Agenda

As part of the 2014 budget process, Council directed Toronto Employment and Social Services (TESS) to report back on the utilization and projected expenditures of the Housing Stabilization Fund (HSF), including the findings of a consultation with community agencies and an update on the number of ineligible applications, reviews requested and staff-identified funding strategies.

Council previously directed the use of a portion of Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative (CHPI) funding to establish the Housing Stabilization Fund (HSF), which provides assistance to Ontario Works (OW) and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) clients in obtaining and/or retaining their housing, or relocating to more appropriate or affordable accommodation. This report provides an update on HSF spending from January to December 2013, including ineligible applications and appeals data, issues raised during the consultations conducted with stakeholders and improvements to the delivery of the HSF. It is recommended that funding levels for the HSF be re-examined through the 2015 budget process.

This report provides recommendations on the feasibility of establishing a 24-hour drop-in for women, based upon consultations conducted with service users and providers from December to March 2014.

An update report on the need and consultation process for developing a safe overnight space for women was received by Community Development and Recreation Committee on January 21, 2014. Currently, there are very few places for women to go overnight, particularly if they will not go to shelters, or if they need respite for a short period of time.

A majority of those consulted agreed that there is a need for a low-threshold overnight or 24-hour service for women.  A drop-in that is open during the most dangerous times for street-involved women, when other services are closed, will meet basic safety needs and provide identified essential service needs including showers, laundry, provision of healthy food and snacks, counselling and referrals. The recent consultations indicate the service philosophy must incorporate low-barrier, harm reduction, trauma-informed care.

A majority suggest that a 24-hour drop-in will best meet the need for a low-barrier overnight service for women.  While a stand-alone 24-hour drop-in is the most appropriate service model to meet the needs of the most vulnerable street-involved women, enhancing a current drop-in to provide overnight services represents another viable option.

Regardless of the option to be pursued, however, there will be a cost impact to expanding services that will be a challenge to implement if there is a desire or expectation to keep property tax increases at or around the rate of inflation.

There are no financial implications for the 2014 Operating Budget for Shelter, Support and Housing Administration resulting from the recommendations in this report.

The 2014 Approved Operating Budget for SSHA includes $16.406 million of funding for 196, 061 bednights of women's only shelter beds. This includes $9.644 million for 158,158 bednights in purchased shelter services and $6.762 million for 37,903 bednights in directly operated shelters. In addition, funding of $47.698 million for a combined 683,678 bednights in purchased and directly operated shelters is available to women participating in mixed use programs such as youth, co-ed and family shelters.

Preliminary estimates suggest that a new stand-alone 24-hour drop-in could require up to $2 million in annual funding. Expansion of an existing service could cost less than that. The costs will become clearer with the results of the proposed REOI and, subject to City Council adoption of the recommendations in this report, will be reported to Budget Committee for consideration as part of the 2015 budget process.

The implementation of an overnight drop-in service for women, whether through the creation of a new stand-alone 24-hour service or the expansion of an existing service to include overnight hours would represent an enhancement to existing service levels in SSHA and would add a cost pressure to the division's operating budget. It should be noted that the estimated outlook pressure for 2015 and 2016 is $125.150 million and $56.330 million respectively to maintain 2014 service levels in SSHA, primarily due to reductions in provincial and federal funding for social housing programs.

More importantly, the 2015 and 2016 Operating Budget Forecasts for the City estimate net budget pressures of $333 million and $204 million, respectively.  This would represent a potential residential tax increase of 14 percent and the corresponding one-third non-residential property tax increase in 2015 and 8 percent residential tax increase and the corresponding one-third non-residential property tax increase in 2016.  Given this level of funding pressures, it will be increasingly difficult and a significant challenge to implement service enhancements AND keep tax increases at the rate of inflation.

