Eagle Spirit Survivor Street Celebration

CHF was pleased to attend an Eagle Spirit Survivor Street Celebration lunch on January 20, 2016. The Eagle Spirit Survivor Street Celebration lunches are organized every two weeks at the Community Wise Centre in Calgary.

The lunch welcomes the Calgary community to get-together, enjoy a hot meal and catch-up. In partnership with The Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary (AFCC), the Eagle Spirit Survivor Street Celebration lunches begin with an opening prayer and Smudge.

The lunch events could not be possible without the amazing volunteers. Susan, Toni, Shandi, Samantha, Sheldon and Joyce offer warm smiles as they prepare, cook and serve the delicious lunches.

AFCC, one of CHF’s partnering agencies, provides social, cultural, education and employment services to the Aboriginal peoples withing the Calgary Metropolitan area.

Everyone is welcome to attend the next Eagle Spirit Survivor Street Celebration lunch on February 17, 2016 at the Community Wise Centre (223 12 Ave S.W.) from 12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. If you are interested in volunteering, drumming and/or singing, please e-mail Shandi or call her at 403-270-7379 ext. 231.

 Eagle Spirit Street Survivors Group Luncheon 02 17 20162

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Homelessness in Canada: Its Growth, Policy Responses, and Advocacy

By: Nick Falvo, 

Original post can be found here.

On February 1, I gave a guest presentation on homelessness to a graduate seminar class on housing policy taught by Steve Pomeroy at Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration. The focus of my presentation was the emergence of homelessness in Canada as a pressing public policy area in the 1980s. I discussed the growth of homelessness, policy responses and advocacy. My slides from the presentation can be downloaded here.

I first got involved in the homelessness sector in 1998 when I began working at a homeless shelter as a front-line worker. All told, I spent 10 years doing front-line work with homeless persons in Toronto; most of that time was as a mental health outreach worker at Street Health. (I also wrote a report on Toronto homelessness in 2009.)

I apologize in advance for the somewhat Toronto-centric nature of the present blog post. Since much of my early experience in the homelessness sector took place in Toronto, this blog post will no doubt omit important developments that have occurred in other parts of Canada.

With the above in mind, here are 10 things to know:

  1. Between 1980 and 2000, the number of persons sleeping in Toronto homeless shelters on a nightly basis increased by 300%.This resulted in more public attention on homelessness. I also think it helped lead to more public resources being channeled to homelessness.
  1. I think six main factors led to that increase in homelessness.During the time period being considered: 1) there were two deep recessions that led to double-digit unemployment levels across Canada; 2) the percentage of unemployed Canadians who qualified for unemployment insurance benefits fell significantly; 3) many Canadian provinces reduced the generosity (I use the term loosely) of their social assistance programs; 4) for-profit developers essentially stopped building rental housing; 5) senior levels of government stopped devoting substantial amounts of funding to the creation of new affordable housing units; and 6) rental vacancy rates dipped to very low levels. I would argue that all of these factors created the ‘perfect storm’ for rising homelessness.
  1. As homelessness grew in Toronto, supportive housing became a popular program response. By supportive housing, I mean government-subsidized, permanent housing for low-income persons, combined with ‘social work’ support to help the tenant maintain their tenancy. (For more on supportive housing, see this report.) In many cases, the homeless person receiving the housing did not have to prove their ‘housing readiness’ in order to receive the housing.
  1. Beginning in 2005, there emerged a lot of talk in Canada about something called housing first. For the purpose of the present blog post, I’ll define housing first as the practice of providing a homeless person with immediate access to permanent housing (rather than requiring that the person prove themselves ‘ready for housing’ before receiving it). I would argue that, at least in Toronto, housing first began in the 1980s with the introduction of supportive housing. In fact, Homes First Society, which started offering supportive housing in Toronto in the early 1980s, was named for precisely the same reason as housing first—its founders believed that people needed homes first before they could work on other challenges (e.g. employment, health problems, etc.). That said, I think the beginning of Streets to Homes (a large housing first program in Toronto) in 2005 ultimately encouraged officials across Canada to be more forthcoming than previously in terms of providing permanent housing to homeless persons without requiring ‘housing readiness.’
  1. The use of the term housing first is confusing. I think that’s because, by definition, it refers to the method by which program administrators determine when a homeless person should receive permanent housing. Yet, because it appeals to persons on the left and right of the political spectrum, it’s become a popular catchphrase. For example, the term appears 118 times in the federal government’s 2014-2019 directive for the Homelessness Partnering Strategy. I suspect the federal government uses the term so frequently in that directive largely because of the term’s popularity.
  1. The same federal department that mentions housing first 118 times in one document also administers federal funding for homelessness that today (on an annual basis) is worth just 35% of what it was in 1999. Last November, I wrote that annual federal funding for homelessness today is worth considerably less than it was in 1999. Indeed, I wrote that, in order for such funding to be restored to 1999 levels, the federal government would have to increase its annual funding for the Homelessness Partnering Strategy from $119 million to $343 million.
  1. Beginning in approximately 2005,[1] there was a shift in terms of who was dominating the public advocacy debate on homelessness in Canada. I think that many of the people who’d previously been strong advocates for the homeless on a national level started to ‘run out of gas’ (not to mention resources). Meanwhile, a new crop of advocates started to emerge. Suddenly, the most vocal advocates were more ‘glass half full’ than their predecessors. A key—often implicit—argument of the new generation of advocates was that public resources for the homeless had been mismanaged in the past and that, if they were better managed going forward, we would see major reductions in homelessness (possibly without a great deal more public spending). I’ve come to know key players in both the pre-2005 and post-2005 camps and have great admiration for their tenacity and integrity. I also think that each approach has its strengths.
  1. I think a strength of the pre-2005 ‘glass half empty’ approach was its brutal honesty. Many would argue that an honest, meaningful discussion about homelessness must include a strong focus on high mortality rates among persons experiencing homelessness; and you could always count on the pre-2005 advocates to raise this topic loudly. Moreover, the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee’s call for senior levels of government to double annual spending on affordable housing, in my opinion, would have been good public policy.
  1. I think a strength of the post-2005 ‘glass half full’ approach is that it often presents as non-threatening to public officials. I find that adherents of this approach like to publicly applaud announcements and long-term goals that have the potential to reduce homelessness, even when such moves aren’t accompanied by new funding. Indeed, incremental moves by government are publicly applauded. The success of the aforementioned housing first approach is often offered as proof that methods of responding to homelessness have indeed improved over the years. I would argue that one key organization that embodies this ‘glass half full’ approach is the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness.
  1. There’s no inherent reason why both approaches can’t co-exist and complement each other. I think the ‘glass half empty’ advocates can create space for the ‘glass half full’ advocates. A colleague of mine refers to the former as “outsiders”—they’re typically outside the offices of elected officials and senior government staff. The same colleague refers to the latter as “insiders”—they’re very often meeting inside the offices of elected officials and government staff. In short, I think there’s room both inside and outside the offices of decision-makers for important conversations about homelessness.

