Rapid Re-Housing
What do we need to ensure homelessness is brief?
As of December 31, 2023, the average time to become housed on the By-Name List was seven months. Similarly, the average time to become housed through the City of Greater Sudbury’s Urgent Status waitlist was six months. Over the past few years, the length of time to become housed through these lists has increased significantly.
24-hour Emergency Shelter Models
Through the community consultation, community partners and individuals with
lived experience were strongly supportive of a 24/7/365 emergency shelter model.
As mentioned above, three out of the four emergency shelter programs in Greater Sudbury operate overnight from 10 pm to 8 am.
Correction: There are only three remaining emergency shelters in Sudbury, one that is open 24/7.
Due to the current operating hours of these shelters, partners who provide supports to individuals accessing shelters have difficulty connecting with these individuals to provide services when the shelter closes. Individuals accessing shelters also often have medical conditions and/or disabilities and face challenges during the day when shelters are closed.
There may be opportunities to integrate emergency shelter beds with transitional housing beds to increase access to more supportive housing models.
Identification Bank
Identification is required to access many housing and income support programs. Many people who are experiencing homelessness have lost their identification, and re-applying for ID can delay the return to permanent housing.
A partnership with the Community Legal Clinic should be established to create an Identification Bank where individuals can safely store their ID to complete applications required for housing and other provincially funded supports.
Develop a Formalized Rapid Re-Housing Program
A more formalized Rapid Re-Housing program should be implemented to connect with individuals as soon as they enter the homelessness system and provide them
with rapid re-housing supports. This type of program reduces the likelihood of the individual continuing to be homeless for six months or more and entering chronic homelessness, which often increases their complexity of needs.
A dedicated rapid re-housing team in Greater Sudbury does not currently exist, however some of these supports are provided by City of Greater Sudbury Client Navigators. Through this recommendation, the existing use of bridge housing as part of the rapid re- housing response should be examined.
On an international level, the Critical Time Intervention (CTI) model for Rapid Re-Housing has proven to be effective in supporting individuals to return to housing. The model is time-limited; the individual is supported with case management, housing identification and move-in assistance (pre-CTI phase), and supports are provided for six months following move in (phases 1, 2, and 3).
The goal of CTI is to reduce the likelihood of individuals returning to homelessness following the intervention by connecting the individual with the community supports they require and focusing on improving factors that will help them maintain housing stability, including child care, financial benefits, employment, healthcare and education.
“It is often observed that when people first present to shelter they are doing well, but as time passes and housing is not available, they start to decline... we often see the same people back again after they are housed due to being evicted due to lack of life skills these individuals are lacking such as how to handle their finances or how to properly take care of their apartment with proper cleanliness.”
—Shelter Staff (Homelessness Consultation 2021)
Key Performance Indicators
Current:
• Length of time to become housed on the By-Name List.
• Length of time to become housed in community housing through Urgent Status.
• Number of people supported to become housed through Client Navigators.
• Number of people supported to become housed through flex funds.
• Number of people supported to become housed through diversion supports.
• Number of people supported to become housed through Bridge Housing.
• Number of people accessing emergency shelter programs.
New:
• Per cent of emergency shelters transitioned to a 24/7/365 model.
• Number of individuals experiencing homelessness utilizing the
identification bank program.
• Number of individuals supported to become housed through
rapid re-housing efforts.
—pages 42–44, Greater Sudbury’s Roadmap to Ending Homelessness May 2024
A more formalized Rapid Re-Housing program would be nice but would it not be best to have available housing in place first?
To quickly get housing units up and running, it may be best for the city to buy one or two motels that are in reasonable shape and use them for Bridge Housing. The construction of new builds take far too long.
The forty-unit Lorraine Street transitional housing complex will not be opened until sometime in the first quarter 2025, a full 3½ years since it was first proposed.
Why so long? It’s just a simple prefab building not Buckingham Palace.
How fast can prefabricated buildings be built?
China's Huoshenshan Hospital was built in ten days. Using pre-fab units, the 1,000-bed hospital was built by a 7,000-member crew of carpenters, plumbers, electricians and other specialists that worked 24/7 on this priority project. About half of the two-storey, 60,000-square metre building consists of isolation wards
How long is 3½ years? Maybe not a fair comparison, but 3½ years was the length of time that it took the United States, in Word War II, to defeat, and occupy, Germany, Italy and Japan.