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Homelessness in Edmonton

2100+ people with no permanent home
500-600 sleeping rough
Encampments distributed throughout city

[RACHAEL]

I’ll start with a snapshot of homelessness in Edmonton right now.

According to Homeward Trust’s By Names List, there are currently two thousand one hundred and nine Edmontonians with no permanent home. Of those people, about 500-600 sleep outside on any given night. Half are provisionally housed - couch surfing with friends or family - and the remainder are in and out of shelter.

Since the pandemic began, physical distancing guidelines have reduced capacity at the overnight shelters and day drop-in centres where people access support services, meals, laundry and showers. At the same time, the closure of or limited access to other public spaces like recreation centres, libraries and in-person dining has significantly decreased places for people to go.

In addition, the pandemic has further highlighted gaps that already existed in the homeless-serving sector in Edmonton around low barrier, 24/7 shelter options and access to supportive housing. Edmonton is not unique in experiencing challenges with encampments but we are unique in experiencing significant challenges with them in spite of the presence of available space in the shelter system.

We know people will not access available shelter when they have to leave early in the morning and line up again at night, where reentry is limited, when they can’t safely store their belongings, or where they have to be separated from their partners or pets. Individuals with more complex medical needs, including substance use disorders, also struggle to be adequately supported in existing shelter services, and those with addictions are increasingly vulnerable due to the ongoing opioid epidemic. These barriers and others reduce access to shelter and can contribute to rough sleeping.

This map is an example of some of the locations of homeless encampments that Park Rangers and Street Outreach teams have responded to throughout Edmonton.

As you can see, people experiencing homelessness are not only downtown or around Whyte Ave - people are experiencing homelessness all over the city.

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Ongoing

Response to

Homelessness

Medium/Long Term:

Supportive Housing

Construction underway on 210 units

Long Term:

Affordable Housing

Investment Plan

1282 of 2500 units approved

Immediate:

Accommodations

City-supported temporary shelters

Provincially funded permanent shelters

Short Term:

Bridge Accommodation

Coliseum Inn Bridge Housing

Northlands Bridge Housing

Leased Hotels

Precariously housed people becoming homeless

+230 people per month

Encampments

Sleeping rough

[RACHAEL]

The population of people experiencing homelessness is not a static number. Each month it changes as some people access housing and others fall into homelessness.

Edmonton, led by Homeward Trust and the homeless-serving agencies it supports, has made significant progress towards ending homelessness. However, the pandemic has increased inflow and slowed outflow, leading to an overall increase in our City.

The Government of Alberta, which funds emergency shelters, is confident there are currently enough spaces for people experiencing homelessness. However, we know that some people experiencing homelessness end up in encampments rather than sleep overnight in a shelter, regardless of capacity in the system due to some of the barriers I mentioned earlier.

While the province is legislatively responsible for the delivery of affordable housing and homeless-serving supports, we recognize that all orders of government have to work together to solve this issue.

That’s why the City has tried to fill the gap in 24/7 low-barrier supports. Currently, those supports include:

A 24/7 shelter at the Spectrum Building, operated by Hope Mission. This replaces the emergency shelter that operated out of Commonwealth Stadium over the winter.
The Bissell Centre & Boyle Street Community Spaces both have expanded hours for day drop-in services, where clients can access meals, showers and laundry, and social supports - including housing support.
There are currently 343 bridge housing spaces between the former jockey dorm, Coliseum Inn and a west-end hotel
Homeward Trust is working on creating 200 additional bridge housing spaces in hotels.
Mustard Seed is operating several smaller shelters on the southside, including a 24/7 drop-in at the Strathcona Baptist Church and an overnight shelter at Trinity Lutheran Church.

Our goal in the short-term is to reduce the impacts of homelessness on businesses and communities and help vulnerable people stay safe by ensuring they have options for meeting their immediate needs while we work with our housing partners towards longer-term solutions.

That includes 210 new units of supportive housing that will come online at the end of the year. We are more than halfway to our goal of creating 2500 new units of affordable housing by 2022, with support approved for 1282 units.

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Homelessness in Edmonton

Social disorder is a symptom of the housing shortage and lack of support
In 2020:

4000 encampment complaints
1500 encampments cleaned up
116 people housed from encampments

2021: New encampment strategy

[RACHAEL]

Social disorder associated with homelessness - like litter, needle debris or disruptive behaviour - is a symptom of a lack of adequate housing and support systems.

The City of Edmonton exhausts a significant amount of resources trying to manage these symptoms.

Despite obvious challenges in 2020, the Encampment Response Team responded to more than 4,000 311 encampment complaints, cleaned up nearly 1,500 sites, and supported approximately 116 people into bridge and permanent housing from encampments.

