September 23, 1999

To:Community Services Committee

From:Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services

Subject:Proposed Framework for the Homelessness Report Card

Purpose:

To outline the proposed framework for the City of Toronto's Homelessness Report Card as directed by City Council in its response to the Mayor's Homelessness Action Task Force report.

Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

There are no financial implications arising from this report.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1)the framework for the City's Homelessness Report Card as outlined in Appendix A be approved; and

(2)appropriate City Officials be authorized to take the necessary action to give effect thereto.

Council Reference/Background/History:

As part of the response to the Mayor's Homelessness Action Task Force report last Spring, City Council directed the Chief Administrative Officer to produce an annual report card on homelessness for presentation directly to Council. The report card is to document the state of homelessness in Toronto and to outline action taken by the each level of government to alleviate the problem.

The Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services was directed to submit a proposed framework for the report card to the Community Services Committee in the Fall. This report responds to that request.

Comments and/or Discussion and/or Justification:

Why is a Homelessness Report Card important for the City?

Based on its actions to date, it is clear that the City of Toronto recognizes the serious nature of homelessness in Toronto and is committed to finding solutions to this growing problem. Since the release of the Mayor's Homelessness Task Force report in January 1999, Council has dealt with the major policy and financial issues directed at the City. Most importantly, City Council has answered the call for strong leadership including calling on other levels of government to take action. The City now has a clear action plan, informed in large part by the recommendations of the Task Force, that articulates the municipality's role in reducing homelessness. The Report Card is an important piece of that action plan and serves several functions.

As an evaluative tool, the Report Card is a vehicle to assess the state of homelessness in Toronto. The information gathered will help determine if the problem is getting better or worse, and why. Most importantly, it will allow us to monitor the success of homeless and housing initiatives undertaken by the City and to identify areas that require further action. In this way the Report Card will enable Council and the community to evaluate the City's progress in meeting its goals with respect to alleviating homelessness. The Report Card will also be used to monitor the progress of provincial and federal initiatives to reduce homelessness and highlight key issues for future action.

As a service planning tool, the Report Card will help develop and refine programs and services that are delivered and funded by the City. In the future, the Report Card will be informed by municipal social planning initiatives such as the Social Development Strategy.

Finally, as an educational tool, the Report Card can be used to help build public awareness and understanding of the issue of homelessness both locally and at the national level.

Timing of the Report Card

The original recommendation from Council called for a semi-annual Report Card. However, an annual Report Card is recommended as the most feasible option in terms of the availability of data required to produce the report card. The first Report Card is scheduled for release in January 2000. This date provides a meaningful marker for an update and progress report as it falls one year after the release of the Mayor's Homelessness Action Task Force report.

Process for Developing the Report Card

As homelessness is an issue that cuts across many of the City's departments, an interdepartmental consultation was held this summer on the development of the Report Card. A smaller working group was then formed to begin to scope out the framework for the Report Card. This working group will continue to oversee the development of the Report Card.

The working group will liaise with the newly formed Homelessness Interdepartmental Implementation Committee that has been set up to oversee the rollout of the City's broader action plan on homelessness. This will ensure ongoing interdepartmental collaboration as the development of the Report Card progresses.

Structure of the Report Card

The proposed structure of the Report Card is derived from the Mayor's Homelessness Action Task Force report as it provides a comprehensive frame of the issue. Appendix A contains a more detailed description of the Report Card framework, however, a summary of the key elements is as follows:

(I)Socio-Economic Context:

A brief analysis of the broad socio-economic factors that contribute to homelessness (poverty, labour market restructuring, the lack of affordable housing, addictions and mental health) including any impacts of public policy and program decisions with respect to these factors. This section will reinforce the role of all levels of government in alleviating homelessness;

(II)Profile of Homelessness:

An update on the profile of the homeless population that includes people who are homeless and those who are at risk of homelessness;

(III) Key Indicators of Homelessness:

A profile of key indicators related to the causes of homelessness. Is the rate and depth of poverty in Toronto increasing or decreasing? Are people finding affordable housing? What is the rate of new affordable housing development? Has the vacancy rate increased?

(IV) Report on City Initiatives:

An update on the progress of City homeless and housing initiatives. How are we doing? Are we beginning to see the results of these efforts? Have we taken action in all areas directed by Council? What needs further action? This section will also give a brief analysis of the service trends, demands and gaps in the community-based service sector from a City perspective;

(V)Report on Provincial and Federal Initiatives:

An update on the progress of provincial and federal homeless and housing initiatives as well as to highlight key issues for future action.

Data Collection

Indicators for the Report Card are being developed by an interdepartmental staff group as described above. A wide range of data sources will be used including governmental, community-based and institutional data. Input on the development of indicators will be sought by the community and institutional sources contributing data for the Report Card.

The content of the Report Card is chiefly dependent upon the availability of data. Much of the data that will be used is collected annually while other data, such as census data, is only produced every five years. As a result, there are limitations on the amount of new information available for the first Report Card. With respect to updates on City homeless and housing initiatives, as many of these initiatives have only recently begun, information may be preliminary.

Key criteria for choosing the indicators include data that contributes to a comprehensive profile of the homeless population and data that is available in a comparable form on an ongoing basis. This allows the indicators to be monitored and compared in future report cards. This ongoing collection of data on the wide range of indicators that relate to homelessness contributes to the development of a comprehensive information database for the City that is useful for a broad range of policy, program and research initiatives.