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[1] I’ve somewhat arbitrarily chosen 2005, as that’s the year that the City of Toronto introduced its Streets to Homes program.

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A blog by Nick Falvo

 

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Walk A Mile In Their Shoes

We all know that feeling. That hunker down, close your eyes against the snow, don’t breathe in too deeply or you’ll cough from the cold kind of feeling. Winter in Calgary. We boast that we’re tough, that we can withstand anything. We are, after all, Albertans. Forged in cold weather and an unpredictable mother nature.

Seven months out of the year, we bundle up, running as quickly as possible from one warm building to another, spending as little time as possible outside in the frigid Calgary weather. We run from our warm car, into our warm office building, back into our warm car and then scurry from the driveway into our warm home. The next day dawns, bright and chilly as ever and we repeat, asking ourselves when we’re due for another Chinook.

Tough right?

Or not.

There are those who endure the Calgary winter very differently. Those who line up at shelter doors in sub-zero weather, waiting to get in and claim their sleeping mat for the evening. Who wake up at 530am after very little sleep, get in line for showers with multiple others and very limited privacy. Those who truly walk the streets in Calgary winter, with perhaps a door frame to shield them from the wind and the occasional time they have enough funds to purchase a coffee to allow them a brief reprieve indoors. There are those with small children, hoping against hope that the donated winter clothing their little ones are wearing is enough to keep out the cold.

These are the Calgarians, those experiencing homelessness, that feel the true sting of our winters.

On February 20th, over 470 Calgarians will walk to raise funds for those truly subjected to our city’s winters. The Coldest Night of the Year (CNOY) is Canada’s National Walk for Homelessness, a walk that raises funds for Canadian charities and projects who serve the thousands of Canadians experiencing homelessness. Each city hosts their own walk; Calgary’s Coldest Night walk will raise funds for three local projects: Acadia Place, Feed the Hungry and the Mustard Seed. So far in Calgary 88 teams, 1045 donors and 92 volunteers have come together to raise $125,000. While there is still work to be done, this incredible achievement is proof that, even in tough economic times, Calgarians will take a stand for its most vulnerable citizens.

KAIROS Calgary, a national organization that unites 130 congregations from eight Christian-based denominations that helps those in need, has been the foundational support behind the Calgary Homeless Foundation’s (CHF’s) Acadia Place, a 58 unit apartment complex that provides affordable housing for families at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness. Larry Pearce has been a member of KAIROS since 2007 and has seen the Acadia Place project grow since its original purchase by CHF in 2009. KAIROS Calgary’s goal is to fundraise enough to retire the mortgage on Acadia Place.

In support of Acadia Place and The Coldest Night of the Year, Larry will be walking for his third year in a row. “The thing about getting together with a group and seeing the companionship and energy of others on the team…you really get the feeling of being together and doing something important. Having three to four hundred people out doing the walk for the same cause is incredible and exciting. There is something special about all these people coming together to do this walk. This biggest thing is that you know what the funds are being raised for and the impact it can have. Raising funds for affordable housing is so important…having a safe, warm place for children has a huge impact on families.”

Larry will walk with a team that has fundraised in order to be a part of CNOY. One member in particular is eleven years old and has already raised over $1,000 himself alone by borrowing his grandmothers email list and kindly reminding her friends of those out there suffering Calgary’s winter on the streets. “This young walker has a built in concern about others. When his parents were volunteering in shelters, he would sit down and chat with all the people staying there. He sees people, not their situation.”

Many of us could stand to learn a thing or two from this young philanthropist.  

