Thunder Bay homelessness count findings, recommendations, released

A new report paints a clearer picture of who is homeless in Thunder Bay, and what steps might be taken to help them.

On Tuesday, the 2018 Point in Time Homelessness Count report was released in its entirety, along with a number of recommendations.

The count, which was conducted over a 24-hour period in April, identified 516 people experiencing homelessness in the city and surrounding area. The majority of those individuals filled out a survey to help stakeholders better understand their circumstances.

• Thunder Bay homelessness count surveys nearly 500 people in 24 hours

"It is alarming, the numbers that we're seeing," said Bill Bradica, the CAO of The District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board (DSSAB), one of the partners in the count.

The surveyrevealed that about two-thirds of the people who are homeless in Thunder Bay identify as Indigenous and more than a third of those counted had been part of the foster care system or spent time in a group home.

Three quarters of those counted also came to Thunder Bay from other communities, Bradicasaid, which is something the DSSAB would like to better understand.

One of the six recommendations made in the report is that more research be done to better understand transient homelessness.

"So we have people coming in from not only remote communities but places like Winnipeg, Toronto, even Calgary that identified as being homeless here in the Thunder Bay count," Bradicasaid, adding that people may be coming due to a lack of supports elsewhere.

Need to address addictions, child welfare gaps

The report also points out the need for greater addiction treatment resources in the community. Addiction was the main self-reported reason for homelessness.

Other recommendations included theexpansion of culturally competent supports and housing for Indigenous people, as well as the need to fill service gaps in the child welfare system, especially for young people who age out of the system.

While close to 33 per cent of those surveyed said they had been in foster care at some point, that number skyrocketed among those who experienced homelessness at an early age. Close to 77 per cent of those who said they experienced homelessness before the age of 25 reported having been part of the foster care system.

'One point of contact' for accessing services

Another recommendation calls for the development of a system in the community that would streamline access to housing services and supports for those seeking them.

"We need to look at having a coordinated access system," Bradicasaid. "These people have fallen through the cracks of the system, and they're not going to know necessarily how to navigate it. And we have to look at a way where there's one point of contact initially."

'Small steps'

The social services administration board already has two outreach workers "who are going into the shelters, into the food banks," in an effort to identify people who are homeless, and to get them on the board's high needs wait list for housing, Bradica said.

The organization hopes to work with community partners to do more of that, he said, adding that a planned facility on Dawson Road, to be run by St. Joseph's Care Group, will also house some people struggling with addictions.

"These are small steps, but I think cumulatively, if we continue to do things like that and advocate for additional resources to support those types of on-the-ground, front-line services and supports, we'll have a better shot at really putting a dent into these numbers," he said.

Recommendations from the Point in Time Homelessness Count:

• Advocate to address the service gaps in child welfare systems and for those aging out of foster care
• Expansion of culturally competent supports and housing for Indigenous people
• Expansion of the high needs homeless and Home for Good programs, which help people find housing
• Research on migratory and transient homelessness
• Advocate for support for addiction treatment
• Create a coordinated access system for those seeking housing supports