Moncton report lays out 27 actions to reduce homelessness, increase downtown security

A new report details 27 actions to reduce homelessness and mental health and addiction problems in the greater Moncton area and increase security downtown.

According to the head of the Community Task Forceon Homelessness and Downtown Security, theareacan achievenet zero homelessness in two years.

"We'd like to think these 27 actions are sort of the fuel to get us there," said John Wishart, who is also CEO of the Chamber of Commerce for GreaterMoncton,

The 11-page report was produced by the task force, with the Greater Moncton Homelessness Steering Committee,Rising Tide Community Initiatives and the Codiac Regional RCMP.

Wishart told Information Morning Monctonthat the report was a culmination of five months of work and builds on existing services provided by government and groups like YMCA and Harvest House.

"We need to build on all those things to really get to the root causes of homelessness, which tend to be mental health and addiction issues," Wishart said. "I think what was missing was more of an overall community effort to address this issue."

The report lists six areasof concern: governance, shelter operations, addictions and mental health support, safe supply, housing, complex needs (for chronic homeless cases) and law enforcement.

It is looking to hire a managing director by the end of year and the task force andthe homelessness committee will determine long-term organization for managing the action plan by March 31, 2022.

Support for addiction and mental health

Recommendations from the report include asking the province for in-shelter mental health and addiction support services, the creation of a mental health court in Moncton that includes clear release plans for individuals, a pilot treatment program for crystal methamphetamineand a comprehensive study on safe injection sites.

"We know people are coming to Moncton because drugs are cheap, and they're available," Wishart said. "Doesn't it make more sense to at least explore a safe supply injection site that has been done in countries like Portugal for a decade?

"We think that could be part of the solution if drugs are administered in a safe environment."

Increasing housing, decreasing shelter capacity

The report citesa need for more affordable housing units and community engagement between landlords, the public and staff. Future shelters should also be smaller in capacity and dispersed throughout the city.

It also says mental health and addiction services need to be ramped up and integrated with supportive housing. It calls for the development of a "data-driven housing-first model."

As part of this idea, Wishart said, the task force is setting aside $200,000 for a complex needs pilot project. It willtarget 20 of the more than 130 peoplewho are identified as being chronically homeless.

"So if we can get those 20 individuals into some sort of treatment programs and into assisted housing, that could play a big role. You know, 20 per cent of the people are causing 80 per cent of the perception of issues. That's where we should start."

Perception that downtown Moncton not safe

One-third of the report's actions involve law enforcement.

It calls on theRCMPto have a more visible engagement with "the homelessness issue". It sayspolice need to better understand local context and work more with the justice system to expedite cases and ensure release plans for individuals with specialized needs.

"The Codiac Regional RCMP really have to come to the table with some concrete measures, and I think they realize that more needs to be done on the criminal side."

Wishart said the chamber has heard that employees and customers in downtown Moncton feel unsafe,with some reporting finding used needles in the area.

The Codiac Regional RCMP has agreed to:

• Increase the size of its Community Policing Unit and relocate the CPU to a separate Main Street location by first quarter of 2022,including a downtown walking patrol
• Work with stakeholders to reduce the process time between arrest and sentencing
• Provide additional social workers to the Mobile Health Crisis Unit
• Add its voice to the call for a mental health court and safe storage lockers
• Place all specialized units connected with homelessness under a dedicated inspector

The City of Moncton will add more bylaw enforcement officers and work withRCMP to further integrate community policing, bylaw enforcement and public works.

There is alsoa call forCorrections Canada to develop residential release plans that "ensure support for offenders being reintroduced into the Greater Moncton community."

Eric Weissman, who studies homelessness, housing and social policy at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, said a careful line needs to be walked between criminalization and providing support.

"If the augmenting of the law enforcement is simply to increase the police's effectiveness at criminalizing homelessness, I'm not in favour of it at all."

Weissman said that only time will tell if the actions identified in the report actually address underlying problems such as generational poverty thatleadpeople down these pathways in the first place.

"When these things are visible, then it's easy to pinpoint, or to target what the issue is without actually peeling the layers. Peeling the layers to look at the underlying conditions is far more difficult."