In partnership with the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance, CMHA BC Division initiated a year-long pilot project (June 2006 to July 2007) to deliver outreach services at eight core locations around the province:
- Kamloops
- Kelowna
- New Westminster and Maple Ridge
- North Shore
- Squamish
- Port Alberni
- Williams Lake
- 100 Mile House
Outreach services were delivered through CMHA branches in the fore-mentioned communities and in partnership with local community services where relevant.
View press releases from December 2006 and September 2006 for more information on the project background.
Project Goal & Objectives
Goal
To assist homeless individuals to access long-term solutions to address their state of homelessness including access to housing, a stable source of income, and other support services.
Objectives
- To engage with homeless individuals
- To assist homeless individuals who are not on income assistance to access income supports
- To assist homeless individuals to secure and maintain housing
- To connect homeless individuals with health, lifeskills, and other support services as appropriate
- To create a profile of homeless populations in 'less urban' communities
In addition to outreach services, the project had a strong focus on centralized support, research, and external evaluation to learn more about homelessness and best practices in the delivery of outreach services in 'less urban' contexts.
A variety of research and evaluation activities were undertaken:
We've summarized all the lessons learned from these activities into an easy to read 4-page project highlight report (315Kb).
- External evaluation (1.84Mb) by CitySpaces Consulting Ltd., consisting of an in-depth client database, interviews with outreach workers, outreach project coordinator and site visits.
- Key informant interviews with 92 individuals in 27 small communities throughout the province on the numbers and needs of homeless individuals (with funding from the Ministry of Health) -Coming Soon-
- Exploratory interviews with 21 outreach clients and landlord/property managers that housed outreach clients to learn about pathways into and out of homelessness in small BC communities (300Kb) and get clients' perspective on best practices in outreach approach.
- Community Impact Survey (799Kb) to gauge the broader community impact of the outreach project completed by 60 staff members at relevant MEIA offices, community agencies, and MLA constituency offices.
- Compilation of information from interviews with outreach workers, outreach clients, and community impact survey on Best Practice in Outreach Approach (719Kb).
- Evaluation of the central coordination role completed by 11 outreach workers and/or CMHA Branch Executive Directors.