Allen McKay’s Post

https://lnkd.in/gZNj7qbb Yet another example of our upper and lower tier government here in Niagara not working effectively together on a very significant issue which has an enormous impact on our community. As Mayor Sisco points out, 3% of the St. Catharines budget is going to an issue which is outside of the cities mandate.  Once again this demonstrates addressing homelessness effectively requires more than band aid solutions at the city level. It requires a comprehensive approach that integrates all levels of government and sectors with housing, mental health services, supportive services, and community support. Not spending millions of dollars on band aid solutions like the self-cleaning public restroom. Many local politicians have expressed frustration with the current governance model and have requested changes in order to better deal with issues which affect our entire region.  The current governance model here in Niagara does not support an effective approach to the homelessness issue. As we move into 2025 budget deliberations lets remind ourselves band aid solution by various lower tier municipalities does little to effectively impact on this challenge. In addition there are a myriad of duplicated services that are being offered between the upper and lower tier governments which is costing taxpayers millions upon millions of dollars with little impact to our community. Niagara needs to ameliorate these duplicated programs and come together as one and approach the province as a team to develop solutions to these issues. #timeforchange

The NSW Government's budget sets out a long overdue and welcome investment of $6.1 billion in social housing and a package of $527.6 million for homelessness services and temporary accommodation. Our latest blog sets out the funding announcements related to the homelessness sector and their implications. We hope that this is a useful resource for you in unpacking what the budget means for specialist homelessness services and the people they support. You can read it here: https://lnkd.in/gcafyUMd We will take the opportunities available through these budget investments to advocate for more supported, safe and accessible temporary accommodation, and resources for providers to deliver critical services and pathways into homes with the support to keep those homes. We will be calling on our members in the coming weeks to help inform recommendations to government about the best ways to spend the $527.6 million for homelessness services. If you'd like to become a Homelessness NSW and play an important part in our advocacy, please visit our website: https://lnkd.in/gNHeXjZx #homelessness #homelessnessnsw #nswbudget

New homelessness stats for England, up to end Dec 23, out today. And yet again everything is heading up. Before digging in, a couple of figures in particular are striking: on 31st December 2023, 112,660 households were in temporary accommodation, an increase of 12.1% from 31st December 2022. Households with children in temporary accommodation increased by 15.0% to 71,280. It is of course worth noting that these increases typically exceed any increases in the spending power of local authorities - the bodies with statutory responsibility for providing and paying for these services. Update, following a little bit of digging: the astonishing fact that there has been an increase of 363% in the requirement to leave accommodation provided by the Home Office as asylum support. And, unfortunately unsurprisingly, the number of families in B&B continues to rise - increasing by 10.9% in the last quarter of 2023, to 2,960. More detail at: https://lnkd.in/eWqY7aNV

https://lnkd.in/gADejk2D Addressing homelessness effectively requires more than band aid solutions at the city level. It requires a comprehensive approach that integrates all levels of government and sectors with housing, mental health services, supportive services, and community support. St. Catharines has admitted to spending millions of dollars on trying to manage the homelessness problem within the city. Spending millions of dollars on band aid solutions such as the $500,000 self-cleaning public restroom (which has likely cost over a million dollars to be kept operational) has not only been proven to not be an effective measure in other communities but a huge waste of tax dollars. Many local politicians have expressed frustration with the current governance model and have requested change. The current governance model here in Niagara does not support an effective approach to the homelessness issue. Homelessness is an issue across Niagara and not just St. Catharines. Band aid solution carried out independently by various lower tier municipalities does little to effectively impact on this challenge. Niagara needs to come together as one and approach the province as a team to develop a solution.  #timeforchange

📣 ONTARIO! Listen up. What’s happening right now is truly terrifying. I get it. People want homelessness to go away. It’s a visible sign of how broken our system is, and it hurts to see it! But here’s the thing: only thing will end homelessness. Housing. 🏡🏠🏢🏗️🏙️ Of course, we will need additional healthcare and other supports, but that alone won’t end homelessness if there isn’t enough housing. At least 13 municipalities are now asking the province to undermine democracy and criminalize homelessness. This won’t do a damn thing to house anyone. It will be an extremely harmful and expensive waste of tax dollars. The cheapest thing is to simply house people. Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness offers consulting on how to end homelessness in a human rights based, housing-focussed approach. Any community that’s serious about wanting to get rid of encampments should contact us. Please resist the call to criminalize the victims of bad housing policy, and join the call for evidence based solutions. If you’re in Ontario, please sign and send a message to your city Council: https://lnkd.in/gpm_g69m

Everyday at APAP we see the devastating impact of homelessness in all its forms. From visible rough sleepers to the invisible families in temporary accommodation. Homelessness has many complex causes. Yes, substance misuse and mental health are issues. But poverty, low wage employment and an unaffordable (often unreliable and unsuitable) private rented sector housing market are often the bigger-picture-culprits. Today is the long trailed budget. Homelessness and rough sleeping doesn't happen in a bubble, there are multiple factors (and failures) that lead to households losing their home. I hope that there is acknowledgement (and funding) announced today that seeks to address the issue in its full complexity. https://lnkd.in/eHxcpFdu https://lnkd.in/eKYsczxC #london #enfield #haringey #budget #budgetday #homelessness #roughsleeping #housingcrisis

