At its meeting on 4th December 2013, the Community Development and Recreation Committee (CDRC) made several important recommendations to City Council. Some of these recommendations, if passed by Council, can potentially reverse the harmful consequences of several line items in the 2014 budget, such as the failure to allocate funds for the expansion of youth spaces and inadequate funding to address the needs of homeless women in the City of Toronto. The following are some of the key outcomes of the meeting.

 
a) Update on Shelter Occupancy and the Quality Assurance Review of Shelter Access Systems and 2014-2019 Housing Stability Service Planning Framework:

TWCA was among the many organizations deputing on this issue.

The Committee:

“1. Requested the Budget Committee, as part of the 2014 budget review process, to include necessary resources to increase access to shelter beds so that shelter capacity does not exceed 90% in any category of shelter (i.e. women’s, men’s, co-ed and family); and further requested the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration to develop a rapid deployment strategy that can be quickly implemented if the 90% standard is not achieved in any sector.

2. Directed the General Manager of Shelter, Support and Housing Administration to convene a bi-annual meeting of all city-funded homeless service providers to review shelter occupancy and discuss emerging and ongoing issues within the homelessness service sector.

3. Requested the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration to report on a quarterly basis to the Community Development and Recreation Committee on the shelter accommodation rate.”

TWCA will continue to monitor the deliberations of the Budget Committee and the relevant allocation of resources. It is imperative that the phrase “in any category of shelter” be heeded with care. Thus far, the 90% occupancy rate has been treated as an average for all categories of shelters, while women’s shelters continue to remain above 97% capacity.

The Housing Stability Service Planning Framework is intended to be a corrective measure to the City’s existing ad-hoc series of programs to address the issue of homelessness. Further, given the simultaneous increase in demand and decrease in funding from other levels of government, it is hoped that this consolidated framework will provide an integrated system that helps residents achieve greater housing stability.

As TWCA noted by way of deputation, the framework did not provide any timeframe for the achievement of objectives and did not include mechanisms for consultation with stakeholders and/or service providers. The Committee’s recommendations help to correct this and it directs the General Manager of Shelter, Support and Housing Administration to provide a progress report. The Committee also urged Council to work with other levels of Government to increase funding for homelessness and social housing programs.

In addition to these broader framework directives, the Committee directed Shelter, Support and Housing Administration staff to:

1) “Expedite the consultation with women’s homeless service providers and stakeholders on the feasibility of establishing a 24-hour safe drop-in for women and/or a women-only low-barrier harm reduction shelter and review existing services and available funding for Capital Improvements and report back to the January 21st, 2014 meeting of the Community Development and Recreation Committee on their consultation.”

This is an important development— the existing recommendation for an additional 30-bed women’s shelter in the 2014 budget is grossly insufficient to meet the needs of homeless women in Toronto.

2) Consult with the Red Cross and report back on the feasibility of establishing “warming centres” for homeless person for use during very cold winter days.

3) Establish a multi-sectoral advisory committee in the first quarter of 2014 to:

“i. Review and provide advice on the development of indicators and an implementation plan and timeline for the Housing Stability Service Plan.

ii. Provide guidance and advice on the development of improved mandatory training for all homelessness front-line, maintenance and management staff on ensuring equitable access and an inclusive space for LGBTQ and Aboriginal communities.

iii. Provide guidance and advice on the development of improved mandatory training on providing trauma-focused care to homeless service users.

iv. Be co-chaired by a representative from the homelessness community sector.

v. Include representation from past or present shelter users.

vi. Report to the Community Development and Recreation Committee on the process to establish the Committee and its action plan.”

In the review of shelter access, these were all shortcomings that were noted in the report. The establishment of a multi-sectoral committee to help provide direction and oversight is a welcome initiative.

b) Overview of Fees for Recreation Programs and Priority Centre Programming

This item was deferred to January 2014. The City released the Report from the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division on Overview of Fees for Recreation Programs, which outlined the $30.6 million annual cost of extending universal access. The report notes the personal, social, environmental and economic benefits of access to recreation, as well as the fact that in most cases, demand for recreation programs exceeds supply, with waitlists for many programs in the City.

Currently, the 2014 budget only allows for the elimination of user fees in the 16 Priority Centres, making for a total of 39 Priority Centres (3 of which are swimming pools only). Community Recreation for All notes that user fees are set to increase by 6% in 2014, while most residents of Toronto will not be receiving increases in income to match this. Further, the October 2013 Racialization and Health Inequities in Toronto reports that racialized groups are more likely to experience poor health outcomes than non-racialized groups. These groups are also more likely to be on lower incomes and would benefit the most from accessible recreation programs. It is imperative that the financial impact of the elimination of user fees be considered concurrently with the issue of equitable and accessible recreation programs. Recreation programs are a public service and must be treated as such.

We may hopefully see some progress on access and equity. CDRC directed the General Manager of Parks, Forestry and Recreation to report to the Budget Committee on the financial implications of beginning Priority Centre service in Spring or Summer 2014. However, although the General Manager was instructed to report periodically on service levels, there was no explicit instruction to address the issues of baseline programming and equitable hours.

 
c) Expansion of Youth Spaces

Citing a lack of resources, the 10-space expansion was omitted from the 2014 budget. CDRC re-visited this issue, and referred Parks, Forestry and Recreation’s report on youth spaces to the Budget Committee for consideration. The report was based on the model proposed by St. Stephen’s and Community Recreation for All. One positive note is that if it is approved, CDRC also requested the implementation of an advisory committee (for service and advice location) comprised of knowledgeable and relevant stakeholders such as youth workers and agencies serving youth, parents, and appropriate organizations such as Community Recreation for All!

TWCA will continue to monitor the outcome of the referral to the Budget Committee, especially since it was previously not approved in the 2014 budget.

d) Providing Affordable TTC fares for low-income riders

As TWCA noted in its budget analysis, the proportion of spending on the TTC has not significantly increased compared to 2013. Thus, maintenance of the system will be offset by fare increases in 2014, making the ridership cost-recovery of TTC close to 80%— the highest of any Canadian city. The Board of Health’s March 2013 report, Next Stop Health: Transit Access and Health Inequities in Toronto notes the harmful impact of unaffordable public transit, including parents missing doctors’ appointments for their children because they cannot afford the TTC fare. More women than men have a Metropass in Toronto and are more likely to be on low incomes. Fare increases will have a disproportionate impact on this segment of the population. In TWCA’s work, we have encountered many women whose quality of life is diminished significantly and in very challenging ways by unaffordable public transit.

CDRC directed the Executive Director of Social Development, Finance and Administration to work with the TTC Commission to explore fare reduction strategies for those on low incomes, including the following:

“1. Provision and implementation of a discount on bulk token purchases to social service agencies;

2. The extension of “Student” fares to adult learners in General Education Development and other continuing education programs; and

3. The implementation of a pilot to provide a means-tested discounted Metropass (and/or future Presto Pass) to low income Torontonians.”

TWCA will analyze the resulting report-back from the City to the CDRC. A date for report-back was not specified.