2023-2024 Community Homelessness Report
The Community Homelessness Report (CHR) is an annual Reaching Home reporting deliverable that supports communities to prevent and reduce homelessness using a more coordinated, systems-based, and data-driven response. The CHR was designed to support local discussions and decision making, using all of the information about homelessness currently available at the community level.
Communities are encouraged to use their CHR data to develop clear plans of action that help them reach their homelessness reduction targets and to leverage the collective efforts of service providers working across the community, regardless of how they are funded.
This is a summary of the CHR for the 2023-24 reporting cycle. It shows the community’s self-assessment of Reaching Home implementation, which includes these key components:
- Meaningful collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners (see Section 1).
- Community-level governance coordinated service delivery (Coordinated Access) and use of a Homelessness Management Information System or HMIS (see Section 2).
- An Outcomes-Based Approach (tracking community-level outcomes and progress against targets using person-specific data; see Section 3).
If the community was able to report on outcomes and targets, this CHR Summary also includes results for each of the five core outcomes of Reaching Home (see Section 4).
Section 1. Community context – collaboration between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous partners
Specific to Coordinated Access, the HMIS and the Outcomes-Based Approach, has there been ongoing, meaningful collaboration between the DC, CE, and local Indigenous organizations, including those that sit on your CAB, over the reporting period?
- Coordinated access: Not yet.
- HMIS: Not yet.
- Outcomes-based approach: Not yet.
Describe how this collaboration will happen over the coming year in more detail.
Over the past year, meaningful collaboration did not take place however progress on how Peel will work towards collaboration with Indigenous partners has been made.
In April of 2023, we reached out to the Community Entity - Rural and remote homelessness and was connected to United Way Simcoe Muskoka where we requested support with suggestions on how to reach out to the only known Indigenous organization in Peel, The Indigenous Network (TIN), to try and form a connection that has been unsuccessful in the past.
Information was provided but no connections were made and due to high demand on our housing system, focus was turned to immediate needs.
Multiple emails and calls to TIN went unanswered. Peel Region hired an Indigenous Engagement Advisor and great support, and information was provided from a meeting with her. Peel has connected with the CAB and obtained encouragement to engage with Mississauga of the Credit First Nations and offer financial compensation to one or two individuals to join our CAB and provide support and direction on programming within our shelters. It was determined that this action must be intentional in nature to truly support our Indigenous clients in Peel.
Peel Region is looking to create a program that helps individuals feel safe to self-identify as Indigenous. This will occur over the coming year.
Specific to the completion of this Community Homelessness Report (CHR), did ongoing, meaningful collaboration take place with the local Indigenous organizations, including those that sit on your CAB?
No.
Section 2. Coordinated Access and Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS) Self-Assessment
Summary table
The table below provides a summary of the work your community has done so far to meet the Reaching Home minimum requirements for Coordinated Access and an HMIS under the 2019-2024 Reaching Home funding cycle.
| Progress of requirements | Completed | Started | Not yet started |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of minimum requirements | 18 | 0 | 0 |
The table below shows the percentage of minimum requirements completed for each core Coordinated Access component.
| Governance | HMIS | Access Points to Service | Triage and Assessment | Coordinated Access Resource Inventory | Vacancy Matching and Referral |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Summary comment
Highlight efforts and/or issues related to the work your community has done over the last year related to the Reaching Home minimum requirements for Coordinated Access and an HMIS.
During the 2023-2024 fiscal year, several enhancements were made to Peel's Coordinated Access system.
A key improvement was Peel's capacity to provide substantial housing resources to households on the By-Name list (BNL) through Needs-Based Portable Subsidies. The unprecedented number of subsidies allocated to the BNL significantly improved participation from Access Points in Coordinated Access, as service providers witnessed their clients successfully transition from the BNL to becoming housed.
A Priority List was generated, resulting in 47 households transitioning from homelessness to stable housing, in receipt of subsidies at 150% of the average market rent. This initiative has significantly supported the most vulnerable and chronically homeless individuals in obtaining self-contained units amidst the ongoing housing affordability crisis.
Service improvement initiatives were launched with our Access Points, including the implementation of a Needs Assessment and Dashboard. The Dashboard filled gaps within our By-Name List (Microsoft Excel) and enabled enhanced data generation and outcome reporting. These enhancements increased service provider engagement and improved data accuracy on the BNL.
The Needs Assessment Survey evaluated the current BNL implementation, ensuring alignment with established processes and identifying potential barriers. The survey provided insights into our Coordinated Access system's functionality, guiding future program development and implementation strategies for our system's upcoming migration to The Housing Services Platform, a Salesforce-based system.
