Latest news with #Homelessness
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Sadiq Khan plans to end rough sleeping in London by 2030
The mayor of London has said he will end the "trauma" of people who have to be sleeping on the streets before they can access aims to ending rough sleeping by 2030, and has secured £17m in capital funding from central government for his Sadiq Khan said his new plan of action, would focus on "prevention and increasing the availability of rapid, sustainable routes away from the streets".But Lord Bailey, City Hall Conservatives' housing spokesman, said if the mayor wants to solve homelessness "that involves tackling the housing crisis, which he has failed to do - now Khan needs to force the government to do more". According to the Trust for London, the number of people sleeping rough in London was almost 12,000 in 2023/ charity's figures show a threefold increase in people sleeping on the streets last year than in 2008/ government funding will be used to open a new Ending Homelessness Hub, that provide 24/7 support to those most at risk of sleeping rough, and expand the Homes off the Streets programme by refurbishing up to 500 empty mayor said he will end the current requirement for Londoners to be seen sleeping on the streets before they can access support, and to ensure that those at greatest risk of rough sleeping are helped early, based on their specific Sadiq said: "During my election campaign, I promised to develop a plan to end rough sleeping for good by 2030. "I'm proud to be delivering on that promise. We know the best way to end rough sleeping is to stop it before it starts.""That's why we're putting prevention at the heart of our response."City Hall's rough sleeping budget is £44.8m in 2025/26, a fivefold increase on 2016 when the mayor took office. Lord Bailey said "press releases full of fake concern and small sums of money to window dress this issue are not enough".He added: "Londoners are suffering on the frontline of this, as are the councils who support them - because Khan and the Labour Party won't do enough."Dealing with rough sleeping is pushing council budgets into the red across the city as the issue becomes worse and worse."Emma Haddad, chief executive of homeless charity St Mungo's, said rough sleeping "is a crisis and should not be a prerequisite for help".She added: "Many of our clients face long-term mental and physical health needs, which can increase the risk of homelessness and make it that much harder for people to get the support they need. "We're also seeing more people locked out of an increasingly unaffordable private rental sector, exacerbated by poor supply of housing and intense demand for it."City Hall said the mayor's new strategy would include specialist services that recognise the needs of particular groups of Londoners, such as those who face additional barriers to accessing services due to high support needs or uncertain immigration status. 'Khan not the first mayor to pledge action' Analysis by Karl Mercer, BBC London political editorHe may be the latest mayor to promise to end rough sleeping, but Sir Sadiq Khan is not the first.A year after becoming mayor, as he launched his new London Delivery Board, Boris Johnson had declared: "It's scandalous in the 21st century that people have to resort to sleeping on the streets." He promised to end rough sleeping in the capital by the time the Olympics were coming in failed, even though he re-visited the issue in his winning 2019 manifesto on the national stage - promising to end rough sleeping by the end of the next parliament. He failed Sadiq's pledge is to end it by 2030 - promised during his election-winning campaign last year - but promised against statistics that show the problem is actually on the 2017/18 - a year after he took over at City Hall - there were around 7,500 rough sleepers annually, prompting the mayor to say a year later that he was "embarrassed and angry" that so many were on the rising to a then-high of 11,018 in 2020/21, numbers did they have been on the rise for the past two years - and last year reached an all-time high of 11, at a time when funding on rough sleepers initiatives has gone up from around £8m to around £ a deadline and targets will certainly focus minds on the issue, but rough sleeping is probably just the most visible sign of London's homelessness week, London's major housing associations told BBC London they're building 66% fewer affordable homes than they were two years ago - blaming high prices, tougher building regulations and the high cost of maintaining their current homes. A day later the government and the mayor agreed a 22% drop in the target for affordable home building in the mayor's focus will be on trying to prevent people ending up on the streets in the first place - but he will know delivering many more homes will also be a key part of any sustainable future plan.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Yahoo
Kern County ranks 1st in California for Prop 36 case filings, voter support: report
