Item - 2020.EC18.6

The Economic and Community Development Committee:

1.  Received the report (November 20, 2020) from the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, for information.

The General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, and the Director, Homelessness Initiatives and Prevention Services, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, gave a presentation on Update on COVID-19 Response for Homelessness Services.

The purpose of this staff report is to provide an update on Central Intake shelter access data indicators and trends. This includes a description of recent enhancements to Central Intake; an update on shelter system capacity and changes related to COVID-19; a report on Central Intake call volumes, key performance indicators, and its referral process; and an update on available data describing the current demand for shelter spaces.

This report finds that while Central Intake continues to meet its customer service targets despite unprecedented increases in call volume, demand continues to be hard to predict and there may be individuals who are not able to access a shelter space through Central Intake within a 24-hour period. A number of immediate service improvements are underway to increase access to shelter spaces and continue to enhance data processes in order to improve customer service and referral efficiency, and to better understand these trends to increase services that respond to specific needs.

These improvements include additional capacity being added to the system through the winter services plan, continued roll out of Wrap-up Code data, further analysis of the service queue, improvements to the accuracy of capacity reporting in the Shelter Management Information System, and continuing to work with shelter providers to ensure the quick turnover of spaces while maintaining COVID-19 cleaning protocols. The goal of these improvements is to ensure that all spaces in the system are used, and to be as efficient as possible with available spaces.

SSHA is committed to continuing to enhance the use of data in planning services for people experiencing homelessness by enhancing our data collection and reporting capabilities. Indicators related to shelter access, number of people experiencing homelessness, length of homelessness and returns to the shelter system are all under development and will be reported publicly to track and report on our progress at achieving these outcomes.