Significant efforts from the privacy, legal, and housing services departments in Q4 of last year resulted in the Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) being fully executed in Q1 of 2024-2025, leading to Peel's designation as a Health Information Network Provider. This designation will provide the infrastructure and capacity to effectively manage and utilize data and lead to better outcomes for individuals experiencing homelessness and a more resilient and responsive Coordinated Access system.
The Poverty Reduction Lived Experience Table was a member of Peel’s Coordinated Access Co-Design Table. People with lived experience of homelessness helped to implement Peel's Coordinated Access system aimed at improving service delivery for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Their insights were crucial in shaping the system to ensure it was responsive to real needs. As well their firsthand experiences helped identify gaps in services and areas for improvement, leading to a more efficient and empathetic approach to address homelessness in the Peel.
Section 3. Outcomes-Based Approach Self-Assessment
Summary table
The tables below provide a summary of the work your community has done so far to transition to an Outcomes-Based Approach under the 2019-2024 Reaching Home funding cycle.
| Step 1: Maintain person-specific data | Step 2: Maintain real-time data | Step 3: Maintain comprehensive data |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | Yes | Not yet |
Step 4: Can report monthly outcomes and set targets using data (reporting monthly data in Section 4 is mandatory for 2023-24 CHRs)
| The dataset was in place as of January 1, 2024 (or earlier) | Can generate monthly data | Has set targets | Has an Outcomes-Based Approach in place |
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Outcome 1: Yes | Outcome 1: Yes | No |
| Outcome 2: Yes | Outcome 2: Yes | ||
| Outcome 3: Yes | Outcome 3: Yes | ||
| Outcome 4: Yes | Outcome 4: Yes | ||
| Outcome 5: Yes | Outcome 5: Yes |
Step 4: Can report annual outcomes and set targets using data (reporting annual data in Section 4 is mandatory once annual data can be generated)
| The dataset was in place as of April 1, 2023 (or earlier) | Can generate annual data | Has set targets | Has an Outcomes-Based Approach in place |
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Outcome 1: Yes | Outcome 1: No | No |
| Outcome 2: Yes | Outcome 2: No | ||
| Outcome 3: Yes | Outcome 3: No | ||
| Outcome 4: Yes | Outcome 4: No | ||
| Outcome 5: Yes | Outcome 5: No |
Summary comment
Highlight efforts and issues related to your community’s work to implement, maintain, or improve the Outcomes-Based Approach under Reaching Home.
To improve person-specific data over the last year, a dashboard was created for internal service provider staff to use to help ensure that people appear in the dataset only once.
The dashboard allows internal staff to determine if a new client has already been added to the BNL to prevent duplication of service. As well our community has implemented a monthly data quality checklist involving identifying and removing any duplicates, checking for incorrect date of birth submissions, and ensuring that there are no blank fields in mandatory categories, etc.
A Needs Assessment Survey was carried out with Access Points to assess operations, communication with clients and staff involvement, quality control, client interaction and inactivity process, and tracking changes. The information collected through the surveys will be used to shape policies and processes in the Housing Services Platform (Salesforce). Much work has been put into transitioning Peel Region as a Health Information Custodian & Health Information Network Provider.
The Housing Services Platform will serve as a centralized database where all service providers can access up-to-date information on available resources, client needs, and service gaps. Onboarding service providers to the platform will improve data collection on the homeless population including demographics, needs, and service utilization and real-time updates.
Our community met with the Homelessness Indicator Project team to discuss how data is managed in our HMIS and how outcomes are generated, and it has been determined that once the database migrates to the Platform, we would be able to the minimum standards for the Homelessness Indicator Project to share data for the Outcomes Based Approach.
Additional information - Timely data
Once new information is available about a person, on average, how long does it take for changes to be updated in the database for :
Interaction with the system (e.g., changes from “active” to “inactive”)?
Within a week.
Housing history (e.g., changes from “homeless” to “housed”)?
Within a week.
Data that is relevant and necessary for Coordinated Access (e.g., data used to determine who is eligible and can be prioritized for a vacancy)?
Within a week.
Additional information - Data collection and entry processes
Describe the process(es) used by service providers to collect and enter data about people currently experiencing homelessness into the database.
Service providers access the common assessment tool on a website. Staff then enter their agency information, identify the purpose of their submission, review intake consents with client. Staff completes the intake with client by asking a set of questions to collect their personal information. Next, staff will complete needs assessment questions to support matching, prioritization, and inform service planning.
The information is then submitted using MS Forms. An administrative support representative receives these submissions on a spreadsheet and copies and pastes the information into the master By-Name List Excel spreadsheet.