The Homelessness Report Card is meant to be developmental in nature; the scope and focus will evolve and change over time to reflect and respond to current issues related to homelessness.

Evaluation of the Report Card

In order to determine if the Report Card is an effective tool to monitor the state of homelessness and the progress of public initiatives, it is recommended that a formal evaluation be done following the release. The evaluation would seek broad input from municipal and community stakeholders to determine the success of the Report Card in meeting its goals and to generate ideas on how the content and structure can be improved. The evaluation would also be used to determine the best mechanism for including community voices in future report cards. As a result, the evaluation process will help the Report Card to stay meaningful, relevant and adaptable to the changing social environment.

Conclusions:

The City has committed to produce an annual Report Card on Homelessness to monitor the state of homelessness in Toronto and to report on the progress of municipal, provincial and federal homeless and housing initiatives. The first Report Card is scheduled for release in January 2000, one year after the release of the Mayor's Homelessness Action Task Force report. In order to proceed with the development of the Report Card, it is recommended that the framework proposed in Appendix A of this report be adopted by Council.

Contact Name:Joanne Campbell (Phone: 392-7885/ Fax: 392-0548)

Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services

Appendix A

Framework for the Homelessness Report Card (I) Socio-Economic Context

The section will give a brief overview of the socio-economic factors that contribute to homelessness. The intent is to illustrate the complexity of the issue and to highlight the need for governments to address the systemic causes of homelessness if any real progress is to be made. The discussion will focus on the determinants of homelessness (poverty, labour market restructuring, lack of affordable housing, mental illness and addictions). Any impacts of policy and program decisions by each level of government with respect to these determinants will also be highlighted. These may include, for example, the impact of vacancy decontrol under the Tenant Protection Act, welfare reform and the continued ripple effect of the withdrawal from social housing by senior levels of government.

(II) Profile of Homelessness

This section will update information on who is homeless or at risk of homelessness in the city. It will build on the profile described by the Task Force, augmented by new data where available. Information presented would include demographics of hostel users (families, youth, couples, singles, aboriginal people, newcomers and refugees) and patterns of hostel usage (short term emergency vs. chronic users). Some new data will be available to inform this section, in particular hostels data for 1997 and 1998. To increase our knowledge of the at risk population, further data will be collected in areas such as social housing waiting lists.

Key Indicators of Homelessness

This section will profile key indicators related to the causes of homelessness in order to track and monitor these factors. The Report Card working group is currently developing indicators for the first Report Card. The intention is to start with a few key indicators determined for the most part by the availability of new data. The Report Card is meant to be developmental in nature, therefore, additional indicators will be added in subsequent years. A wide range of data sources will be used including governmental, community-based and institutional data. Examples of the types of indicators that will be developed include the following:

(a)Poverty:Rate and depth of poverty; Use of food banks.

(b)Labour Market Restructuring: Unemployment rates; Changes in labour market structure.

(c)Lack of Affordable Housing: Rate of affordability; Rate of economic evictions; New affordable housing starts; Vacancy rates; Loss of housing stock; Applications for demolition of affordable housing stock.

(d)Health, Mental Health and Addictions: Incidence of mental illness among homeless; Discharges from Psychiatric institutions directly into hostels; Demand for supportive housing; New supportive housing development.

(IV) What Has the City of Toronto Done to Alleviate Homelessness?

This section will highlight the key City achievements in responding to the homeless crisis. Progress will be measured against the six components of the City's homelessness action plan as follows:

(1)To reduce poverty: Given that income support is a federal and provincial responsibility, the City is limited in its ability to reduce poverty. However, we can help indirectly by providing resources to help people find and keep their housing as well as to encourage new affordable housing development;

(2)To create new and preserve existing affordable and supportive housing;

(3)To shift services away from emergency response to prevention;

(4)To adopt a service planning approach that holistically addresses the different needs of the different sub-populations (singles/families/youth);

(5)To address the health and mental health needs of people who are homeless; and

(6)To ensure all levels of government work together to address homelessness.

The Report Card will include narrative accounts from people who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness to get their feedback on the real impact of these initiatives on people who are homeless. In addition, any City issues or actions that are still outstanding will need to be identified.

Finally, this section will provide a preliminary analysis of the service trends, demands and gaps in the community-based service sector from a City perspective. This sector represents the front-line system of response and as such is a rich source of information. Information will be gathered, primarily through municipal grants applications, to identify emerging trends and issues facing this sector. This is an area that needs further development in future Report Cards.

(V) What has the Province done to Alleviate Homelessness?

This section will give a brief progress report on provincial homeless and housing initiatives. An analysis of the provincial strategy will assess how and where resources are being invested.

Progress in responding to the recommendations of the Mayor's Homelessness Action Task Force will be measured against the areas where the Province has primary jurisdiction including income assistance, supportive housing, affordable housing, mental health and health. Areas that have not been addressed will be highlighted.

(VI)What has the Federal Government done to Alleviate Homelessness?

This section will give a brief progress report on federal homeless and housing initiatives. A brief analysis of the federal strategy will assess how and where resources are being invested. If details on the federal homelessness and housing strategy via Minister Bradshaw are available in time they will be included in the Report Card.

Progress in responding to the recommendations of the Mayor's Homelessness Action Task Force will be measured against the areas where the federal government has primary jurisdiction including affordable housing, Aboriginal people and immigrants and refugees. Areas that have not been addressed will be highlighted.