Civic Impact

The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) released a new report last week. And it's kind of a big deal.

Not only will the report's findings likely influence Canada's mental health and housing policy for decades to come, it also marks the completion, as the authors boast, "of the most comprehensive study of homelessness ever undertaken."

Last week's Housing First/Chez Mois final report is the culmination of a $110 million research study initiated by the federal government in 2008.

Funded by the Conservative government but designed and carried out by the MHCC, the five-year (2008-2012) study followed more than 2,000 Canadians with mental illness experiencing homelessness. Using a radome control model, the MHCC co-ordinated "housing-first" case studies in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Montreal, Moncton and Toronto.

Housing-First (a model that originated in New York City), is a relatively new model of homelessness prevention which emphasizes stable-housing as the first step to assisting homeless people with mental illness. The theory is that while stable housing does not eliminate the need for mental health services, it does make those services more effective; a departure from traditional models that often require individuals to undergo treatment as precursor to be eligible for housing. 

In each city, the MHCC followed two groups of participants: the first group received the usual support available in their community, the second received support under the housing-first model. Over the course of the five year study, 1030 participants received housing and supports, and 980 received usual supports. 

Participants in the Housing First stream were given the choice of an apartment in which to live and had to pay 30 per cent of their income towards rent, the rest was subsidized. Once in the apartment, participants received regular visits from Housing First Teams at least one weekly and received treatment for mental and physical health issues. 

The conclusion - housing first works. An average of 73 per cent in the housing first group remained in stable housing, compared to 32 per cent receiving usual care.

It’s also cost-effective. Every $10 invested in housing first, the authors estimate, results in cost savings of $21.72.

"[This shows] us that this approach works in Canada," said Louise Bradley, President and CEO of the Mental House Commission of Canada at last week’s launch event . "A house is so much more than a roof over one’s head. It represents dignity, security, and above all, hope. Providing permanent secure housing, does more than keep a person off the streets and out of shelters, it provides a base from which to move forward. It creates hope were none existed. That’s the import of Housing First."

The study was funded as part of the federal government's 600 million commitment over five years to renew the federal Homelessness Strategy Partnership. Housing-first is a cornerstone of the strategy, and thanks to the report's findings, will likely continue to be a key pillar of federal homelessness policy. 

During last Tuesday's event, Canada's Minister of State (Social Development), the Honourable Candice Bergen, said of the report findings: "We now have strong evidence that Housing First is an effective way to reduce homelessness. I am proud to celebrate this achievement along with our partners in the Mental Health Commission of Canada as we officially launch the start of the Housing First approach in Canada."

Importantly, as anti-homeliness advocates have repeated, the enthusiasm for housing-first comes amid declining overall federal funding for homelessness. While few dispute the merit of the housing first model, with over 200,000 Canadians experiencing homelessness annually and 30,000 on any given night, there are concerns that without additional funding we will not be able to provide homes for all that need them and that, in the meantime, much-need emergency shelters will continue to be underfunded. 

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Mental Health Commission of Canada

CivicAction, in its quest to get Ontarians talking about regional transit, is always bringing more stakeholders into the web of its transit investment campaign.

 

Last week, it was University of Toronto students engaged in party politics. 

 

CivicAction recently teamed up with the University of Toronto to host a youth forum on transportation - "From the Boardroom to the Dorm Room".

 

The event, which brought together youth leaders and transit experts, is part of a larger CivicAction initiative to get "each Ontario Party leader to have an answer on how they will fund the next wave of transportation improvements." An especially important issue in light of the upcoming Spring budget. 

 

That's why, this particular youth forum was consciously comprised of young people from across the political spectrum and affiliated with a major party - young Liberals, PCs, NDPers and Greens. 

 

In a panel discussion moderated by CBC Radio's Mary Wiens, attendees shared their daily commuting experiences.

 

Despite the difference in political affiliation, there was widespread agreement about the social, emotional and economic costs of an insufficient transit system. A particularly interesting statistic: U of T students spend an average of 16 hours a week commuting to and from campus, well above the average 6.8 hours a week spent by commuters generally in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

 

The general consensus was that students bring a unique perspective to the transit debate and need to agitate together to achieve real change.

 

"We are at a generational moment to shape the future of transportation in our regions," said CivicAction CEO Sevaun Palvetzian. "Although there are diverse perspectives on how to do this, there is widespread support for investment to get us moving."

 

CivicAction has long expressed support for the efficient implementation of the Metrolinx plan.

 

Metrolinx was established in 2006 by the Government of Ontario to "improve the coordination and integration of all modes of transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area." 

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: CivicAction

Stop the Killing.

 

That's the purposely provocative tagline of the ongoing United Steel Workers (USW) campaign against workplace death and injury, a campaign Toronto city council recently endorsed.