The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

The Medical Officer of Health and the Acting Director of Purchasing and Materials Management recommend that:

1.         City Council, in accordance with Section 195-15 of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 195 (Purchasing By-Law), grant the Medical Officer of Health authority to negotiate and enter into service agreements in a form acceptable to the City Solicitor with the following five proponents being the highest scoring proponents per geographic service area and meeting the requirements of Request for Proposal No. 0513-13-7010, for a period of fifteen (15) months from January 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016 with the option to renew for four (4) additional one (1) year periods at the sole discretion of the Medical Officer of Health and subject to 100% Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) funding, based on the terms in the RFP for the potential costs as stated below.

2.         City Council grant the Medical Officer of Health authority to negotiate with Ministry of Children and Youth Services to secure additional funds to support transition costs, and to negotiate any necessary modifications to the terms of the service agreements to support the transition, subject to additional MCYS funding.

The purpose of this report is to obtain authority to enter into agreements with five recommended proponents based on the results of the Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 0513-13-7010, for Toronto Preschool Speech and Language Program service delivery on behalf of Toronto Public Health (TPH).

There is no financial impact to the Toronto Public Health's 2014 Approved Operating Budget, as the Preschool Speech and Language (PSL) service agreements are scheduled to start on January 1, 2015.  The PSL is 100 per cent provincially-funded by MCYS. Contracts will be awarded within the funding allocation for community-based PSL services of $5.600 million gross and $0 net in ongoing operating costs and will be included for TPH's 2015 Operating Budget Submission and subsequent Operating Budget Submissions.

In addition, a total of $0.413 million of one-time start up costs has been identified in the proposal responses.  Recommended proponents were clearly informed in the RFP that payment for these one-time costs was not guaranteed, and would only be honoured dependent on funding from MCYS, posing no risk to the City for these costs.  Start-up costs will be negotiated with the recommended proponents accordingly.

The Deputy City Manager and City Financial Officer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

The purpose of this report is to request authority to enter into single source contracts with Intergraph Canada Limited, who is the current vendor providing Toronto Fire Services (TFS) with the Computer Aided Dispatch System, and with Quatro Group Software Systems Inc., who is the current vendor providing the Payroll/Time Entry System, in the total amount of $890,400.00 net of HST, $906,071.04 net of HST recoveries, for a period of 5 years from the effective date of the agreements.

City Council approval is required in accordance with Municipal Code By-law Chapter 195- Purchasing, where the current request has exceeded the Chief Purchasing Official's authority of the cumulative five year commitment limit under Section 1 of the Purchasing By-Law and also exceeds the threshold of $500,000, net of HST, allowed under staff authority as per the Toronto Municipal Code By-law, Chapter 71 – Financial Control.

Funding in the amount of $178,080.00 net of HST, $181,214.21 net of HST recoveries, is available in the 2014 Approved Operating Budget for Toronto Fire Services, and funding for the years 2015-2018 will be included in future years' Operating Budget Submissions for Toronto Fire Services. Funding details are as follows:

The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

This report responds to Council's request for the Fire Chief and General Manager, Toronto Fire Services (TFS) to report to the Community Development and Recreation Committee with regards to the Master Fire Plan, an enhanced Fire Prevention and Education Program, technology improvements, the consolidation of Fire Services and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and alternatives to the 24 hour shift model.

Throughout 2012 and 2013, numerous studies of TFS were conducted, including an organizational and service review of TFS and Toronto Emergency Medical Services (TEMS), a review of training and recruitment by the Auditor General, and a study by the Fire Underwriters Survey (FUS). The recommendations and strategies in these studies focused on a multi-year plan (2014 to 2017) to improve service through enhanced deployment of resources, training, aggressive fire inspection and enforcement, improved fire prevention, enhanced supporting technologies and a revised Master Fire Plan.

In alignment with the recommendations and strategies presented in the studies and adopted by Council, TFS was requested to provide an update on the implementation status of numerous initiatives. These include the new Master Fire Plan, the development of enhanced fire prevention and public education programs, and the implementation of Dynamic Staging, Predictive Modeling, GPS-Based Dispatch and Traffic Signal Pre-Emption.  Council direction also required TFS to further evaluate the consolidation of the TFS and TEMS Communication Centres as well as to evaluate alternate staffing and deployment models with the Operations Division.

