Another report on the homeless, another set of recommendations.
Dr. Michael Krausz from the University of B.C. released his very detailed and exhaustively researched report Tuesday. It's called, "British Columbia Health of the Homeless Survey."
Give it a read if you want to know why that person you saw sleeping on the sidewalk this morning is there and why he may still be there tomorrow and the next day.
Krausz showed up at city hall Tuesday to talk about his report on a day that council also learned 1,602 homeless people were counted in this city in March. Keep in mind, that was a count done on one day by volunteers and they, no doubt, missed a few.
The news about homelessness isn't good. More people are sleeping on the street this year over last, and overall homelessness-that includes people on the street and in shelters-has more than doubled since 2002, when 628 were recorded to be homeless.
If there is any good news, the number of homeless who haven't found temporary shelter is far less this year-306-than it was in 2008, when 811 people were recorded to be sleeping on the street.
But if it's numbers we're talking here-no matter how they're interpreted-the bottom line is the city is still mired in a homelessness crisis. That word "crisis" is pretty strong and not one the city used in issuing a press release on the state of the city's homeless. "Latest homeless count figures show numbers holding steady," is what the headline read and was accompanied by a line from Mayor Gregor Robertson saying "we've made strong progress in the last four years to tackle homelessness."
That progress he is referring to is the construction of social housing and the opening of temporary shelters that saw the dramatic decrease in the number of so-called "street homeless."
That term is a favourite of Robertson's who promised in his 2008 campaign to become mayor to first end homelessness, only to say later that he meant "street homelessness."
Vision apparatchiks will debate this but my ears did not fail me when he blurted out at Science World after Vision's nomination meeting in 2008 that "we're going to end homelessness, people."
Street homelessness, homelessness- whatever.
What Krausz says needs to be done to get people a place to live involves-surprise!-senior levels of government working together with municipalities to build housing and provide treatment.
Of course, it's not that easy. But one of his recommendations that hasn't received a lot of play in the ongoing debate about homelessness is the need for a huge amount of support to be dedicated to children who suffer trauma.
Krausz found that 86 per cent of the homeless people surveyed in his report had experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse in their childhood. "The large amount of early traumatic experience among people living in substandard housing found in this study is one of the most important results," his report says. "This suggests the plethora of problems homeless individuals suffer from start early in childhood."
Added Krausz: "Childhood trauma prevention must begin with closer monitoring and assessment of adverse childhood events and trauma through family practice, the education system and other forms of social support used by families to increase the possibility of early interventions."
Over to you senior levels of government, politicians, health agencies, parents, police, friends, neighbours, etc.
Twitter: @Howellings