The Coldest Night of the Year will begin at Eau Claire Market at 5pm on the evening of Saturday, February 20th, where hundreds of Calgarians will zip up their parkas and tough out Calgary’s winter in support of the fight to end homelessness in Calgary.

Will you?

For more information or to sign up a team of your own, visit https://coldestnightoftheyear.org/location/calgary.

 

 

 

 

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Ten Things to Know About Jeannette Waegemakers Schiff’s New Book on Working with Homeless People

By: Nick Falvo, PhD                                                              

Jeannette Waegemakers Schiff has written a new book titled Working with Homeless and Vulnerable People:  Basic Skills and Practice.   I’m proud to call Jeannette a friend and colleague, but I’ve agreed to write a critical reflection of the book.

This is a ‘must read’ for anyone in North America wanting to do front-line work in the homeless-serving sector.  This book covers a vast array of topics, which is a huge undertaking for one person.  I’m especially impressed that the book is written for audiences in both Canada and the United States.  Few authors have the background to understand both contexts.

I spent 10 years doing front-line work with homeless persons in Toronto.  I had virtually no ‘social work’ education at the time and learned ‘on the job.’ I wish I’d read this book before taking on that work.

Here are ten things to know about this book:

 

  1. The idea for this book was conceived when its author was involved in starting a course for workers in Calgary’s homeless-serving sector. That course is now taught at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Social Work, in partnership with the Calgary Homeless Foundation (my employer). This course is still going strong today; more information on it can be found on it here.

 

  1. Chapter 3, which focuses on homelessness and health, is very strong. The book’s chapter on health is both comprehensive and nuanced. It discusses high mortality rates among the homeless, the impact of stressful life events and common physical health problems among homeless persons.  I like that Table 3.4 (p. 66) contrasts the needs people have when ill with the realities of conditions in a homeless shelter.  My only disappointment about this chapter is that it didn’t discuss the Street Health Report 2007, one of the most comprehensive health reports even written about homeless persons. (Full disclosure:  I worked at Street Health when that report was written and helped with the report’s preparation.)

 

  1. The book says very important things about ‘burnout prevention.’ I saw a lot of burnout in the homeless-serving sector; and in retrospect, I think 10 years was too long for me to stay on the ‘front lines.’ In Chapter 3, I like that workers are encouraged to ‘say no.’ The same chapter also encourages regular exercise.  And Appendix 2 even features a survey instrument that helps workers gauge the extent to which they may suffer compassion fatigue and burnout.  (I personally think the same chapter should have also singled out the importance of doing yoga, but I’m hugely biased on this front: not only do I do yoga several times a week, but my partner is a yoga instructor!)

 

  1. You can always count on Jeannette to deliver a thoughtful, historically-grounded consideration of housing first; and in this book, she doesn’t disappoint. Jeannette knows more about housing first than anyone I know, having previously worked as Director of Research at Pathways to Housing in New York City. If you want to know more about housing first, read Chapter 6 of this book!

 

  1. Chapter 5 skillfully distinguishes which level of government handles which area of social policy that’s relevant to homelessness. It also makes the distinction between Canada and the United States. Many authors would shy away from trying to cover the social welfare systems of two different countries, but the author’s work experience in both countries allows her to do this.

 

  1. Not every approach offered in this book will appeal to every worker. When I worked with homeless people, my co-workers and I worked with smokers the way we did anybody else; often, we joined them. Chapter 2 of this book—which is available free of charge online here— offers an approach to working with smokers that I would not choose myself.  The reader is encouraged to ‘explore the positive’ by asking “When do you most enjoy smoking?  Can you think of other ways in which you could have the same pleasant feeling” (p. 44).  And if that approach doesn’t work, the reader is encouraged to ‘explore the negative’ by asking: “What comes to your mind when you think about an unpleasant part of smoking?  Have you thought about how to deal with these unpleasant parts?  Is quitting the only way” (p. 44)?  Many public health officials will thank the author for this section; but I suspect some homeless persons would find the above line of questioning a bit condescending.  Likewise, Chapter 5 encourages the use of something called a genogram—i.e. a family tree for the homeless person.  By sketching it out, the notion is that the worker will be able to better “understand the many different people that are part of the client’s life…”(p. 149).  Again, when I was a worker in the homeless-serving sector, I would not have opted for this approach.  Admittedly though, every homeless person and every worker is different; if a client and their worker mutually agree that such a map is helpful, I shouldn’t judge.

 

  1. Chapter 7’s discussion of mental health has some solid content, but misses a great opportunity to discuss the need for workers to advocate with clients vis-à-vis psychiatrists. I spent seven years working as a mental health outreach worker with homeless persons in Toronto. While I don’t think my work gave me a complete view of the mental health system, I was often struck by how little psychiatrists liked to talk to my clients (i.e. their patients) about the adverse side effects of psychotropic medication.  The book ignores this problem.  I wish it had drawn on this excellent book by Dr. David Healy.  I also wish it had discussed some the excellent self-help initiatives that exist in Canada, including the Empowerment Council and Toronto-based Sound Times.