TFS has commenced work on the implementation of these initiatives which will ultimately lead to positive changes in the way TFS delivers all hazards response and crucial services to the public.

There are no financial implications associated with this report.

Any financial implications associated with the implementation of the Master Fire Plan and other changes that may be implemented as highlighted in this report will be considered either through separate reporting to the Standing Committee, or considered as part of the 2015 and future-year Operating Budget processes.

The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

This report seeks City Council approval to authorize the Fire Chief to dispose of, through donation, end-of-life, surplus firefighting equipment, which no longer meets the guidelines applicable to Toronto Fire Services operations. This surplus inventory consists of bunker suits, helmets and fire fighting boots, and has no residual value in North America.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Guideline 1851 regulates the lifecycle of the Toronto Fire Services' personal protective equipment, such as bunker suits, helmets and fire fighting boots. Under NFPA Guideline 1851, the Toronto Fire Services like all other fire services which follow NFPA guidelines, are required to retire personal protective equipment from service no more than ten years from the date of manufacture.

The surplus inventory of personal protective equipment has no residual value in North America.  However, the City often receives requests from non-profit groups, agencies or municipal officials in other jurisdictions not subject to NFPA Guideline 1851 for donations of surplus personal protective equipment. Many fire services in developing countries have trained staff, but may have very limited resources to provide personal protective equipment to fire fighters.

The City of Toronto will not be responsible for any costs associated with any donation of used or end-of-life firefighting equipment. Recipients of these donations will be responsible for all costs and liabilities associated with the donation and transporting of the items.

There are no financial implications associated with the approval of this report.  All costs and liabilities associated with the donation of any end-of-life equipment will be borne by the recipient of the donated gear. The donated equipment has no residual value in North America.

The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

This report is for information purposes only and has no direct financial impact. There are no additional TDSB rental costs to the City for the use of pools between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Further, there would be no net financial impact as a result of running instructional programs during these times, as instructional programs are run on a cost recovery basis.

The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

This report responds to separate and unsolicited requests from three anchor sport clubs operating out of the Etobicoke Olympium (EO), requesting relief for losses incurred as a result of the year-long closure for Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games facility upgrades.

To prepare the Etobicoke Olympium as a practice facility for the 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games, numerous renovations and upgrades are underway. Full closure of the facility was required to allow for the work to be completed. The upgrades and renovations at the site include a new competition pool; an upgraded dive tower; improved mechanical and electrical systems; and a redesigned and renovated lobby. The Etobicoke Olympium closed in July of 2013 and is scheduled to re-open in the summer of 2014.

The temporary closure of the Etobicoke Olympium as a training facility had a detrimental impact on the EO anchor clubs leading into the most critical training season for the 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games themselves. The Etobicoke Diving Club, Etobicoke Swimming, and the Olympium Synchronized Swimming Club have demonstrated hardship including loss of members, loss of fundraising opportunities and difficulty in securing adequate training facilities within reasonable proximity to the Etobicoke Olympium. The hardship faced by the clubs as a result of the EO closure has had significant impact on the Clubs' operations for the year and will extend into the future.

This report was informed by consultations with respective board representatives from each of the anchor clubs, as well as a review of financial and membership data submitted by each club. Representatives from the anchor clubs are in agreement with the recommendation in this report.

Toronto City Council approved the mission, vision and guiding principles of the Toronto Newcomer Strategy, and set policy direction concerning a number of other immigration related issues in 2013. The release of the Strategy has brought the successful integration of newcomers into focus.  Its vision is that "all newcomers reach their full potential to thrive and contribute to their local neighbourhood, community and city, ensuring Toronto’s continued success and prosperity."

This report provides information and progress updates on a number of City Council decisions, including those related to the implementation of the Toronto Newcomer Strategy, Social Development Open Dialogue Sessions, Integrating Cities Charter, municipal franchise, welfare of immigrant children and access to City services for newcomers.

