Report To: Program Planning Committee
From: Lori Clark, Director of Integrated Social Services (A) and Kristian Thorne, Community Housing Program Supervisor
Date: May 26, 2022
Re: By-Name List - Issue Report
Purpose
The purpose of this report is to provide the DSB Board with information on the Ontario Service Manager By-Name-List (BNL).
Background
In April 2021 the Board reviewed an issue report regarding Homeless Enumeration and the introduction of By-Name Lists across Ontario. Service Managers were expected to have their By-Name List operational by January 1, 2022, the Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB BNL was operational by this date.
At the April 2022 Board meeting, staff advised that in addition to the existing BNL requirements, Service Managers were provided updated guidelines that are to be implemented and reported on effective April 1, 2023.
Service Managers must submit an Implementation Plan to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing by July 29, 2022. This Implementation Plan will outline how the Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB plans to achieve the new BNL requirements.
Requirements
The new requirements build on the previous ones, respond to the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario’s Value for Money Audit of Homelessness Programs recommendations, and support the goal of addressing and reducing homelessness as outlined under Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP).
The new requirements include a broader coverage and comprehensiveness which will help communities better understand the needs of people experiencing homelessness to connect people more effectively to services and supports they need.
Service Managers will continue to receive support from the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness throughout 2022-2023
There are two changes being made to the original Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB implementation plan:
- The BNL will be updated monthly as opposed to every ninety days
- A new category has been added to the BNL to track if households have transitioned from a provincial institution, for example residential treatment, hospital, or corrections facilities.
We will be establishing a committee made up of community services who serve homeless individuals, once the committee is established privacy policies will need to be developed to support information sharing.
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing is requiring that service managers identify hotspots for homelessness and appropriate outreach be conducted. This requirement is currently not applicable to our community as much of our homelessness is hidden homelessness.
Conclusion
The Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB staff are recommending that the BNL implementation plan be submitted as presented.