 

  1. The book’s treatment of politics and public policy could have been a bit stronger. I’m disappointed the book didn’t discuss neoliberalism, which I personally think helps explain rising homelessness across North America in the 1980s and 1990s. I’ve previously discussed the way this played out in Toronto here.  Much smaller point:  the book perpetuates the myth that Canada is “the only G-8 country without a national housing policy” (p. 166).  Regrettably, most G8 countries lack a national housing strategy.  (For more on how Canadian housing policy stacks up against housing policies in other affluent countries, see this 2009 report by Greg Suttor.)

 

  1. I’m disappointed the book doesn’t give more attention to harm reduction. Chapter 8 focuses on addictions and does discuss harm reduction (an approach to practice that helps reduce the harms associated with drug and alcohol use while not necessarily requiring complete abstinence); but it devotes just half a page to this topic. Material the chapter could have had drawn on to enhance this section of Chapter 8 include: this resource, which was designed specifically for social workers; this training manual designed for frontline staff; and this report on a successful Calgary-based harm reduction program run by Alpha House (an organization whose work I admire very much and that receives funding from the Calgary Homeless Foundation).

 

  1. The book doesn’t talk about unions; I think it should. Many workers in the homeless-serving sector receive low wages, few (if any) benefits and little job security. Unions have the potential to change this.  Considering the book’s focus on self-care and burnout prevention, I’m surprised it didn’t discuss the important role that unions can play in improving working conditions (for more on the potential benefits of being in a union, see this 2014 report by the Parkland Institute).  Some Executive Directors will be grateful for this omission; union organizers, not so much.

 

Despite the shortcomings identified above, I wish to emphasize that this book is a ‘must read.’

 

Version française: Dix choses à savoir à propos d’un nouveau livre écrit par Jeannette Waegemakers Schiff

 

 

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Stepping Stone Manor: Where stories will begin again.

Where once an old and tired rooming house stood, a shiny new apartment building has risen from the ground. It is 4 stories tall. It is made of brick and mortar and steel and the hard labour of many. It is elegant, calm and welcoming.

It is Stepping Stone Manor, a new 30 unit permanent supportive housing project about to open in the Beltline area. It is also about to become the home for 30 individuals for whom homelessness has been their stark reality for far too long.

Living in homelessness is not an easy path. Whether sleeping on a mat in a shelter, or camping rough in parks or along the riverbank, homelessness takes a toll on the resiliency and capacity of those experiencing it to believe they can create positive change in their life. The longer one remains in homelessness, the harder it is to imagine ever moving beyond it. That’s why Stepping Stone Manor and the other 8 – 10 buildings CHF will be spear-heading construction on through their involvement in the RESOLVE Campaign are so important. Each building, each individual unit, represents the way home for those who have lost their way in homelessness.

“I know I’m in a home because I’m standing here in stocking feet,” says Diana Krecsy, President & CEO of Calgary Homeless Foundation in her opening remarks at the ‘sneak-a-peak’ tour of soon to be occupied Stepping Stone Manor. “I wouldn’t walk into anyone’s home with my shoes on, and it’s no different here. This will soon be home for someone who has probably given up hope of ever having a home again,” she tells the 20 or so home builders, government representatives, key donors and media who have come out to get a look at Stepping Stone Manor before finishing touches are completed and tenants move in.

Stepping Stone Manor is the first ‘purpose-built’ apartment building to be completed as part of CHF’s goal to build 8 – 10 permanent supportive living apartment buildings through the RESOLVE Campaign, a first of its kind in Canada capital campaign comprised of nine not-for-profit agencies who have joined forces to raise $120 million to create homes for 3,000 vulnerable Calgarians.

Funding for the 30 unit Stepping Stone Manor came from the Government of Alberta (70%) and Cedarglen Living Inc. (30%). Cedarglen Living is one of 11 Calgary homebuilders who have pledged $15.4 million to build a series of apartment buildings to house 3,000 vulnerable Calgarians at risk of or experiencing homelessness. Many other donors such as Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, pba land & development and The Surveillance Shop made Stepping Stone Manor possible.

“The generosity of Calgarians inspires our work to end homelessness in Calgary every day,” says Sharon deBoer, Director, Development at CHF. “They remind us through their contributions of time, talents and resources that we are not alone in wanting to improve the quality of life for homeless Calgarians and they bring meaning to our vision — Together, we will end homelessness. With their support, and the support of so many others, we will make it happen.”

For more information please click the links below:

Stepping Stone Manor.

RESOLVE Campaign

 

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CHF Welcomes New Board Member, Dr. David Ross

Dr. David Ross comes to the Calgary Homeless Foundation (CHF) Board of Director’s with a deep understanding and appreciation of our collective responsibility to take care of one another, especially people living on the margins.

“Seeing what devolved in East Vancouver, seeing the growing number of folks living on the street and in what horrendous conditions they survived, I appreciated the noble efforts being taken to change homelessness, but I often feared we were not winning the war,” said Ross in reference to the years he spent as President of Langara College in downtown Vancouver and witnessed first-hand the rise in homelessness. “It is not a good reflection of Canada. To have so many people in harm’s way.”

For Ross, it’s important that CHF’s message go beyond the siren’s call of taking care of people experiencing homelessness to provide a clear and compelling case for building the infrastructure that not just takes people out of harm’s way but builds sustainability for everyone in community. “We are in a unique moment in time where government has social license to direct money towards social housing. We must keep the pressure on.”

Strengthening and expanding CHF’s leadership in terms of coordinating, collaborating and partnering with a wide variety of interests in what he views as a very complex homeless-serving sector is his compelling reason to become a member of CHF’s Board.

