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Metro Vancouver Homelessness Count 2008

Metro Vancouver Homelessness Count 2008. Peter Greenwell, Planner, Metro Vancouver Homeless Secretariat. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness. Established in 2000 Over 40 members representing service providers, community-based organizations and all levels of government

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Metro Vancouver Homelessness Count 2008

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  1. Metro Vancouver Homelessness Count 2008 Peter Greenwell, Planner, Metro Vancouver Homeless Secretariat

  2. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness • Established in 2000 • Over 40 members representing service providers, community-based organizations and all levels of government • Developed and oversees implementation of the Three Ways to Home Regional Homelessness Plan • Disbursed more than $70 million in federal grants under SCPI and HPI

  3. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness • 3 Ways To Home

  4. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness PURPOSE OF THE COUNT Updated enumeration of homeless persons by municipality Demographic profile of those enumerated Information on trends in relation to the 2002 and 2005 homeless counts Information for government, private foundations and service providers that plan or fund homeless programs

  5. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness Findings Methodology Implications and learning

  6. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness • Summary of Findings: • Growing number of homeless people • Rising incidence of street homelessness • Ageing of homeless population • Over-representation of Aboriginal people • Rising incidence long-term homelessness • High incidence of complex health problems • Region-wide problem more than Vancouver-centered

  7. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness

  8. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness

  9. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness

  10. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness Context Numbers 604 people identified but not included: • 402 people were ‘perceived as homeless’ • 98 people admitted to hospital or detox facilities without a fixed address • 67 homeless youth MCFD • 37 students in North Shore public schools reported as homeless

  11. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness METHODOLOGY Definition Someone was considered homeless if they did not have a place of their own where they could expect to stay for more than 30 days and if they did not pay rent

  12. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness • This included people who: • had no physical shelter – staying on the street, in doorways, in parks and on beaches • were temporarily sheltered in emergency shelters, safe houses for youth, or transition houses for women and their children fleeing violence • were staying at a friend’s place where they did not pay rent

  13. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE Metro Vancouver consists of 17 municipalities and 6 unincorporated areas TIME PERIOD “Point-in-time” methodology - 24-hour period from 12:01 am to 11:59 pm March 11, 2008 “Period relevance” count is a less frequently used method counting over a longer period of time

  14. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness LIMITATIONS Key limitation is that point-in-time methodology underestimates short-term The results ‘bench mark’ the minimum number of those homeless Challenges include finding homeless people who do not use homeless services (such as shelters and meals)

  15. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness ENUMERATION • “Sheltered” homeless: enumeration of all shelters, youth safe houses, and transition houses the night of March 10/11 • “Street/service” homeless: enumeration of locations around Metro Vancouver between 5:30 am and midnight on March 11 where homeless people congregate including: • bottle depots • meal and program/service venues

  16. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness VOLUNTEERS 2008 approximately 800 volunteers 2005 approximately 300 volunteers 2002 less than 100 volunteers

  17. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness

  18. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness LEARNING AND IMPLICATIONS Street/service population homeless longer than the sheltered population Sheltered homeless more likely to have been in the municipality where they were found High incidence of self-reported and perceived addiction among the street/service population

  19. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness LEARNING AND IMPLICATIONS Future research on why homeless Aboriginal people not accessing shelters as much, and determine what can be done to increase their access to homeless programs and services Shelter component of the social assistance insufficient to cover the cost of housing in the region

  20. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness LEARNING AND IMPLICATIONS Conduct research at the key health facilities used by the homeless to get a better understanding of the population’s health needs Is there a correlation between rising median age and increasing level of long-term homelessness

  21. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness LEARNING AND IMPLICATIONS Future research on the chronically homeless sub-population to better understand the factors and dynamics that are contributing to their situation, and also to identify potential solutions that the population can identify with

  22. Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness Questions, Answers and Discussion

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