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A new report found Kern County ranked first in the state for the rate of cases filed under Proposition 36 as well as voter approval of the new law, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. According to the report, Kern County prosecutors file 24 cases per 100,000 residents, making Kern the county with the highest rate of felony filings using Proposition 36. The county with the next highest rate is Orange County with 18 cases filed per 100,000 residents. Sixty-eight percent of the felony cases filed under Proposition 36 in Kern County were for drug-related offenses, the report said. Kern County also had the highest percentage of voter support for the new law at 77%. PetSmart thief found guilty in first prop 36 trial conviction in Kern County The report says voter approval of Proposition 36 within each county doesn't necessarily correlate with the number of case filings. For instance, Fresno had the third highest share of voter approval for Proposition 36 at 75%, but only files about two cases per 100,000 residents. Kern County was highest both in the percentage of voter support and filing rate, according to the data. According to a survey by California's Judicial Council of the courts conducted in the second half of February and covering most counties, prosecutors have filed about 1,500 theft and 1,900 drug cases, the report said. Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer said in a press release the District Attorney's office was able to prosecute repeat offenders more effectively due to Proposition 36. Prop 36 now in effect, stiffens penalties for 'smash and grab' crimes and drug offenses 'We were out there speaking with residents one-on-one, and their message was clear: they want their communities back,' Zimmer said. 'We will not let them down. This study reflects the results of our collective effort and the community's trust in our office.' Proposition 36, also known as the Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act, is a state law that went into effect in December. The law aims to increase penalties for certain crimes by reclassifying them as a felony rather than a misdemeanor. It also added fentanyl to the list of controlled substances that would warrant stricter punishments. Under Proposition 36, California residents can be charged with a felony if they have two or more prior convictions related to retail theft or drug possession. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBC
27-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
London's HART Hub won't open April 1, operators awaiting provincial funding
The opening of a provincial Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub in London, initially slated for next week, has been delayed as its operators say they're still ironing out the final details with the Ontario government. Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced in London on Jan. 27, that 18 new HART Hubs would open across the province by Apr. 1, including a London location operated by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Thames Valley. However, a CMHA Thames Valley spokesperson said the organization doesn't have a clear timeline for when the province will release funding for the hub and when the facility will open. "The Ontario Government did announce the intended open dates were Apr. 1, but with the [provincial] election having been called, there is no movement on that until they're sitting again, which is later in April," Jillian Driessen wrote in an email to CBC News. "We are hoping to get a more clear timeline on when funding will be released. For now, we are working on the preparations we can and will be opening as soon as possible, but we are waiting on direction from the Ministry." Premier Doug Ford called a snap election two days after the announcement on Jan. 29. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said the government is working with the 18 HART Hubs partners on their operational budgets, adding that funding that's already been earmarked for projects is not impacted by when the legislature resumes on Apr. 14. "Our government is continuing to work with the remaining HART Hubs to bring new, safe, and comprehensive mental health, social, and addiction services, as well as supportive housing units, to 18 communities across the province, as soon as possible," said Hannah Jensen. Jensen said the nine transitioning HART Hubs, which were former supervised drug injection sites, will open as planned on Apr. 1. The province ordered those sites to close by Mar. 31 as they were within 200 metres of schools and daycares. London's supervised injection sites did not fall within that perimeter, and CMHA Thames Valley was awarded approximately $6 million per year to open a new hub after applying for it in September. Last month, the organization's vice president, Dean Astolfi said the hub will operate out of the Salvation Army's Centre of Hope in downtown London, and 33 new beds will be available right away, with the goal of having 60 beds total. "We're getting the 33 off the ground right away and quickly turning over the other beds through the recovery centre that exists at Salvation Army," Astolfi said in February. An additional 60 supportive housing units will also be created in the first year, officials said. Existing facilities at the Centre of Hope, which already operates an emergency shelter, warm meals, withdrawal management and recovery support, will be used to help people who need help with their mental health and substance use disorders. The province is spending $529 million for the 27 HART Hubs across Ontario.