 

The CHF Board consists of a number of dedicated volunteers committed to working with agencies, governments and donors to ensure our collective vision of ending homelessness in Calgary is achieved and is actively seeking collaborative leaders to join our volunteer Board of Directors. If you share a passion and commitment to our Vision and Mission, have strong ties to our community and are willing to commit time to this important endeavor, we encourage you to contact us. The CHF is the system planner for Calgary’s Homeless-Serving System of Care and at this time is specifically searching for board candidates with experience in governance, risk management and public policy advocacy. We welcome interested indigenous leadership.

If you are interested in being part of a team that is working collaboratively with organizations from across Calgary’s system of care and are energized to make a difference in our community, please forward your resume to board@calgaryhomeless.com.

Our Mission: By providing Leadership in Calgary’s Homeless-Serving System of Care ensuring it meets the needs of those who are homeless

Our Vision: Together we will end homelessness in Calgary

Our Values: Catalytic Leadership, Courageous Collaborators, Evidence-Inspired and Vision Dedicated

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Using Data to End Homelessness in Calgary

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By  Nick Falvo, PhD

On March 9, I spoke on a panel in Professor Susan Phillips’ Policy and Program Evaluation course at Carleton University.  This is a required course in Carleton’s Master of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership program, and one of the program’s main themes is that non-profit organizations face strong expectations to demonstrate their effectiveness.  Thus, future leaders in the sector will need to be both knowledgeable and competent in this regard.

 

I was asked to speak to the above theme from the vantage point of my role as Director of Research & Data at the Calgary Homeless Foundation (CHF).  With this in mind, here are 10 things future non-profit leaders should know.

  1. In 2008, Calgary became the first city in Canada to launch a plan to “end homelessness.” Calgary’s plan was based on a model used in more than 300 communities in the United States. Today, more than one dozen Canadian cities have such a plan. Also since 2008, on a per capita basis, homelessness (as measured by Point-in-Time counts) has decreased in Calgary by 17%.
  1. Calgary’s Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS) may be the most sophisticated of its kind in Canada. When Calgary developed its plan, it decided to also develop an information management system that, among other things, could help it track progress. Indeed, last fall, I wrote that many of Calgary’s homeless-serving organizations enter client information into a database called HMIS.  Today, all Calgary non-profit programs that receive funding from the CHF must use the HMIS (it’s stipulated in their contracts); and some non-funded agencies voluntarily use the HMIS system for some of their programs.
  1. The development and implementation of Calgary’s HMIS system has been guided by several community committees. For several years, an HMIS Advisory Committee met to test the ‘big brother’ concern about the system. The Committee consisted of both staff from homeless-serving agencies and clients from the sector. Along with addressing privacy concerns, clients were part of the decision-making process (and were assured that the police would not have access to client records). There was also (and still is) an HMIS User Group attended by staff who use the HMIS system—that group meets on an ad hoc basis to discuss more technical matters, such as updates to the database system, reporting cycles and ‘how to’ matters (it met more frequently in the early days of the system than it does today).  Finally, now that the system has been ‘up and running’ for some time, the CHF still convenes smaller committees on an ad hoc basis to help guide specific initiatives.
  1. An important success of Calgary’s HMIS system has been its assistance with program referrals. Many (but not all) homeless persons in Calgary go through an intake process with the help of the Service Prioritization Decision Assessment Tool (SPDAT). The SPDAT gives the client an acuity score, which assists with their placement into CHF-funded housing programs (information gathered during the SPDAT process is entered into the HMIS system).  Based on the goals set out in Calgary’s Plan to End Homelessness, clients with higher SPDAT scores are often given higher priority for placement into CHF-funded housing.  Committees meet on a regular basis to recommend which clients be placed into the limited amount of subsidized housing available.[1] The formal name for this entire process is called Coordinated Access & Assessment (CAA). (For more on Calgary’s CAA system, see this recent book chapter by Jerilyn Dressler.)
  1. Some non-profit organizations have been happy to share their data with CHF; others less so. In my experience, before a non-profit shares data voluntarily with CHF, they like to know what exactly the data will be used for and how they may benefit from sharing their data. Until they see how the sharing of data can benefit their organization and its clientele, they’re reluctant to share (unless they’re mandated to do so by their funder).  Organizations such as the CHF need to therefore work hard to build trust with other non-profits and demonstrate how data sharing can be mutually beneficial, rather than simply thinking of receiving data as an entitlement.
  1. CHF disburses funding to Calgary-based non-profits in the homeless-serving sector each year; to monitor their outcomes and impact, it benchmarks them against key performance indicators (KPIs). Different programs have different objectives—for example, KPIs developed for some programs put emphasis on how effective those programs appear to be in creating stable housing situations for their tenants. CHF staff, in monitoring each funded agency’s progress on KPIs, is able to track progress thanks to the aforementioned HMIS database system.  CHF then makes annual funding decisions based in part on each funded program’s performance against KPIs. 
  1. Calgary’s HMIS system provides invaluable support to the aforementioned benchmarking system. Indeed, this has been one of the major successes of Calgary’s HMIS system. It’s through the HMIS system that ‘program performance’ data is gathered from CHF-funded programs.
  1. One drawback of HMIS data is that most of its client data is based on self-reporting. However, it should be noted that self-reported information is gathered by an experienced case manager during an in-person interview.  What’s more, many well-respected data sources in Canada are also based on self-reporting; these include the Labour Force Survey and the Census.  In future, CHF researchers would like to cross-reference self-reported HMIS data with administrative data from health systems and justice systems, in order to compare information on the same individual. (Such a research exercise would obviously require client consent, as well as cooperation from health and justice authorities.) 
  1. I think the main success of Calgary’s initial Plan to End Homelessness was that it helped galvanize public attention and stopped homelessness from rising. When the original Plan was developed in 2008, Calgary had experienced a 650% increase in homelessness over just a 10-year period. And as indicated above, Calgary has since seen a 17% drop in per-capita homelessness since the original Plan was unveiled.  I personally consider that to be a very impressive accomplishment; indeed, there is little doubt in my mind that there are people alive today thanks largely to that Plan.  In retrospect, eliminating homelessness by 2018 (a key goal of he original plan) was a very ambitious target.
  1. My main piece of advice to third-sector (i.e. non-profit) leaders is to be humble with data. By that, I mean they shouldn’t try to ‘over interpret’ data.  Non-profit leaders need to be honest about the limitations of both their data and the statistical analysis they undertake using that data.  They should also be forthright about assumptions they make in long-term projections.  When in doubt, they should seek guidance from more senior researchers.  Though it may be tempting to exaggerate one’s knowledge and foresight at times, remember that chickens eventually come home to roost.  And with that in mind, I’ll remind blog readers what the late John Kenneth Galbraith once said about economic forecasters: “There are two kinds of forecasters: those who don’t know, and those who don’t know they don’t know.”