Baptist Care Australia stands in solidarity with partner organisations, including the Community Housing Industry Association, Homelessness Australia, and the 'Everybody's Home' campaign, in expressing disappointment with the federal Government's response to the housing crisis. Despite widespread advocacy from the community services sector, the Budget fails to offer adequate solutions to address homelessness and housing affordability. 🔹 Insufficient Funding for Social Housing: The absence of new funding for social housing exacerbates the crisis, with initiatives merely reiterating previous commitments.  🔹 Increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance: While the 10% increase plus indexation is a step forward, concerns remain this will not be enough to ensure secure housing in the current rental market. 🔹 Concessional Finance for Community Housing Providers: Additional financing of up to 1.9 billion for community housing providers is welcomed, yet clarity on eligibility criteria is needed.  🔹 New Detail on Known Commitments: Scrutiny reveals that much of the funding represents existing commitments, with limited allocations for social housing infrastructure.  🔹 Doubling of Homelessness Funding: While doubling homelessness funding is positive, reallocating funds from the housing component to homelessness services raises concerns.  🔹 Urgency for Action: The housing crisis demands immediate and substantial action. Prioritising social housing is paramount to ensuring safe and affordable housing for all Australians. Baptist Care Australia urges the Government to swiftly address the housing crisis and prioritise the needs of individuals and families over investor interests. #HousingCrisis #FederalBudget2024 #AffordableHousing #BaptistCareAustralia #auspol #EverybodysHome

Though I commend the Government for being clear on the horrific injustice of Emergency Accommodation, I am concerned that without a plan to build alternatives, we will increase the risk of homelessness. It's important to highlight that a lot of what the Government discussed on Wednesday is not too different from what was happening under the previous Government. The Labour Government also encouraged greater scrutiny, the status quo already examines whether someone has "contributed to their own homelessness", and people already have to justify that they have done everything they can to locate alternatives. The human reality to this is that for those who do need shelter, it can be extremely difficult to accesss Emergency Housing without the support of an advocate. Many whānau and young people describe the experience of reaching out for help from Work and Income as dehumanizing. Many young people I have spoken with have expressed the feeling that when they asked for help, they weren't listened to, they were often blamed for their experience of homelessness, and for them, greater scrutiny meant more barriers, more blame, and less support. What I've described here is the status quo. I struggle to comprehend how things could get harder. I wrote about this further below: https://lnkd.in/gM4699xJ #LoveIsTheWay #EmergencyAccomodation #EmergencyHousing #Homelessness #EndYouthHomelessness

I'm a strong believer in the value of shelter and transitional housing for folks and the role these services can play to support people as they start their journey along the housing continuum and further as they attempt to navigate a system that is in crisis and burdened with barriers. Historically, there has been a de-emphasis in funding for these types of initiatives, which has led to many services being trapped in cycles of under resourcing and pure survival and even more services that have been lost. Post that, we saw shelter and transitional housing underplayed and hidden as a dissuasion in Reaching Home dollars. But this funding announcement is a positive direction to securing the resources needed for shelter and transitional housing to allow these services and organizations to play a more robust and consistent role in helping the community solve the issue of homelessness and further properly show up for individuals in the ways they truly need us to. Further hoping the provincial government shifts its attitude and seizes this opportunity more robustly and remains open to understanding that the solution is beyond individuals, beyond just a job, and beyond just semi-affordable housing for the missing middle.

As the dust settles on this year’s federal budget, people have now had time to dissect the numbers and fully comprehend the decisions made and the priorities set. I want to focus on the new National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness with the states and territories. This agreement replaces the previous NHHA and has been signed for five years. The Treasurer announced on budget night that homelessness funding would be doubled, but failed to mention that this increase comes at the expense of social housing funding in the same agreement. The total amount of funding is almost the same, not including the Northern Territory, which has seen a significant increase, as it should, given the well-beyond-national trend line need. It is not clear what will be jeopardised most by this funding approach, but it could come at the expense of dollars for maintenance and repairs, which is obviously of great concern. It’s clear some of the other housing policies in the budget were used to show additional investment in housing as a reason for not increasing the funding in this agreement. However, this agreement has always been the crucial link between the two tiers of government, and not substantially increasing it in the face of escalating need over the next five years seems reckless to me. The other point of course is the forthcoming National Housing and Homelessness Plan, which the industry has still had no engagement on since December last year. What’s in the plan? What are its overriding objectives, does this agreement/investment adequately support those outcomes? What’s missing? We can’t answer any of these questions because we haven’t seen a copy of the Plan. Meanwhile, the deal was agreed to. I note there is a Housing and Homelessness Ministerial Council meeting next week, and I’m sure the plan is likely to be on the table there. I hope the council also takes time to consider the response by the industry to the funding package as well. It’s inadequate for the size of the problem, in my view. The council should resolve to provide a draft copy of the Plan to the industry as quickly as possible. We should be working on this together. Australian Government Anthony Albanese Julie Collins https://lnkd.in/gduAkvGN #national #agreement #socialhousing #homelessness #federalbudget #bettertogether #homematters