Government of Canada helps secure community resources to better understand local homeless population

WINNIPEG, April 6, 2016 /CNW/ - The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families Children and Social Development, and Terry Duguid, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister Duclos and Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South, today announced that the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation and the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, are receiving more than $167,500 in funding from the Homelessness Partnering Strategy's (HPS) National Homelessness Information Systems (NHIS) funding stream for their respective projects. These projects will help them better understand and address homelessness in their communities. The event took place at the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg.

The Government of Canada recognizes the pressing need to prevent and reduce homelessness in Canada. Budget 2016 delivers on the Government's agenda to empower all Canadians to build better lives for themselves and to enable them to contribute to, and share in, the prosperity of the country. By supporting projects that facilitate the gathering of data using the Homeless Individuals and Families Information System (HIFIS) software, the Government is helping to ensure that Canadian communities have the tools and capacity to provide information that increases their knowledge and understanding of local homelessness issues.

The Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation's project, HIFIS Community Coordinator – Brandon, will provide training, technical support and assistance in data analysis activities to emergency shelters and other homeless support service agencies that use HIFIS in Brandon. The Social Planning Council of Winnipeg's project, HIFIS Community Coordinator – Winnipeg, will undertake similar initiatives for those using  HIFIS in Winnipeg.

QUICK FACTS

• Budget 2016 delivers on the Government's agenda to empower all Canadians to build better lives for themselves and to enable them to contribute to and share in the prosperity of the country.
• Budget 2016 proposes to invest an additional $111.8 million over two years, starting in 2016–17, in the Homelessness Partnering Strategy to help homeless Canadians find stable housing.
• This investment will give communities the support they need to help prevent and reduce homelessness, including Housing First activities, better emergency response services, and supports for youth, women fleeing violence, and veterans.
• Under the HPS, more than 35,000 Canadians who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless have benefited from education and training opportunities; over 34,000 have received help to find work; and nearly 6,000 new shelter beds have been created.

QUOTES

"The Government of Canada is pleased to support noteworthy projects conducted by organizations like the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation and the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg. Their collective efforts will help ensure that timely information portraying their respective homeless populations is kept current and accessible so that homelessness can be more effectively addressed."
– The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development

"I am very grateful to see organizations like the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation and the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg work with the Department to help Canadians who are homeless or at risk of facing homelessness."
– Terry Duguid, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South

"This new version of the Homeless Individual and Family Information System or HIFIS offers everyone who works with people experiencing homelessness an opportunity to better serve their clients. With client consent, we can share crucial information about individuals so they are not having to tell their stories over and over again, which can be very frustrating. Case management can be improved as everyone will be working from the same page. Most importantly though, the data gathered will give us a better picture and understanding of homelessness so we do a better job of ending it."
– Kate Kehler, Executive Director, Social Planning Council of Winnipeg

"The success of Brandon's Housing First Coalition can be directly attributed to the fact that the community has come together to form a committed network of service providers. This funding and the HIFIS database will strengthen these efforts and arm this network with the collaborative data they need to offer clients the best possible care. Standardized data collection and collaborative information-sharing continue to be a major goal for the Brandon Community Advisory Committee"
– Carly Gasparini, general manager for Brandon Project

ASSOCIATED LINKS

Homelessness Partnering Strategy
Housing First
Helping Families Prosper

Follow us on Twitter

Backgrounder

Homelessness Partnering Strategy

The Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) is a unique community-based program aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness by providing direct support and funding to 61 designated communities in all provinces and territories, as well as to Aboriginal, rural and remote communities across Canada, to help them address homelessness.

The National Homelessness Information System (NHIS)

The National Homelessness Information System (NHIS) is a federal data development initiative designed to collect and analyze baseline data related primarily to the use of emergency shelters in Canada. This funding stream supports the implementation and deployment of the Homeless Individuals and Families Information System (HIFIS) software, HIFIS training at the community level, and projects related to community shelter data coordination.

HIFIS is a federally-developed record management system designed to assist homeless sheltering facilities with their daily operations and to collect information about the population using shelters. Data collected through HIFIS and other sources, such as provincial or municipal governments, feed into the NHIS to help develop a national portrait of homelessness.

SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada

Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada ,819-994-5559, [email protected]