[1] Even with Calgary’s sophisticated use of data, the city still has far more homeless people in need of housing than it has subsidized housing units available.  Thus, due to a lack of affordable housing, some people experiencing homelessness can wait years to be placed into housing; others die while on the waiting list.  That’s a big reason why the CHF endorses this recent policy statement and continues to lobby all levels of government for more funding.

Nick Falvo is Director of Research and Data at the Calgary Homeless Foundation. His area of research is social policy, with a focus on poverty, housing, homelessness and social assistance. Nick has a PhD in public policy from Carleton University. Fluently bilingual, he is a member of the editorial board of the Canadian Review of Social Policy / Revue canadienne de politique sociale.  Contact him at nick@calgaryhomeless.com. Follow him on Twitter: @nicholas_falvo.

Version française: L’ Utilisation de données dans le programme visant à mettre fin à l’itinérance à Calgary

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The following individuals were very helpful in the preparation of this blog post:  Britany Ardelli, Janice Chan, Francesco Falvo, Louise Gallagher, Darcy Halber, Chantal Hansen, Ron Kneebone, Ali Jadidzadeh, Jennifer Legate, Kevin McNichol, Natalie Noble, John Rowland and Kelsey Shea.  Any errors are mine.

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New Research – Jeannette Waegemakers Schiff & Annette Lane

New Research – Jeannette Waegemakers Schiff, PhD & Annette Lane, PhD: Burnout and PTSD in Workers in the Homeless Sector in Calgary

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CHF Welcomes new Board Member, Jeff Boyd

As Regional President for Alberta and the Territories, Jeff Boyd has overall responsibility for RBC’s Personal & Commercial Banking Businesses in the region.

With RBC for over 20 years, Mr. Boyd has progressed through a variety of positions including senior management roles in both Retail and Commercial Banking and National Sales Strategy.

Mr. Boyd is an active and dedicated community leader, including his involvement on the Board of the National Music Centre, Advisory Boards for The Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at The Haskayne School of Business and the University of Alberta Business School and, most recently, a newly appointed Board Member with the Calgary Homeless Foundation.

A leader who is committed to helping local communities prosper, Jeff is an advocate for the power of communities and the impact caring people can have, particularly regarding the critical social issues Calgary’s most vulnerable populations face. It is for these reasons that Jeff is honoured to serve as a member of the CHF Board and help address the critical shortage of affordable housing in our community.

In a recent interview with Jeff, he shared his passion for his community, his initial introduction to the homeless serving sector and what he hopes to accomplish with the CHF Board over the next year.

What inspired you to begin serving on the CHF Board?

I got exposure to the work of the foundation when RBC made a million dollar gift to the RESOLVE Campaign. Through that, I gained more and more knowledge around the work of the Campaign and really liked the concept of nine organizations all working collaboratively towards that goal of ending homelessness. In our business, it’s all about collaboration. I was introduced to the idea of a Plan to End Homelessness in Calgary. It’s a pretty audacious goal that attracts a lot of attention and I like audacious goals. That, in turn, led me to the Calgary Homeless Foundation where I was asked to be a Board Member.

In light of other potential social issues you could be a part of, what made you choose to put your time into the issue of homelessness?

We’ve got a 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness and it’s an incredible goal.  From my own experience of having a really good, stable home, I know that that’s important for our society to have a solid foundation, a solid home. A lot of stuff starts foundationally with a good home and you can see that when we talk about the Housing First approach. When you start to understand Housing First and the philosophy and the research behind it, you can see all of the direct impacts in has in health, crime prevention, employment, reduced reliance on government. Everything connects back to having a home, having a solid foundation.