CBC
12-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
Funding delay means Guelph HART Hub won't be fully operational on time
CTS sites will be replaced by HART Hubs by next month 2 hours ago Duration 1:50 There are only about twenty days left until nine consumption and treatment services (CTS) locations are set to close across Ontario, including one in Kitchener and one in Guelph. Those facilities will be replaced by Homelessness and Addictions Recovery Treatment — or HART — Hubs. Melissa Kwiatkowski is the CEO of the Guelph Community Health Centre, which is the home of the new HART Hub in Guelph. She spoke to CBC's Aastha Shetty about winding down CTS services in the city. As the consumption and treatment services (CTS) site winds down in Guelph, the service set to replace it will not be fully operational in time. Instead, the Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub will only offer a portion of its services, while the new and more pricey services like crisis and withdrawal recovery beds and supportive housing units will be placed on hold. Melissa Kwiatkowski is the CEO of Guelph Community Health Centre (GCHC), the organization who will run the HART Hub. She said the delay is because the provincial government still hasn't sent a funding agreement. "I know how much we asked for, but we don't know how much we're getting," she said in an Interview with CBC News. "We can't spend money we don't have." While Guelph's HART Hub will still provide wrap-around health and support services starting April 1, Kwiatkowski said, "the delay in getting confirmation of funding definitely impacts our timing on when we can have services up and running." In an email to CBC News, Ontario's Ministry of Health said they continue to work with HART Hub partners to collect information for their multi-year budgets. "The first round of funding has been approved by the Ministry and will be received by the sites early next week," the email said. The Ontario government is investing $378 million to create a total of 19 hubs across the province. By March 31, it's expected that there will be nine HART hubs, located in Guelph, Hamilton, Thunder Bay, Ottawa, Kitchener and four in Toronto. Transition away from supervised consumption HART Hubs are replacements for any CTS site in Ontario located within 200 metres of a school or daycare, as mandated by the provincial government last year. The main difference between the two services is that while CTS provides a space for clients to bring and use outside drugs while under supervision by health and support professionals, HART Hubs prohibit the use of drugs. Instead, HART Hubs provide beds for people in crisis or experiencing withdrawal as well as supportive housing units. Kwiatkowski said these new services are a welcome addition and essential to the recovery process, but "HART Hub services are not a replacement for supervised consumption." "We need to be adding more services to the care continuum, not taking them away," she said, adding that "for many people, supervised consumption services are a very, very low barrier entry point into the broader system of more health supports." Through the CTS location Kwiatkowski's GCHC has operated over the past five years, and she said more than 1,000 people have been connected to primary care. "Those people wouldn't have gotten access to primary care if they hadn't come through CTS," she said. "That door is going to be closing for people." To account for the transition from CTS to the HART Hub model at the downtown Guelph GCHC, supervised consumption hours are being slowly reduced for the remainder of the month. Kwiatkowski said she's telling clients about the change in service, but if they show up on April 1 they can expect to see the same staff present, even if all the same services aren't being offered. HART Hub in Kitchener In an email to CBC News, Community Healthcaring Kitchener-Waterloo, operators of Kitchener's future HART Hub location, CEO Tara Groves-Taylor said they're in communication with the Ministry of Health and expect to receive their funding agreement shortly. "The HART Hub of Waterloo Region will open April 1, 2025, with scaled services available, and will transition to the full model of Hart Hub programs and services over several months," said Groves-Taylor.
CBC
12-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
CTS sites will be replaced by HART Hubs by next month
There are only about twenty days left until nine consumption and treatment services (CTS) locations are set to close across Ontario, including one in Kitchener and one in Guelph. Those facilities will be replaced by Homelessness and Addictions Recovery Treatment — or HART — Hubs. Melissa Kwiatkowski is the CEO of the Guelph Community Health Centre, which is the home of the new HART Hub in Guelph. She spoke to CBC's Aastha Shetty about winding down CTS services in the city.
