Kelowna’s 2013 Community Profile on Homelessness

1. Kelowna’s 2013 Community Profile on Homelessness Kelowna’s Housing Needs Assessment and Community Progress Indicator Reports

2. Table of Contents • Why do a Count? • Methodology • Key Findings • Total Count • Type of Homelessness • Age • Gender • Origin • Length of Without A Home • Self-identified reasons for homelessness • Health Concerns • Foster Care Involvement • Community Progress Indicators

3. Why Do a Count? • Establish a reference point to track the progress in our community • Identify trends: • who are we serving • What are their needs • Inform development of programs, policy and services • Increase public awareness • Assist in building relationships with those populations who are at-risk

4. Housing Needs Assessment Methodology

5. Methodology • Used the BC’s guide for counting homeless populations as a template for research design and to standardize methodology • A standardized method provides potential to compare results between other communities in the province (e.g., Kamloops, Vancouver) Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General (Housing Policy Branch) Counting Homelessness: Guidelines for a Standardized: Method for BC Communities. Retrieved fromhttp://www.housing.gov.bc.ca/pub/Counting_Homelessness.pdf

6. Methodology… • Incorporated definitions from Canadian Homeless Research Network (CHRN, 2012): • Unsheltered (absolutely homeless) • Emergency Sheltered • Provisionally Accommodated • At Risk of Homelessness

7. Methodology…. Two timeframes were used: • Oct 1-4 for provisionally accommodated populations • October 2-3 (24 hour point-in-time) for unsheltered and emergency sheltered populations

8. Housing Needs Assessment Key Findings

9. Key Findings – Total Count • During the October 2013 point-in-time count, 447 individuals were surveyed.

10. Key Findings – Type of Homelessness Experienced • People in the “Absolute Homeless” Category represented the largest group of homeless persons in Kelowna:39.1% of all respondents.

11. Key Findings - Age • The median age of all respondents was 42 years old with over half of the persons interviewed (52.9%) being 40 or older.

12. Key Findings – Age cont. • Persons between the age of 15 and 20 represented 15.3% of all respondents, which is high, considering that the 15-20 year age grouping only consists of 5 year period compared to the other age groupings which cover a 10 year age period but show a similar proportion to that seen in the 15-20 year group. • Compare to 2007: 11.9% of respondents were under the age of 20.

13. Key Findings - Gender • Respondents identified as Male represented the majority (64.3%) compared to those identified as Female (35%) or Transgendered, Transexual or other sexual identity (0.7%)

14. Key Findings – Gender cont. • Out of the male respondents, 40.7% were categorized as Absolute Homeless compared to 34.9% of Female respondents and 0% of Transgendered respondents. • Inversely, 40.4% of Female respondents were categorized as Provisionally Accommodated.

15. Key Findings - Origins • 14.5% of respondents stated they were originally from Kelowna • 38.4% of respondents stated that they had lived in Kelowna for 10 or more years

16. Key Findings- Length of Time Without A Home

17. Key Findings - Self Identified Reasons for Homelessness

18. Key Findings – Health Concerns • When asked if they had any problems with their physical or mental health, 73.4% disclosed that they have concerns in these areas.

19. Key Findings – Health Concerns cont. • When categorized into types of homeless, those who were considered Provisionally Accommodated were the most likely to identify health concerns (82.6%). They were also the most likely to report seeing someone for assistance with their concerns (95.7%)

20. Key Findings – Health Concerns cont. • When asked to specify what their health concerns were, over half (53.5%) disclosed Mental Illness as a concern. As well, 48.6% of respondents disclose Addiction issues as a concern. Physical health was the third most likely to be identified by respondents at 43.4%.

21. Key Findings – Foster Care Involvement • Of the individuals surveyed, 23.3% reported being in foster care at one point in their life. • Compared to the 2007 assessment, 25.1% reported previous or current involvement in the foster care system.

22. Community Progress Indicators Report A Community Portrait

23. Community Progress Indicators • Community Progress Indicators Report • Standardized report prepared by the HPS at a National level • Kelowna is a part of the second phase of a pilot project • Shelter data is collected by BC Housing and shared with national office to use in this report as well as others • The community works with the national office to provide information unique to the community

24. Community Progress Indicators • The report includes the following sections: • Community Portrait • Community Progress • Demonstrating Results • Housing First

25. Emergency Shelter Use in Kelowna Homelessness Partnering SecretariatCommunity Report: Kelowna (in Draft)

26. The Chronically and Episodically Homeless Homelessness Partnering SecretariatCommunity Report: Kelowna (in Draft)

27. Overall Community Profile • Both reports (the Housing Needs Assessment and the CPI) will provide baseline indicators for the new HPS Community Plan as required by HPS.

28. THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING! The End 