What do you hope to see CHF accomplish in the next three years?

I hope to see us accomplish a lot more of the same. There’s a lot going on the community, in the sector in terms of pulling together to achieve our goals. I hope to see CHF continue to deliver more leadership and to keep moving towards finding innovative solutions.

You’ve been a part of multiple boards over the years. What has made you so passionate about volunteering and helping communities prosper?

I would say a good solid upbringing. I was brought up with the value that you give people a hand up when they need it. I’ve been extremely fortunate in my life and with my family and I feel a responsibility to pay it forward. And truly, being a part of something like this, I get more in personal satisfaction than I think that I will ever be able to give. I get a lot more back than I put in.

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L’ Utilisation de données dans le programme visant à mettre fin à l’itinérance à Calgary

Par: Nick Falvo, PhD

data imageLe 9 mars, j’ai fait une présentation sur l’itinérance adressée aux étudiants du séminaire d’études supérieures de Madame Susan Phillips à l’Université Carleton. Ceci est un cours obligatoire du programme de Master of Philanthropy and Non-Profit Leadership, et l’un des principaux thèmes du programme est que les organisations à but non lucratif sont confrontées à de fortes attentes pour démontrer leur efficacité. Ainsi, les futurs dirigeants du secteur devront être, à cet égard, à la fois informés et compétents.

On m’a demandé de parler du thème ci-dessus en tant que directeur de la recherche et des données à la Calgary Homeless Foundation (CHF). A ce titre, voici 10 choses qu’à mon avis les futurs dirigeants d’organismes à but non lucratif devraient savoir.

