Chair of Hastings-Quinte Community and Human Service Committee Belleville Councillor Garnet Thompson and Director Erin Rivers August 9, 2017 (Photo: Mary Thomas/Quinte News)
Plans are getting underway to count the homeless in Hastings-Quinte.
The province has a plan to end “chronic homelessness” by 2025, and one of the first steps is to actually count the number of people who are without a home.
The local Community and Human Services department has a $15,000 provincially-funded budget and must submit an enumeration plan to the Ministry of Housing by October.
Director Erin Rivers told the Services committee this week there are two options, depending on factors such as geography, size and outreach capacity, to assist with the process.
A registry week will be held in Quinte West, Madoc and Bancroft. Various local agencies will assist the department in registering the homeless people in these areas.
Rivers says she is really interested to see if they can “get a handle on youth homelessness.”
#2 RIVERS HOMELESS
The actual enumeration process will take place in April of 2018.
The provincial guidelines say the count should cover at least 30% of the population of the Community and Human Services area.
The ministry indicates it will be held every two years “in order to compare trends and progress in the elimination of homelessness.”
