User:Oceanflynn/sandbox/Homelessness in Alberta

Homelessness in Alberta, Canada

Overview
In 2017-2018 about 1,900 Albertans were "placed in housing and provided with support". According to Carleton University Centre for Community Innovation's Nick Falvo—based on the official measure of poverty used by the Canadian federal government, by February 21, 2020 there were about 400,000 Alberta households that were considered to be poor.

A 2007 Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership report entitled "Shelter: homelessness in a growth economy" by Gordon Laird, stated that historically the crisis of homelessness was largely a problem of large urban centres across Canada, including cities like Edmonton, and Calgary in Alberta. By 2007, suburban communities were already in need of new services and resources for the homeless.

In 2015, according to the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters 2015 annual report despite Alberta's economic downturn, there was not a "spike in shelter visits."

Municipal initiatives
Since 2001 in Alberta, seven cities—Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge​,  ​Medicine Hat,  Alberta, Red Deer, Alberta, and Wood Buffalo,  Alberta—​have been part of the "7 Cities on Housing and Homelessness" campaign—7 Cities—working collaboratively to end homelessness. The province supported local organizations, such as the Calgary Homeless Foundation, the Homeward Trust Edmonton, and Medicine Hat Community Housing, and directly with the municipalities,.

According to 7cities, they "coordinate local plans at a systems level and align funding resources for greater impact and progress towards ending homelessness." ...Provincial commitment to local leadership and support for local expertise and efforts, as envisioned in the plan, has been an essential part of this success. Supporting local communities and empowering them to achieve greater results will position Alberta to continue being a leader in ending homelessness."

Provincial government initiatives and support
Alberta —the first province to adopt a plan to end homelessness—has been "recognized nationally for its success".

The Government of Alberta provided funding to community-based organizations in seven major cities in Alberta through the for the fiscal year 2017 2018 to support the Housing First programming and other homelessness priorities in those municipalities.

Federal support for homelessness
Falvo reported in March 2020, that federal funding for homelessness was "rather modest"—with most financial support for homelessness coming from provinces and municipalities. Falvo said that for every $1 from the federal government, the provinces and municipalities provide $13.

Under the National Housing Strategy (NHS) only 5% of new funding is earmarked towards the federal government's "goal of reducing chronic homelessness by half". Canada created its first National Housing Strategy in XXXX. It is 10-year, $40-billion plan that set a target of reducing chronic homelessness by half.

Ten year plan to end homelessness (2008 – 2018)
The Alberta Secretariat for Action on Homelessness's Plan for Alberta, adopted a ten-year plan to end homelessness in in 2008. The Action Plan listed three areas for improvement—rapid re-housing of homeless Albertans, providing client-centered supports to re-housed clients, and preventing homelessness.

In January 2008, the report entitled "Calgary’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness (2008 – 2018) was first published

Pathways to Housing
In 2007 Calgary's Pathways to Housing campaign was part of the larger Housing First model—a "client-driven strategy that provides immediate access to an apartment without requiring initial participation in psychiatric treatment or treatment for sobriety."

One of the outcomes of the campaign was the opening of the Alex Through the program, Clients pay 30 percent of their income towards their rent: 85 percent of Pathways to Housing clients receive Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) benefits and 15 percent receive

By 2013, the Pathways to Housing program in Calgary had provided housing for 150 individuals in scatter site homes.

Along with the Housing First model, the Pathways to Housing also integrated the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) integrated approach to healthcare, through which clients can access a team of "nurses, mental health specialists, justice specialists and substance abuse specialists." The program director, Sue Fortune, reported that the Housing First approach had resulted in a 66 percent decline in days hospitalized in one year, a 38% decline in times in emergency room, a 41% in EMS events, a 79% decline in days in jail and a 30% decline in police interactions.