  1. En 2008, Calgary est devenue la première ville au Canada à lancer un « plan visant à mettre fin à l’itinérance ». Le plan de Calgary a été basé sur un modèle utilisé dans plus de 300 communautés aux États-Unis. Aujourd’hui, plus d’une douzaine de villes canadiennes ont un tel plan. En outre, depuis 2008, sur une base par habitant, l’itinérance (selon le dernier dénombrement de la population itinérante) a diminué à Calgary de 17%.
  1. Le Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS) de Calgary est peut- être le plus sophistiqué du genre au Canada. Lorsque Calgary a élaboré son plan, il a décidé de développer également un système de gestion de l’information qui, entre autres choses, pourrait l’aider à en suivre les progrès. En effet — comme je l’ai écrit l’automne dernier — beaucoup d’organisations qui s’occupent des sans-abri de Calgary déposent les informations de leurs clients dans une base de données appelée HMIS. Aujourd’hui, tous les programmes à but non lucratif à Calgary qui reçoivent des fonds de la CHF doivent utiliser le HMIS (c’est stipulé dans leur contrat); et certains organismes non- financés par la CHF l’utilisent volontairement pour certains de leurs programmes.
  1. Le développement et la mise en œuvre du système HMIS de Calgary ont été guidés par plusieurs comités communautaires. Pendant plusieurs années, un comité consultatif HMIS — composé d’employés des organismes à but non lucratif et de clients du secteur — se réunissait pour vérifier la préoccupation « big brother » crée par l’introduction du système, et pour y répondre. Les représentants des clients — assurés que la police n’aurait pas accès aux dossiers des clients — faisaient partie du processus de prise de décision. Il y avait aussi (et il y a encore) un groupe d’utilisateurs de HMIS, assisté par le personnel, qui utilise le système; ce groupe se réunit sur une base ad hoc pour discuter de questions plus techniques, telles que la mise à jour du système de base de données, les cycles de rapports, et questions analogues. (Ses réunions étaient plus fréquentes dans les premiers jours du système qu’aujourd’hui). Enfin, maintenant que le système est « en marche » depuis un certain temps, la CHF convoque de petits comités sur une base ad hoc pour mieux se guider dans ses initiatives spécifiques.
  1. Un succès important du HMIS de Calgary a été son apport au système de références aux programmes. Beaucoup (mais pas tous) des sans-abri de Calgary passent par un processus d’admission assuré par le Service Prioritization Decision Assessment Tool (SPDAT). Le SPDAT donne au client « an acuity score » (une note d’acuité), ce qui facilite son entrée dans les programmes de logement financés par la CHF (Les informations recueillies au cours du processus du SPDAT sont déposées dans le HMIS). Dans le cadre des objectifs fixés dans le plan visant à mettre fin à l’itinérance à Calgary, les clients avec la note plus élevée du SPDAT reçoivent souvent prioriorité dans l’attribution des logements financés par CHF. Les comités se réunissent régulièrement afin de recommander les clients qui seront placés dans le nombre limité de logements subventionnés disponibles.[1] Le nom officiel pour l’ensemble de ce processus est Coordinated Access & Assessment (CAA). (Pour en savoir plus sur le système CAA de Calgary, voir ce chapitre de livre récent de Jerilyn Dressler.)
  1. Certains organismes sans but lucratif ont été heureux de partager leurs données avec la CHF, ce qui n’était pas le cas pour d’autres. Dans mon expérience, avant qu’un organisme à but non lucratif consente à partager ses données volontairement avec la CHF, il tient à savoir pour quoi exactement les données seront utilisées et de quelle façon il pourra bénéficier du partage. Jusqu’ à ce que l’organisme voie comment le partage des données pourra bénéficier son organisation et sa clientèle, il est réticent à partager (à moins qu’il soit conseillé de le faire par son bailleur de fonds). Les organisations telles que la CHF doivent établir confiance avec d’autres organismes sans but lucratif et démontrer comment le partage de données peut être mutuellement bénéfique — plutôt que considérer la réception de données comme un droit.
  1. Chaque année la CHF décaisse des fonds à des organismes à but non lucratif basés à Calgary; pour surveiller résultats et impact, il les compare par rapport aux indicateurs clefs de performance (ICP). Différents programmes ont des objectifs différents—par exemple, les indicateurs développés pour certains programmes mettent l’accent sur l’efficacité de ces programmes dans la création de situations de logement stables pour leurs locataires. En utilisant les indicateurs, le personnel de la CHF, dans le suivi des progrès de chaque organisme financé, en utilisant les indicateurs, est en mesure de suivre les progrès grâce au système de base de données HMIS. La CHF prend ensuite des décisions annuelles de financement fondées en partie sur la performance de chaque programme financé par rapport aux indicateurs.
  1. Le système HMIS de Calgary offre un soutien inestimable au système d’évaluation susmentionné. En effet, cela a été l’un des grands succès du système HMIS de Calgary. C’est à travers le système HMIS que les données de « performance du programme » sont recueillies pour les programmes financés par le CHF.
  1. Un inconvénient des données HMIS est que la plupart de ses données sur les clients est basée sur l’auto-déclaration. Toutefois, il convient de noter que l’information auto-déclarée est recueillie par un gestionnaire de cas expérimenté au cours d’une entrevue en personne. De plus, au Canada, de nombreuses sources de données bien respectées sont également basées sur l’auto-déclaration—celles-ci comprennent l’Enquête sur la population active et le recensement. À l’avenir, les chercheurs de la CHF aimeraient comparer des données du HMIS auto-déclarées avec les données administratives des systèmes de santé et des systèmes de justice, afin de comparer les informations sur le même individu. (Un tel exercice de recherche exigerait évidemment le consentement du client, ainsi que la coopération des autorités de la santé et de la justice.)
  1. Le principal succès du Plan to End Homelessness à Calgary a été, à mon avis, la galvanization de l’attention publique et l’arrêt de la hausse de l’itinérance. Lorsque le plan original a été développé en 2008, Calgary avait connu une augmentation de 650% des sans-abri en seulement 10 ans. Et, comme il est indiqué ci-dessus, Calgary a connu, depuis la création du plan initial, une baisse de 17% des sans-abri par habitant. Personnellement, je considère ceci un accomplissement très impressionnant; en effet, il y a peu de doute dans mon esprit que c’est en grande partie grâce à ce plan que nombre de gens sont encore vivants. Rétrospectivement, éliminer l’itinérance avant 2018 (tel était l’objectif des cráteurs du plan) était un objectif très ambitieux.
  1. Mon principal conseil aux dirigeants des organismes sans but lucratif est d’être humble avec les données. Par cela, je veux dire qu’ils ne devraient pas essayer de ‘sur’interpreter les données. L’honnêteté et la prudence veulent qu’on reconnaisse les limites et de ses données et de l’analyse statistique qu’on entreprend en utilisant ces données. On doit également être franc quant aux hypothèses qu’on fait dans les projections à long terme. En cas de doute, on doit demander conseil à des chercheurs plus expérimentés. Bien qu’il puisse être tentant d’exagérer parfois ses connaissances et son aptitude à faire des prévisions, il faut se rappeler que cela va retourner sur son auteur, ou — comment dissent les Anglais — “ chickens eventually come home to roost ”. Et, cela dit, je rappelle aux lecteurs du blog ce que le regretté John Kenneth Galbraith a dit à propos des prévisions économiques: «Il y a deux sortes de prévisionnistes: ceux qui ne savent pas, et ceux qui ne savent pas qu’ils ne savent pas.”

[1] Malgré son utilisation sophistiquée des données, Calgary a encore beaucoup plus de sans-abri qu’elle a unités de logement subventionné disponibles. Ainsi, à cause du manque de logements abordables, des personnes sans domicile attendent parfois des années avant de recevoir un logement; d’autres meurent avant. C’est une grande raison pour laquelle la CHF souscrit à cette récente déclaration; elle continue de faire pression sur tous les niveaux de gouvernement pour plus de fonds.

Nick Falvo est Director of Research & Data à la Calgary Homeless Foundation. Son domaine de recherche est la politique sociale, avec accent sur la pauvreté, le logement, l’itinérance et l’aide sociale. Nick a un doctorat en politique publique de l’Université Carleton. Parfaitement bilingue, il est membre du comité de rédaction de la Canadian Review of Social Policy / Revue canadienne de politique sociale. Contactez-­le au nick@calgaryhomeless.com. Suivez-‐le sur Twitter: @nicholas_falvo.”

Version Anglaise: Using Data to End Homelessness in Calgary 

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Les personnes suivantes m’ont aidé à préparer le présent blogue: Britany Ardelli, Janice Chan, Francesco Falvo, Louise Gallagher, Darcy Halber, Chantal Hansen, Ron Kneebone, Ali Jadidzadeh, Jennifer Legate, Kevin McNichol, Natalie Noble, John Rowland et Kelsey Shea. Toutes les erreurs sont les miennes.

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