230808 Working Group Homelessness NotesThe Corporation of the Town of Tillsonburg
Mayor’s Working Group on Homelessness
August 8, 2023
11:00 a.m.
Council Chambers NOTES
Present: Julie Columbus, Director of Recreation, Culture & Parks; Shawn Shapton,
Executive Director, Operation Sharing; Tony Hymers, Detachment Commander, OPP;
Larry Scanlan, Chair, Police Services Board; Arpan Khanna, MP; Deputy Mayor Beres;
Mayor Deb Gilvesy; Lisa Lanthier, Manager of Human Services, Oxford County;
Councillor Chrissy Rosehart; Kyle Pratt, Chief Administrative Officer; Lisa Marie
Williams, CEO Oxford County Library; Cristina McLaren, Deputy Chief Librarian, Branch
Services, Oxford County Library; Peter Heywood, Programs Director SWPH; Laura
Pickersgill, Executive Assistant
1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 11:02 a.m. 2. Discussion – homelessness
Challenges:
• Public spaces are being used to house the homeless
• Daily pickups of discarded needles is required
• Staff are being harassed
• Encampments have been established near Black Bridge and in Participark
• Citizens are concerned for their safety
• More needle usage here than in other areas
• Revolts in communities are on the rise
• Mental health challenges seem to be the predominant concern
• Lack of rehabilitation and treatment centres
Operation Sharing:
• There is an overflow of usage at their shelters
• Individuals on the ‘do-not-rent’ lists are forced to either move into an
encampment or get arrested to provide for shelter
• Overdosing has significantly increased, however, members are reminded that treatment has to be a wanted intervention from the individual
• Pilot Project – Tillsonburg Homeless Shelter
o Opened March 1st and ran at Avondale United Church until April 16th
o Meals were provided for free from the Mill restaurant
o Shifts were staffed by two individuals from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. o Goal – to have a permanent facility open from November 1st to May 1st
o Operational costs are approximately $100,000 for staff wages only
o There are concerns noted with individuals urging Avondale Church to not allow with the continuation of the shelter o Willing to consider any available, accessible location to host the shelter o Hands out supplies on a ‘what’s needed’ basis rather than in
abundance where possible
• Many individuals refuse treatment at a hospital when an ambulance is called
• Following an overdose incident, Operation Sharing is monitoring individuals
and if guests are using drugs on-site then the individual won’t be suspended
immediately until staff feel they are safe to release
Is there a model working in other municipalities to solve this problem? St. Thomas has implemented different levels of transitional living with extra layers that seems to be working.
How is drug access so easy? There are drug loans offered, however, it is felt that
the increase in availability is not new and the drugs are likely coming in from out of town with new strains of drugs available. Dealers lower prices to get more people addicted and users are pooling their funds to buy more quantity for a more reasonable rate.
Affordable Housing
• Mortgage increases are affecting people’s ability to remain housed stably
• 2022 average market rent was $1,109/month while those on social assistance
receive $731/month Statistics
• 56% increase in use at the local foodbank (including clients that are
employed)
Policing
• Recent court ruling changed to no longer allow the police to move people
from certain areas as long as they are not within a certain distance from
parks/schools
• The main focus when responding to calls, as long as someone isn’t breaking the law, the officer will connect individuals with the mental health clinician program
• There were 596 calls in 2018 for mental health related issues and 813 calls in 2022; 130 individuals were apprehended in 2022
• It was suggested that enhancements to the municipal police services
agreement are made
• Governed under the Mental Health Act – can only apprehend individuals when they are a danger to themselves or others for example
• MHERT is a program funded through the Ministry of Health, supported by the CMHA, that runs seven days a week during peak hours with one trained
member being available for Woodstock police and Oxford County OPP to respond. Officers can request the assistance of this trained officer to attend to
calls with them when they feel it is necessary.
• Alberta is piloting a project to provide for admittance of involuntary participants into treatment centres
What do we need that will help? Crisis beds are essential. Individuals are currently
being waitlisted and then need to be predetermined to be referred to an out-of-County facility (if room permits). It was noted that once the person is ready for intervention then typically there is 7-10 days to get the individual admitted into rehab before regression will start. Hospitals are full and it was discussed that it is the
decision of the emergency room doctor whether to have a patient put into a 72 hour
hold for psychiatric evaluation or to release them. Short Term Solutions:
• Remove picnic tables and benches
• Removal of shrubs Where was the provincial funding given to the County allocated? The money
was allocated between various channels including: Salvation Army, shelters,
subsidized activities for daily living, rent supplement, assistance when utilities are to be disconnected and Operation Sharing. Southwestern Public Health
• SWPH addresses mental health and addictions with community partners through a four-pillar approach that is found in the Oxford County Community Drug and Alcohol Strategy and includes: prevention, harm reduction, treatment and justice/community safety
• SWPH primarily focuses on developing upstream healthy public policy through a prevention lens while implementing harm reduction activities such as the needle syringe program
• SWPH develops policies and delivers programs and services that target
children and youth, as this is the population that will have the most significant impact on changing behaviour
• Harm reduction is provided through the supply of syringes to people who
inject drugs with the equipment they need to avoid acquiring and/or
transmitting blood-borne infections such as HIV and Hepatitis c, thereby reducing the burden on the healthcare system
• SWPH can offer qualitative and quantitative data to inform decision making and support the shaping of policies
• An anti-stigma campaign is being launched this year
• At least year’s AMO Conference, AMO prepared a report titled An Integrated
Approach to Mental Health and Addictions Recommendations that was
submitted to the Ministry of Health for their review and consideration
• The Province’s roadmap to addressing mental health and addictions is found
here: https://www.ontario.ca/page/roadmap-wellness-plan-build-ontarios-
mental-health-and-addictions-system How do you communicate to your citizens?
• Promote that the task force has been created
• Develop a collaborative approach with other Oxford County municipalities
• Provide factual answers to the most frequently asked questions from the public
• Work with the library on promotion of the upcoming event in partnership with United Way Oxford on the ‘Reducing Poverty Forever’ initiative
• Ensure messaging is communicated through to all levels of staff
• Increased foot patrol would be helpful in the downtown Action Items Lisa Lanthier will reach out to Ryan Orton to ensure the community paramedicine
program is happening locally. Teresa Martins of Oxford Ontario Health Team to be invited to a future meeting. Police/Police Services Board, BIA and Parks and Recreation department to look at
tracking costs related to homelessness. Make larger pathways out from of the mall. 3. Next Meeting
Laura to send out a doodle poll on availability 4. Adjournment