 

In a vote of 36-1, Toronto city council almost unanimously voted to endorse the USW fight. (Mayor Rob Ford voted against the endorsement, the only municipal politician in Canada to vote against a motion endorsing the campaign.)

 

The campaign's tagline is straight forward and so too are its goals: "Greater enforcement Criminal Code amendments that hold corporations, their directors and executives criminally accountable for workplace death."

 

In 2003, the the federal government approved an amendment to Canada's criminal code that significantly increased corporate liability with regards to worker and public safety. Essentially, it made it possible to hold criminally accountable those corporations or senior officers who failed to ensure adequate protections and public safety measures.  Commonly refereed to as the 'Westray Law', the amendments came in response to intense lobbying and public outcry after the death of 26 workers in the explosion of the Westray coal mine on May 9, 1992.

 

The law was heralded by the USW and other workplace safety allies as a major victory. It's not the law that's the problem, they say, it's the enforcement. 

 

Since the Westray Bill's passage, not one corporate executive has faced a single day in jail, despite the fact that 9,000 Canadians have been killed on the job since the Westray Law was passed.

 

And while municipalities have little to do with the enforcement of the these laws, the USW has made it its goal to gather local support one city, town, or region at a time.  

 

Toronto City Council joins Hamilton, Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury, in Ontario, Pictou County and Trenton in Nova Scotia and Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island municipalities in B.C. in endorsing the USW Stop the Killing campaign.

 

"This is a tremendous show of support for ending needless workplace deaths and injuries," says Ken Neumann, United Steelworkers (USW) National Director. "Canada's largest city's near-unanimous vote to Stop the Killing sends a strong message to police and prosecutors dealing with workplace fatalities."

 

The plan, according to USW, is to eventually forward the municipal support of the campaign to the tFederation of Canadian Municipalities, which will be asked to support the national campaign.

 

"We have the tools to save lives. Let's use them," stated Mike Layton, City Councillor for Ward 19 and sponsor of the motion. "Better enforcement will reduce the tragedy of worker deaths. That's why council supports Stop the Killing."

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: USW

"When you're homeless you don't have a door you can close. That might sound small, but it's actually huge."

 

That's one of the reasons, says Louise Smith, manager of youth outreach and intervention for YMCA of Greater Toronto, that she, her colleagues, and her clients, are so excited about the recent official ground-breaking of the Vanauley Street YMCA.

 

The ground-breaking was another step towards the completion of a new YMCA hub for youth living in poverty. When complete, the building will be the permanent home of the organization's youth homeless shelter.

 

"One of the things that we did [when we decided to renovate Vanauley] that was important to us, the residents and the people who were staying with us, was to get their input into the redesign," says Smith."It's because of this consultation that the new shelter will have rooms that are only double-occupancy and each with their own bathroom. We kept hearing how important privacy was to young people for them to be able to thrive."

 

Located at 7 Vanauley Street, near Queen West and Bathurst, the Vanauley Street YMCA began operations in May 2012 after another community group vacated the space.

 

"The previous group in Vanauley (they left to concentrate efforts in the Scarborough area) had been operating a drop-in from homeless youth out of the the building. And because we had a long working relationship with them and were located so close, they asked us to step-in and fill the gap," says Smith. 

 

The Queen Street West YMCA Centre (formerly YMCA House) has been operating a shelter in the area since 1986.

 

"It got so young people would stay with us during the evening and morning at the YMCA House and then spend part of their time at this drop-in that was operating during the day," says Smith. "So when they asked us if we could continue the services we knew that this something that was important and really needed in the community."

 

As Smith points out, while the number of youth living in poverty is growing, services for homeless youth in the area around Vanauley are continuing to decline.

 

"We've seen an increase in young people accessing our shelter and this is coupled with a decreasing service, so when we moved into Vanauley we moved some of our employment programs into the building as well to offer a sort of holistic approach for working with people who used the space."

 

After operating there for almost two years, the YMCA decide to transform Vanauley into what they deem "a true Centre of Community," a space that combines multiple services and is responsive to community needs. 

 

The new Vanauley building, when complete, will be 3,000 sq ft larger and will provide enough room for the YMCA to move its emergency shelter from the Queen location.

 

"In the meantime we’re squeezed into YMCA House," says Smith. "It's very tight, but it's okay, because we know it's short term and are excited for the new space.

 

"It's very important to be able to serve the multiple needs of homeless youth in one space. Some people might walk through our doors who need food, shelter, or a hot shower. Others might need all these things but maybe are also ready to look into employment options or look into getting housing. It's great to be able to offer shelter services and other services in the same place and not have to refer people to one place and then another."

