that are available Not always realis<c for families (as opposed to individuals) 16

59 Limita<ons of Housing First CT d Systems, services and resources are different in each community Everybody is talking about Housing First and I look at Housing First and think ok, what is Housing First going to look like here? And I shudder to think that those of us that provide housing for families are not going to be gevng any help. Because in Yellowknife, where are the resources? You know, who is going to be providing the money to provide the resources to have wraparound services for the families? How are we going to find housing for them? And is it just going to be in Yellowknife, or in the whole North where there is a shortage of housing to begin with? When three genera<ons are living in the same house? Kate, Agency Staff Member 17

60 Other Findings Children s Mental Health Inadequate mental health services Mental health more prevalent among young people who experience homelessness Na<onal Coordinated Response and Ac<on Not a one- size- fits- all issue Requires a cross- sectoral response Unique needs of children and families

61 Recommenda<ons Government Develop a Na<onal Housing and Homelessness Strategy Develop a Na<onal Poverty Reduc<on Strategy Develop a Na<onal Coordinated Response and Ac<on on Children s Mental Health Implement a One Child, One Case policy Develop province- wide plans to end homelessness Renewed Investment in affordable housing

62 Recommenda<ons Community Agencies Develop a System of Care Develop trauma- informed services

63 Thank you! For more informa<on, please don t hesitate to contact us: Carolann Barr carolann@raisingtheroof.org Caitlin Boros caitlin@raisingtheroof.org