Appendix F: How the HHAP was Developed

Appendix F: How the HHAP was Developed The process of developing the Housing and Homelessness Action Plan began in 2012 and builds on the extensive work already carried out by the Region and its community partners in identifying current and future housing needs. The process also examined approaches for meeting these needs in a coordinated way. The process itself followed a number of progressive steps in three main phases. These phases and the activities involved are described in greater detail in the following section. The development of the HHAP was carried out by a steering committee comprised of Regional staff representatives from Community Services, Public Health, Integrated Community Planning and Niagara Regional Housing. As each department has a role to play with respect to housing and/or services that support people to find and keep housing, multi-department representation helped ensure a human services integration perspective: Niagara Regional Housing (NRH): NRH supports the delivery of the Region s Affordable Housing programs and services. It delivers a wide range of housing programs, including operating 2,700 units of its own Affordable Housing, and providing oversight and support for more than 4,000 units owned by 67 non-profit and co-operative housing providers. In addition NRH manages Page 104

over 900 units of Affordable Housing under contract with private landlords and various programs that provide assistance for renovations and homeownership. Community Services Department: Community Services supports the delivery of the Region s homelessness services system, including funding community organizations to provide services to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The department is also responsible for delivery of the Ontario Works social assistance program, seniors community programs, children s services, 8 long-term care homes and the Niagara Prosperity Initiative. Integrated Community Planning (ICP): ICP works toward developing safe, healthy and prosperous neighbourhoods and communities. Their role within the Plan involves official plan policies, local official plan approvals and Smarter Niagara incentives. Public Health: Niagara Region Public Health is committed to addressing the public health needs of our community. Housing is a key determinant of health. Public Health supports the Plan by promoting and or providing pathways to programs and services that both assist people to avoid homelessness and be successful in a housed situation. A key principle for development of the Plan was to support the greatest level of engagement possible and to be transparent in sharing information and findings. This approach was intended to help ensure the Plan identifies the diverse housing needs, the priorities and possible solutions in Niagara. The approach also emphasizes that the Plan is a community plan. Throughout the process, updates were provided to the Niagara Regional Housing Board, Public Health & Social Services Committee & Council, Local Area Municipalities (through CAOs), and the Niagara Homelessness Advisory Committee. A public website was established, which included posting of notes from the Workshops and other documents. A wide range of engagement approaches were used to help ensure the greatest participation possible, including targeted approaches for stakeholders with distinct needs and those who generally may not participate in such initiatives. A detailed technical report which included needs data was posted, and people were encouraged to review it and provide comments. Results from workshops were also posted on the project web page. Page 105

A stakeholder list with almost 600 entries was established, and included representatives from the following sectors/areas of interest: boards of directors Niagara residents business people with lived o members of the French-speaking community agencies experience community education real estate o immigrants employment developers o people with faith community service groups disabilities finance service providers o persons released government tenant from custody health the following priority o victims of domestic housing providers populations: violence landlords o Aboriginal people o seniors legal clinics living off reserve o youth Although the HHAP included broad engagement activities, the engagement strategy acknowledged that some groups have distinct needs that might not otherwise be identified when looking broadly at housing and homelessness issues. To address this, target groups were determined based on a review of the priority population groups identified in the Provincial Policy statement, and community leaders from each of those groups were identified (called key informants ). A staff reference group member was assigned to work with each key informant on engagement approaches that would best support those groups to better understand the specific issues faced by vulnerable populations and to identify strategies for addressing these issues. The groups identified and some of the participant groups representing each are: Persons with disabilities, including those with mental health and/or substance misuse issues Accessibility Advisory Committees from Welland, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Fort Erie, Port Colborne, Niagara Region and Start Me Up Niagara Victims of domestic violence and Violence against Women (VAW) YWCA, Gillian s Place and other VAW providers Aboriginal peoples living off reserve Niagara Regional Native Centre Seniors Niagara Community Collaborative, Niagara Age Friendly Network, Niagara Region Senior Services and Aging Well in Niagara focus sessions, Senior Citizens Advisory Committee Youth Welland Mayor s Youth Advisory Committee, Youth Without Secure Housing Committee, Niagara Region Youth Advisory Committee, and youth-specific service provider groups Immigrants Fort Erie Multicultural Centre and Welland Heritage Council and Multicultural Centre French-speaking community Centre de Sante (Community Health Centre) Page 106