The report highlights major achievements to date, relevant trends and issues, and outlines recommendations for new activities.

The Toronto Newcomer Office is fully funded by a federal grant with a term of April through March. As Social Development, Finance and Administration (SDFA) has recently received notice of the extension of the federal funding through 2016, the program will be reporting the availability of an additional $285 thousand for 2014 programming and funding through an in-year adjustment in the 1'st quarter operating variance report.

Once this adjustment has been approved by Council, the 2014 Operating Budget for SDFA will include the full-year programming and funding, adjusting the 2014 Approved Operating Budget for SDFA to include $386 thousand gross and $0 net to deliver the Toronto Newcomer Strategy.

The Executive Director of Social Development, Finance and Administration recommends that:

1.         City Council authorize the creation of a trust fund called the Regent Park Legacy Trust Fund to support community development, capacity building in the community and sponsor special events.

2.         The funds held in the Regent Park Residents' Association Reserve Fund ( XR3013) be transferred to the new Regent Park Legacy Trust Fund and that the Regent Park Residents' Reserve Fund be closed and deleted from Municipal Code Chapter 227.  City Council authorize the Executive Director of SDFA to receive $408,390.56 from Toronto Community Housing Corporation as a contribution to the new Regent Park Legacy Fund Trust.

3.         City Council direct the Executive Director of Social Development, Finance and Administration to work with appropriate staff at Toronto Community Housing Corporation to develop a Request for Proposal to select an organization to manage an annual grant from the Regent Park Legacy Fund Trust.

4.         City Council authorize Executive Director of Social Development, Finance and Administration to release the interest from the Trust on an annual basis through the Social Development, Finance and Administration operating budget to a third party organization as a grant for purposes consistent with the objects of the Trust.

5.         Council authority be required should the Regent Park Community Reference Group wish to access any of the principle for disbursement.

6.         Staff be authorized to introduce any necessary bills in Council.

As noted in the following table, there is currently $296,400 in the Regent Park Residents' Association Reserve Fund.  Funds available from TCHC total $408,390, which combined with the City funds in XR3103, comprise a total of $704,790 for investment.

The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer have reviewed this report and agree with the financial impact information.

Councillor Paula Fletcher recommends to the Community Development and Recreation Committee that:

1)         City Council support the Red Door Shelter in its efforts should it seek to establish its new home within any development of the property; relocate to a new property on Queen Street East; or undertake to establish a title claim to the property

2)         The City Manager and Deputy City Managers explore all mechanisms, including financial options, which can be used to maintain the continuity of the services provided by the Red Door Shelter on Queen Street East

3)         Assist the Red Door Shelter in finding a temporary location should the redevelopment include the shelter at 875 Queen Street East

The Red Door Shelter has been providing support to families in need of emergency shelter for over 30 years. Due to a real estate deal gone wrong the shelter is now in danger of losing its home. The property has been put into receivership with a mandate to be sold, with no provisions in place to guarantee the shelter is maintained within any new development.

Family shelters provide critical services to women and children fleeing abuse, to refugees in need of assistance, and to families fallen on hard times. The Red Door Shelter is very important to the City of Toronto's family shelter network, and its 106 beds are much needed. Deputy City Manager Brenda Patterson has been very helpful in working with the shelter to provide assistance in trying to resolve this issue, and the City has shown great commitment to this stellar service provider in our community.

On April 7th, over 300 residents gathered at an emergency meeting in support of the Red Door Shelter, voicing full support for keeping the shelter in its home. Many communities fight against shelters in their neighbourhoods, and I am so proud of my community for rallying to keep the shelter in their backyard. Everyone feels the Red Door is an important part of our community and over 16,000 people have signed a petition in support of the shelter.

Former Mayor David Crombie attended the emergency meeting and heard from residents how important this shelter is to them. Mr. Crombie has volunteered his services to work with all parties to come to a positive resolution that keeps the shelter at this site.

The community asked me to express their strong desire for City to continue to assist the Red Door in any way possible, including with financial assistance.