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Louise Smith, YMCA of Greater Toronto

 

An impressive collection of health and education experts have joined forces to tackle what has become an increasingly thorny education system issue: how can Ontario school boards best serve their most medically vulnerable students?

 

Funded by the Ministry of Education and led by health and education nonprofit Ophea, the recently announced research project will investigate four major prevalent conditions affecting Ontario students: asthma, anaphylaxis, diabetes and seizure disorders.

 

Teaming up with school board associations and research nonprofits (including especially the Canadian Diabetes Association), Ophea will undertake a rigorous and "holistic" needs-assessment with the intent of gaining "greater understanding of current policies and practices, medical conditions school boards currently address, as well as available resources, partnerships and implementation support."

 

The final report will help inform province-wide "management of student medical conditions in school settings." 

 

Ophea, the Ontario Physical and Health Education Association, has long agitated for school boards to adopt standard emergency policies for students coping with chronic conditions. 

 

And, indeed, Ontario made some progress after widely publicized school (mis)handling of student medical issues. 

 

In 2005, the Ontario government passed a bill requiring all publicly funded schools in the province to establish and enforce an anaphylaxis action plan.

 

In December of 2013, a similar bill, this one mandating a standard school asthma policy, passed a second reading at Queen’s Park.

 

Both bills--named Sabrina's Law and Ryan's Law respectively--were introduced in response to what many experts, and families, saw as the preventable death of an Ontario student.  

 

The tragedies spurred a provincial search for answers: how ought school boards best protect students who suffer from allergies and asthma? And what about other chronic conditions? What would a successful standardized plan look-like?

 

The Ministry of Education is hoping to tackle these questions. But first, it will consult the experts. 

 

"As a mother and grandmother, I know that parents want — and deserve — to know that their children can go to school each day and be safe," stated Minister of Education Liz Sandals in a press release. "Ophea's research will be an important step in determining the best way to manage student medical conditions in our schools —including asthma, diabetes, anaphylaxis or epilepsy – so that our students continue to learn in safe and healthy schools."

 

As a long-established nonprofit and official school board association, Ophea seems especially well-positioned to take on the task. Ophea already regularly works with schools, school boards, parents, and students to establish school-wide emergency protocol.

 

Emergency protocols, that, according to Chris Markham, executive director and CEO of Ophea, need to become "system wide" in order to ensure that students are kept safe and families reassured. 

 

"With funding support for this comprehensive needs assessment, the government has taken a significant step forward in ensuring the health and safety of our kids is addressed on a system-wide level," says Markham. "This will allow every student to feel safe and secure so they can fully participate throughout their school day." 

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Ophea, Ministry of Education

By the end of 2014, York Region transit riders will have access to 34 brand new buses. 

 

In a vote late last week, York Regional Council approved a contract to purchase 34 new buses for the region from New Flyer Industries Canada. By taking advantage of the joint procurement agreement offered by Metrolinx (the provincial transit agency) to Ontario municipalities, York is able to purchase each bus at a reduced cost. 

 

At  $521,000 each, the new set of 40-foot buses will cost the Region a total of $18 million.

 

"York Region is committed to ongoing investment in transit to help move residents across our nine municipalities and get them to and from work, school, shopping and entertainment venues," said York Region Chairman and CEO Bill Fisch about the decision. "This bus purchase will ensure our YRT/Viva transit fleet continues to be a state-of-the-art and efficient means of travel."

 

The 34 buses will be integrated into the Region's existing fleet of 339 "conventional" buses, 116 Viva bus rapid buses, and 27 Mobility Plus vehicles.

 

Thanks to continual upgrades and an a ever-growing population, YRT/Viva has seen a steady rise in ridership over the past five years. In 2012, the system recorded the highest ever transit ridership numbers to date. 

Currently over 23 million riders use the system ever year, a number that is expected to continue to climb. 

Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: The Regional Municipality of York

Toronto's St. Michael’s Hospital has recently installed two new "mobile imaging systems," essentially an X-ray room on wheels.  

 

Developed by medical equipment makers Carestream, the mobile imaging system is both small enough to move comfortably through hospital hallways but long enough, thanks to an automated and collapsable "tubehead," to reach patients in crowded rooms. According to the manufacturer, the mobile imaging system is so easy to maneuvre that it "can make a 360-degree turn while [being steered] with just one hand."

 

Thanks to the new compact and futuristic devices, for many patients at St. Mike's getting an X-ray will soon be safer, quicker, and more efficient. 

 

"These new mobile imaging systems provide rapid image access, excellent image quality, lower dose and easy positioning for bedside exams of all types," says Dawn-Marie King, director of Diagnostic Imaging, St. Michael’s Hospital. "The DRX-Revolution also has a low profile that provides a clear view over the unit as technologists drive it from one location to another. An extendable tube head helps our technologists position the tube easily over a patient in difficult situations. And the unit is extremely maneuverable, which is very helpful in small spaces."