The team, made up of Homeward Trust, Bissell Centre, Boyle Street, Edmonton Police Service, and a number of City of Edmonton departments, meet weekly to coordinate housing outreach and closure and clean-up efforts.

This year, we have significantly revamped our approach and have much better integration with Edmonton Police Service to reduce, as much as possible, impacts of encampments in the City.

Our goal is to prevent the large scale encampments and related challenges we saw last summer.

With that background, I’ll hand it over to my colleague Troy Carriere to walk you through the updated encampment strategy.

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2021 Encampment Strategy�

Accelerated Response

(higher risk sites)

Housing Focused Response

(low risk sites)

Large Scale Response

(highest risk sites)

Faster closure
EPS & Peace Officers will share shelter information and transportation options

Encampment Response Team will work to house rough sleepers

Coordinated approach, combines elements of Accelerated and Housing Focused Response

[TROY]

The 2021 encampment strategy was designed around two outcomes: to coordinate the closure of low risk encampments with clear and consistent connections to shelter and housing options and to prevent the establishment of large scale encampments that have negative health and safety impacts. As shown on the slide, we are implementing a three pronged approach, which includes our existing housing focused process and layers in two enforcement approaches to respond to higher risk sites and to discourage large encampments. In order, the three approaches are:

1) The housing focused response, which utilizes an updated Risk Assessment tool to prioritize encampments for closure and connections to housing through the Encampment Response Team, and

2) An accelerated response to encampments that pose high health and safety risks to both individuals and communities, led by the City and EPS, and thirdly

3) A coordinated approach led by the City and EPS to respond to large scale encampments, should they occur, with a corresponding governance structure.

In all three approaches, clean-up crews are assigned to follow up on all camp closures to reduce further impact to the community. One thing to note, is that both police and peace officers will enter any encampment at any location in the City to address safety and security as needed.

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Agencies include Boyle Street Community Services, Homeward Trust and Bissell Centre. EPS provides stand-by support for active encampment closures and leads response as required.

[TROY]

I’ll get into more detail about the different levels of risk, but I wanted to take a moment to go over what happens after you make a call to 311 to report an encampment.

First, the more detailed information you can provide about location, the better. The complaint is sent to the encampment Peace Officer team who will investigate the site as quickly as possible. If the site is found to be inactive, it’s cleaned up as soon as resources allow.

If the camp is active and is determined to be low-risk, outreach workers will work with the campers and try to connect them to housing. Peace Officers will then set a closure and clean-up date and communicate that date to the campers. On that date, Peace Officers will close and clean up the camp. This process can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.

If the encampment is determined to be high risk, it will be addressed on an accelerated timeline by police and peace officers. A closure and cleanup date will be set within 1-3 days of investigation.

On the closure date, Peace Officers will share information about available shelter and transportation options and the camp will be closed and cleaned up on the same day.

While it may be frustrating to call 311 and not see immediate action on the encampment you’ve reported, it’s still important to make the report. Data gathered through 311 helps City staff plan for resource deployment and identify emerging trends.

311 has recently updated its processes to better reflect the ‘on the ground’ reality when it comes to encampments. We know residents or businesses were seeing that their reports were marked as closed or completed even though the encampments were still visible.

What that meant is that the report has been forwarded to the City Operations team. This has been updated so that once the report is with the City Operations team - and it is moving through this flowchart - it will be marked as “Closed - Sent for clean-up” or “Complete - Sent for clean-up.” And that means we are working on it.

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Housing Focused Response�

Updated risk assessment tool to schedule the closure of low-risk encampments based on severity of risks present.

Housing outreach workers will connect with encampment occupants prior to closure to work to transition people indoors.

Low risk encampments are closed based on available resources.

[TROY]

I’ll take you through a bit more detail on each level of response.

The City of Edmonton will respond to low-risk encampments via the Encampment Response Team utilizing a housing focused approach and an updated Risk Assessment Tool. The updated tool prioritizes the closure of encampments based on severity of risks present, including consideration of fires, waste, proximity to schools, parks, size, location, and will automatically elevate high risk encampments to the accelerated response process led by Peace Officers and EPS.

The Encampment Response Team has demonstrated success quickly housing individuals over the winter with the use of bridge housing, housing outreach workers, and clearly defined enforcement timelines. The intent of this stream is to prevent an encampment from reestablishing in another area by housing camp occupants before enforcement and clean up action is taken.

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2. Accelerated Response�

City peace officers and EPS will respond rapidly to encampments that have significant community impacts due to disorder, crime, or size.

The joint team will share information on connections to other services/shelters and offer transportation options.

Closure follows investigation of 311 notification.

