Provincial Supports for B.C.'s Most Vulnerable

VICTORIA – Here are the latest facts on what the provincial government is doing to address the serious issues of homelessness, mental illness, and addiction in B.C.

Ministry of Forests – Office of Housing and Construction Standards/BC Housing

• The budget for affordable housing and emergency shelters now exceeds $328 million – nearly triple what it was in 2001.
• Since 2001, 12,950 assisted living and supportive housing units have been completed or are under development.
• Budget 2007 increases funding for the Emergency Shelter Program by $27 million over three years. This will convert nearly 300 cold wet weather beds to year round shelter beds – increasing the number of full-time shelter beds to 1,300 in B.C. As well, there will continue to be about 1,100 extreme weather beds that can be opened in harsh conditions or emergency.
• Budget 2007 also includes an additional $6 million over 3 years for 24/7 staffing in transition houses across the province.
• To encourage innovative solutions to homelessness and social housing issues, Budget 2007 sets aside $250 million in a new Housing Endowment Fund. The fund will exist in perpetuity and earn an estimated $10 million a year.
• Since December 2004, the Premier’s Task Force on Homelessness, Mental Illness and Addictions has announced 2,287 housing units and shelter beds. These units and beds combine appropriate social and medical supports to help vulnerable people break the cycle of homelessness. The Task Force will continue to announce new projects as they are approved.
• The Province is providing $3.6 million over three years for homeless outreach workers in 16 communities around the province. Outreach workers provide one-on-one assistance to assist by offering not only food, clothing, and shelter to the homeless but access to life-skills training and health and social programs.
• The Province is providing $40 million annually towards a new Rental Assistance Program for working families with an annual income below $28,000. The program will help an estimated 20,000 families each year.
• More than 15,000 seniors benefit from The Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters (SAFER) program which subsidizes rents for low to moderate income seniors.

Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance – support for vulnerable individuals

• B.C. spends $1.5 billion each year on income assistance, supplementary medical and dental supports and employment programs for people most in need.
• Two-thirds of people on income assistance have disabilities or multiple barriers to employment and receive B.C.’s highest rates of assistance, as well as a full range of medical and dental supports.
• People with disabilities receive a monthly rate of $906 – the third highest in Canada – and are able to supplement that income with an earnings exemption of $500 a month.
• Employable singles, couples, and single-parent families received the highest shelter rate in Canada following a $50 increase to the maximum shelter rate in February 2007.
• People in genuine urgent need of food, shelter, or medication who come to the ministry for help are assisted on a priority basis. The majority of people who come onto income assistance – 58 per cent – have these expedited applications.
• A person does not require a fixed address in order to receive income assistance.
• Staff work with other ministries, municipalities, shelter providers, police, community drop-in centres, rehabilitation services, and hospitals throughout the province to ensure individuals who may be homeless, mentally ill, or addicted are connected to the supports and services they need.
• Outreach programs operating in several municipalities including Vancovuer, Kamloops, and Abbotsford have successfully brought people from the streets onto the income assistance caseload and into housing within a day.
• For more vulnerable income assistance clients, government invests $7.5 million in a Community Assistance Program which includes basic life skills training as well as referrals to existing community resources such as mental health and housing services, drug or alcohol treatment, legal aid, childcare, and family services.
• For clients on the caseload who are able to work, government is investing $70 million a year in effective employment programs to help them find and keep good jobs.

Ministry of Health – support for mental health and addictions

• More than $1 billion is spent each year on mental health and addiction services by the health-care system in B.C., which is a 22 per cent increase over 2000/01.
• The number of adult community mental health beds has increased by 29 per cent, with 1,400 new beds since 2001 (from 4,940 beds in 2001 to 6,391 beds in 2006).
• B.C. health authorities spent more than $92 million last year on addictions services in B.C. which is approximately twice the amount spent on addictions treatment in 2002/03.
• Addiction treatment services have expanded throughout all health authorities. B.C. has increased its capacity by 164 beds in the past three years, to 1,038 beds in 2006.
• There are 567 addiction treatment beds in the Lower Mainland, 135 addiction beds on Vancouver Island, and 60 in Greater Victoria.
• These beds include adult and youth withdrawal management (medical and social detox) and residential treatment beds.
• Most individuals who are withdrawing from a substance dependency do not need a medical detox bed. Medical detox beds are prioritized for those whose substance use involves medical risks associated with the withdrawal process.
• B.C. was the first province in Western Canada to have dedicated youth detox beds. The number of youth detox beds in B.C. now stands at 49.