 

The "mobile X-ray room" produces high-quality images in about five seconds (an almost 10 minute time-saving) and is able to transfer these images wirelessly, allowing real-time access to X-ray exams by radiologists and physicians. 

 

It's also safter for patients: "after installing the new DRX-Revolution systems and high-resolution detectors, our radiology team adjusted imaging techniques to deliver a significant dose reduction that further enhances patient care," says King. 

 

The new systems (Carestream DRX-Revolution Mobile X-ray Systems) will be used in the hospital's Level 1 Trauma Centre as well as for ICU and inpatients.

 

Writer: Katia Snukal

Source: St. Michael's Hospital 

Twenty-two Toronto community builders have signed their names to an open letter urging " Toronto City Council to develop and implement a Poverty Reduction Strategy for the City of Toronto…."

The letter, published on Social Planning Toronto's (SPT) website late Monday afternoon, has since been shared by many of the organizations involved--and many others--over Facebook, Twitter, and other social media mediums. 

 

The letter was first submitted to the City's Community Development and Recreation Committee in light of the committee's scheduled Monday morning vote on the development of a Toronto Poverty Reduction Strategy. The creation of the strategy, proposed by Councillor Joe Mihevc (Ward 21, St. Paul’s West), was adopted at Monday's meeting without amendment; city staff have been instructed to draft a report on possible Poverty Reduction Strategy in time for the 2015 Budget process. 

 

While there's a ways to go before we see what the plan entails, there's already been a lot of momentum behind the idea.

Monday's letter isn't the first time community leaders have actively endorsed Mihevc’s plan, but it does represent a strong formal endorsement by some of the city's largest community building groups and most active civic leaders. The letter is signed by, among many others, John Cartwright, the executive director of policy research group Social Planning Toronto; Susan McIsaac the President and CEO of United Way Toronto; and University of Toronto professor David Hulchanski, author of numerous influential reports on the state of poverty in the city. 

 

Among other evidence of the strategy's necessity, the letter points to recent research indicating that more than one in five Toronto residents live in poverty, that poverty is highly radicalized (the number of those living in poverty rises to one in three for racialized groups) and that poverty is becoming increasingly geographically concentrated in Toronto's inner suburbs. 

 

The letter warns that the societal impacts of income disparity can not be alleviated solely with piecemeal solutions targeted at poverty's negative effects  (e.g. insecure housing or inaccessible child care services) but must be combined with "comprehensive strategy to reduce and eliminate poverty amongst children, youth, working-age adults, immigrants, racialized groups and seniors."

 

Currently Toronto has no such strategy. 

 

Urging council to eventually adopt a strategy that is "comprehensive, targeted, grounded in community, adequately resourced and accountable" the letter signatories have pledged their support to its the development and implementation. 

 

"As partners of the City in research, economic development, community engagement and service delivery, we are also committing to supporting this strategy in our respective roles and to collaborate towards its success."

 

The letter signatories: 
 

Jehad Aliweiwi, Executive Director, Laidlaw Foundation

Sheila Block, Director, Economic Analysis, Wellesley Institute

Alan Broadbent, Chairman of Maytree Foundation and Chairman and CEO of Avana Capital Corporation

John Brodhead, Former Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Cabinet Affairs, Office of the Premier of Ontario

Andrea Calver, Coordinator, Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care

John Campey, Executive Director, Social Planning Toronto

John Cartwright, President, Toronto and York Region Labour Council

Debbie Douglas, Exe cutive Director, OCASI (Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants)

Diane Dyson, Alliance for a Poverty-Free Toronto

Debbie Field, Executive Director, FoodShare

Rachel Grey, Executive Director, The Stop Community Food Centre

Margaret Hancock, Executive Director, Family Service Toronto

Sandy Houston, President and CEO, Metcalf Foundation

J David Hulchanski, Professor, University of Toronto

The Most Reverend Colin R. Johnson, Anglican Archbishop of Toronto and Metropolitan of Ontario

Mary Marrone, Director of Advocacy and Legal Services, Income Security Advocacy Centre

Susan McIsaac, President and CEO, United Way Toronto

Dr. Rosemary Moodie, Board President, YWCA Toronto

Colette Murphy, Executive Director, Atkinson Foundation

Gail Nyberg, Executive Director, Daily Bread Food Bank

Patricia O’Campo, Director, Centre for Research on Inner City Health ?Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

David Rivard, Chief Executive Officer, Children’s Aid Society of Toronto

John Stapleton, Open Policy

Writer: Katia Snukal