[TROY]

High risk encampments can threaten the safety of individuals and the surrounding community and can include criminal activity and violence. High risk encampments can also pose significant negative impacts to the community, environment and infrastructure. Some examples of where an accelerated response would be used is near playgrounds or schools where children gather, when significant fire risks are present, or when encampments are established directly adjacent to buildings. Typically, encampments initially identified as low-risk can become high-risk and trigger the accelerated response when they grow in size or present significant public health concerns.

Peace Officers and Edmonton Police Service will lead this response, supported by responsive clean-up operations crews. To ensure a compassionate closure, Peace Officers will share information on accessing available resources such as shelters, services and transportation options in advance of any enforcement action. Accepting any of the transportation options is voluntary and the HELP team or additional supports will be engaged when possible.

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3. Large Scale Response�

Each large encampment requires a different approach to account for increased complexity and risks.

Coordinated response by City Administration, Edmonton Police Service and, if appropriate, social agencies.

Goal is to prevent large encampments that cause risk of harm to individuals and communities.

Executive Committee will engage as required.

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Governance Structure�

Executive Committee

City Manager, Co-Chair

Chief of Police, Co-Chair

Encampment Response Team

City of Edmonton

Edmonton Police Service

Housing and support agencies

Government of Alberta (as funders)

Operating Committee

City of Edmonton

Edmonton Police Service

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Role of Edmonton Police Service

High-Risk Encampment Response Team is part of a joint operation between Park Rangers and police

Goal is to create and maintain public safety using education, awareness and enforcement when managing the process of encampment closures.

The team consist of two (2) EPS led teams consisting of:

1 EPS Sergeant
2 EPS Constables
2 Community Peace Officers - Park Rangers

[TERENCE]

The High-Risk Encampment Response Team is part of a joint operation between the City of Edmonton Community Peace Officers (Park Rangers and the Edmonton Police Service)

Our goal is to create and maintain public safety utilizing acceptable methods of education, awareness and enforcement when managing the process of encampment closures.

We will primarily respond to the low risk up to the higher risk accelerated sites. As Troy mentioned, complex, large-scale encampments will be elevated to an Executive Committee led by the City and EPS.

Our team is working 7 days a week throughout the summer and early fall.

The team consist of two (2) EPS led teams consisting of:

1 EPS Sergeant
2 EPS Constables
2 Community Peace Officers - Park Rangers

I’ll reiterate what Troy said earlier - both police and peace officers will enter any encampment at any location in the City to address safety and security as needed.

I’ll now hand it over to Jenna Pilot of the Neighbourhood Empowerment Team to talk about her team’s work.

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Neighbourhood Empowerment Team

Neighbourhood Empowerment Team (NET) is a partnership between the City of Edmonton, Edmonton Police Service, The Family Centre, and United Way of the Alberta Capital Region.

NET identifies recurring situations that affect community safety and works with residents, business and organizations toward sustainable solutions that promote a healthy and safe city.

NET mission is to enhance community safety in areas of Edmonton adversely affected by crime and disorder.

Contact NET@edmonton.ca or Jenna.pilot@edmonton.ca.

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Who do I call?

Emergencies - medical emergencies, overdose, risk/harm to life or property	911
Encampments	311 or use the 311 app
Public intoxication/individuals in crisis	211 press 3 for the 24/7 Crisis Diversion Team
Litter, needles, graffiti	311 or use the 311 app
Criminal activity, illegal drug use	Edmonton Police non-emergency line: 780-423-4567 or #377 from an Edmonton cell phone

Public inquiries related to homelessness received by any area of the City, including Councillors’ offices, are forwarded to an internal email address and responded to by Affordable Housing & Homelessness staff

[Rachael]

We want to leave you today with the information you need to get help resolving issues, whether related to encampments, disorder or crime.

For encampments, it’s really important to call 311. Every encampment report made through 311 goes to City of Edmonton Peace Officer teams and enters the process outlined on the flowchart we showed you earlier.

Reports of encampments or inquiries about social disorder sent to other City departments or Councillors’ offices are all forwarded to the same internal email address managed by Affordable Housing and Homelessness. If it’s an encampment report, we forward it to 311. Otherwise, City staff draft a response.

We are always doing our best to prioritize sites for closure based on their risk - not the number of reports a site receives.

311 is also the place to direct any reports about litter, needles or graffiti.

If you see someone who is intoxicated or in crisis, but doesn’t appear to be an imminent threat to themselves or others, call 211 and press 3 for the 24/7 Crisis Diversion Team.

If you see illegal drug use, call the non-emergency line.

If someone is behaving aggressively, damaging property, or is overdosing, call 911.

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