WHY DOES OTTAWA NEED SALLY ANN’S VANIER SHELTER?
Experts say ‘old model’ hinders attempts to move homeless into long-term housing
The Salvation Army’s proposed shelter and social-service hub on Montreal Road has generated a lot of noise.
This week, it generated a little light: At a two-day symposium, a number of academics and leaders in the homeless field made the case that a $50-million complex that houses 350 people — mostly for short-term transitions — is simply the wrong path forward for the city.
Advocates for the so-called Housing First method, which the federal government has spent millions and years studying, say investing in bricks and mortar to congregate the homeless and vulnerable on one site is out-of-date thinking that ignores hard-won evidence.
Briefly, Housing First is an approach that provides housing to a homeless person — at a location they choose in the private market, with no “readiness” conditions — and “wraps” them in supports to deal with stability issues. Instead of waiting for fresh builds — like a Sally Ann — it uses rent supplements to place the person in a mixed, established community and simultaneously works on their physical, mental, addiction and other life issues.
The At Home/Chez Soi project took five years and $110 million and is considered the biggest study of its kind in the world. It followed more than 2,000 homeless, some for years, in five cities. Using the Housing First approach, the successfullyhoused rate after 24 months was between 77 and 89 per cent — and there were significant savings in social-service dollars.
Tim Aubry, a psychology professor at the University of Ottawa and top Canadian researcher on homelessness, was a lead with At Home. He’s critical of the Salvation Army plan, particularly the sizable residential component.
“It’s the old model,” he said, describing the Sally Ann’s housing plan as transitional or “residential continuum” in an institutional setting.
“What’s fresh and new about Housing First is that (the homeless) jump over that.”
The problem with a $50-million building and 350 beds, he said, is it creates a system that needs to be continually supplied — ergo, we need to find clients to house there instead of placing them in the community.
“This is going to leave a very large footprint,” Aubry said. “It will be tough to move to a fullfledged Housing First approach.”
Marc Provost, the executive director of the Salvation Army’s Booth Centre, has heard it all before. The George Street centre — attacked in its current location, criticized for its possible new Vanier home — has had a Housing First-type program since 2008.
He said the team consists of two “housing locators,” eight Housing First managers and one rooming house case manager. Since inception, it has had a 93 per cent rate of housing retention and typically has about 120 clients on its caseload.
“The Salvation Army is very vested in the Housing First approach. We know it works very well with a large proportion of people.”
He said the Sally Ann has no interest in providing long-term housing for clients in its current or proposed building.
“As soon as people walk into our building, if they are homeless, from Day 1 we are looking for appropriate housing for them.”
The “mega-shelter,” as detractors like to call it, consists of a 140-bed emergency shelter, the same as the current size; a 60-bed special-care unit for those with health problems; a 50-bed section for addictions and stabilization; and a 100-bed area for those either working or taking workshops on life skills.
Because of a lack of affordable housing in Ottawa, Provost said, the Sally Ann knows there will be a waiting period to place the homeless into the community. Their approach, he said, is to house and support them with programs while they find a home.
“We know that the more tools we can give them, while they are waiting, the more successful they will be when they are housed.”
These are not merely theoretical arguments but important points of public policy: Consider that the City of Ottawa pays a per diem of $44 a day for every client who stays in an emergency shelter. (In 2016, there were more than 525,000 “bed nights” in Ottawa shelters.)
There seems to be a growing recognition in the homeless sector that we need to try something different, as successive “report cards” have found overall numbers stubbornly high, in the range of 7,000 annually.
David Gibson is executive director of the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre, which has 120 clients in a Housing First program. He despaired of those living in shelters for months, if not years.
“If a shelter is our best solution for long-term housing, we are failing those people.”
Without mentioning the Sally Ann, he, too, suggested they were on the wrong path.
“To do things the way we have done them, whether for political or expediency reasons, is closedminded and it puts people’s lives at risk.”
If a shelter is our best solution for long-term housing, we are failing those people.