People with lived experience of homelessness Start Me Up Niagara, Niagara s faith community, Bridges Community Health Centre, Quest Community Health Centre, Community Cares St. Catharines and Thorold, Niagara North Community Legal Clinic The engagement process occurred in two phases using a number of consultation methods to connect with the broader community as well as more focused activities with key stakeholders. Throughout this process, the community was given a number of opportunities to provide input into the development of the HHAP, including: Phase 1: Identifying Needs from the Community Perspective In addition to the housing needs analysis 112, needs from a community perspective were sought. Community Workshop #1 October 2012 An overview of the Plan elements was provided and a discussion of key issues in Niagara was undertaken Online Community Engagement (Phase 1) October to November 2012 A consultation workbook was made available online for stakeholders to provide information, ideas and suggestions. Stakeholders were encouraged to use the workbook to facilitate engagement activities with their clients, staff and Boards. 113 workbooks were completed and submitted. Meeting with local municipal planners to discuss secondary suites and affordable housing policy implications. In total for Phase 1, input was received from 252 individual and 32 groups. A conservative estimate is that more than 400 people providing input, and almost 2,900 statements were themed and coded. Phase 2: Validating Needs and Exploring Solutions The goal of Phase 2 was to verify the priority needs identified from Phase 1 input, and to identify initial actions and partners to address those needs. Six overarching topic areas were identified in the first phase of consultations (Workshop #1 and online engagement) as well as priority actions under each topic area. The second phase of consultations gave participants an opportunity to provide additional information on the six topic areas. In both the consultation workshops and the public survey, an exercise for prioritizing actions was undertaken followed by a discussion about the selected top priorities. 112 http://www.niagararegion.ca/social-services/technical-report/demographics-report.aspx Page 107

Activities during Phase 2 consultations included: Community Workshop #2 January 2013 Almost 100 people participated in a priority verification and ranking exercise, to start the development of the HHAP. These questions were: o What are the key tasks to moving the action forward? o Who should lead the action? o Who can help? o How will success be measured? o What are some key milestones for success? o When will the action be complete? Online Community Engagement January to February 2013 Based on the results of Workshop 2, an online survey was made available for Niagara residents to provide information, ideas and suggestions with a total of 391 individuals completing the survey, either electronically (310 respondents) or through hardcopy (81 respondents). Respondents to the survey included government staff, residents and members of the faith community as well as those from the business community, landlords, real estate developers and community agency staff. Among the respondents, 22.8% identified themselves as being people with lived experience (i.e., having experienced homelessness), 10% identified themselves as having a disability and 8.2% identified themselves as being seniors. In addition, 4.3% of respondents were from the French-speaking community and 1.3% were Aboriginal peoples living off-reserve. Town Hall Meetings February to March 2013 These were held to gather feedback from residents. The meetings were held in Beamsville, St. Catharines, Fort Erie, Welland, and Niagara Falls Meetings with various stakeholder groups were undertaken to get information and to gather feedback on specific issues affecting these groups. For example, we supported the Niagara Regional Native Centre to host a consultation for the Aboriginal community, Aging Well in Niagara conversation cafes were held in every local area municipality, and youth homelessness was discussed in a session held by the Youth Advisory Committee. Meeting with Committee of the Whole to obtain councillors perspectives April 5, 2013 http://www.niagararegion.ca/council/subcommittee/subcommittee%20documents/c BPCOTW%203-2013%20OPEN%20April%204,%202013.Minutes.htm, included a video with front line staff expressing their views on issues and solutions for homelessness that can be found on the Niagara Region HHAP website at www.niagararegion.ca/hhap or at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yumhz2ogj0m. In addition to gathering staff feedback, meetings were also held with housing providers and Niagara Region Housing staff to ensure an understanding of the full picture of needs. For the first and second phases of the consultation, a total of 1,290 individuals from the community participated representing a broad range of perspectives, from housing and service providers to recipients and stakeholders within the Niagara housing system. These diverse views helped shape the issues, ideas and priorities of the HHAP. Page 108

Phase 3: Developing the draft Plan The final phase of developing the HHAP involved finalizing actions to be included in the Plan and the formulation of the Plan itself. A draft HHAP was developed and was reviewed with key readers among community partners and Regional departments. The purpose of this review was to help ensure that the overall strategic direction of the Plan is in line with the needs of Niagara; all relevant perspectives have been captured; the identified actions are achievable, realistic and appropriate to accomplish the Plan s goals; and the Plan is consistent with legislation and meets the identified Provincial objectives. Elements of the draft HHAP were reviewed with key informants from each of the priority sectors (Aboriginal, Francophone, Disability, etc.) to ensure their perspectives were properly included, and that the identified actions will be responsive to the needs of their sector. In addition, discussions have begun with community-based advisory groups on approaches to ensure on-going engagement with the community as the Plan is implemented. The draft Plan was reviewed by Niagara Regional Council in July 2013, submitted to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for review and comment, and approved by Niagara Regional Council in November 2013. Implementation of the Plan will begin in 2014. Page 109