Consultant to develop plan to end homelessness
The city is entering a new stage in its efforts to end homelessness in Regina as the YMCA announces a call for proposals.
The YMCA, along with the Regina Homelessness Community Advisory Board, the Homelessness Partnering Strategy, the City of Regina and community stakeholders, is looking for a consultant to develop a clear plan to reach a state of “functional zero” homelessness.
“That’s not to say that people never slip into homelessness again,” said Shawn Fraser, senior director of partnership initiatives for YMCA Regina. He said shelters will always be needed for individuals fleeing from domestic abuse and other similar situations.
“But what functional zero homelessness means is that there is a community-held standard that when somebody hits the shelter system, within a set amount of time, they will be offered housing and the supports they need to maintain that housing.”
An applicant will be chosen based on a number of qualifications, including past experience, understanding of the project’s scope and objective, ability to engage the community, technical and data management expertise and experience in Indigenous engagement.
Once chosen, the applicant will spend about six months consulting with the public, the city, community organizations and stakeholders to build a plan.
But Fraser said the work doesn’t stop once the plan is made.
“A plan itself is just paper. Really, what this process also needs to involve is some common expectations from our community about what we’re talking about when we talk about ending homelessness,” he said.
He said the goal is to stop people from “pinballing” between shelters, couch surfing, the street, prison and the emergency room by providing the necessary community supports.
“There (are) people who have fallen through the cracks — actually, people who fell through the cracks many years ago who are still in the cracks because there’s not a system-wide approach,” Fraser said. “That’s what we’re trying to fix.”
Also needed is an agreement from the community about how long is an acceptable amount of time before someone who has fallen into homelessness receives the support needed to get re-housed and stay that way.
Medicine Hat was the first city in Canada to come up with such a strategy. The community works to re-house individuals within 10 days of entering the shelter system. Red Deer has a 28-day deadline and Edmonton is working toward a 21-day system.
Fraser said consultations will be essential to determine what length of time makes the most sense for Regina and urges residents to be optimistic.
“It can happen. People don’t need to be cynical about ending homelessness. There’s other communities that are doing it,” he said.
The plan created by the successful applicant will guide and grow the work already being done to combat homelessness. Fraser acknowledged the many individuals in the community who have been working toward this goal behind the scenes for the past several years.
Whoever is hired must establish a definition of “functional zero” for Regina that includes:
An ambitious and achievable
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community-held standard for the maximum acceptable time limit spent in shelter.
An ambitious and achievable
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community-held standard for the level of housing support and acceptable rates of homelessness relapse once individuals are housed.
Clear and concise costing.
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The deadline to apply is Nov. 3. November will be spent reviewing applications. Negotiation of contracts will be made in December and strategic planning sessions with Regina HPS and RHCAB are to take place in January, followed by research, community consultation, and data analysis from January to June.
The release of the final report is expected in the summer of 2018.
For more information, visit www.reginahomelessness.ca