York Region support program for homeless cost 61.5% less in 2014

Yorkregion.com
May 14, 2015
By Lisa Queen

A revamped program to secure housing for the homeless and at-risk residents has cut costs by more than 60 per cent in two years, Cordelia Abankwa, general manager of the social services branch with York Region’s community and health services department says.

The savings are being re-invested in services for people who are homeless or marginally housed, she said.

In 2011, the province spent $2.6 million in York on a homeless prevention program called Community Start-Up, administered by the region.

The program provided a mandatory Ontario Works benefit to people who had become homeless or were at risk of losing their home.

But in 2012, the province gave municipalities leeway to tailor homeless prevention programs to their individual needs.

For example, in some communities, street homelessness is the biggest concern, while in York, the lack of affordable housing has created a more invisible population of homeless and marginally housed, Abankwa said.

In January 2013, the region launched its made-in-York housing stability program.

The new program cost $1.2 million in 2013 and $960,700 for the first 10 months of 2014.

Problems with the province’s new social assistance computer software system meant the region was unable to calculate the savings for November and December, but estimates the program cost $1 million for all of 2014, Abankwa said.

That is a 61.5 per cent savings over the cost of the former program.

What’s more, the new program goes beyond handing over a mandatory cheque and addresses the causes of residents’ housing problems, Abankwa said.

Case workers spend time with clients to find out the reasons they have lost their housing or are at-risk of losing their homes and help stabilize their lives so they don’t cycle back into homelessness, she said.

Case workers can help in a variety of ways, such as directing clients to services for addiction and having benefits paid directly to landlords to ensure a controlling person in the client’s life doesn’t have access to the person’s funds, Abankwa said.

In one case, a client living in an area without easy access to public transit simply needed a bicycle to get to work, she said.

Since the program started in January 2013, 87 per cent of clients have remained housed, said Abankwa, adding clients are among the region’s most vulnerable residents.

“Workers have time to build relationships and find out more and they can start helping (clients),” she said.

“That’s the magic of being able to get right into their lives and that’s what we’ve chosen to do in York Region. To, of course, deal with a crisis, but to take the next step. We don’t stop there.

Basically, we know it takes time to change habits. We stay with them for up to six months, checking in and adjusting solutions.”