Item - 2022.CC47.2

City Council on July 19, 20, 21 and 22, 2022, adopted the following:  

1. City Council accept the Interim Report from Ombudsman Toronto and direct the City to implement the Report's recommendations.

Ombudsman Toronto's Recommendations:

1. The City should immediately develop a detailed plan outlining how it will update the Interdepartmental Service Protocol for Homeless People Camping in Public Spaces (IDP). This plan should include project milestones and timelines for when it will complete the update to the IDP.

2. The City should commit adequate staff resources to ensure the timely completion of the update to the IDP.

3. As part of its plan to update the IDP, the City should hold public consultations to receive feedback from the community. Groups that the City should consult with include people with lived experiences in encampments, community organizations that provide services to people who are unhoused, and internal and external stakeholders working in the fields of housing and human rights. The City should ensure that the feedback received informs its update to the IDP.

4. To promote transparency and public confidence, the City should make public detailed summaries of the feedback received from the consultations on the update to the IDP.

5. The City should immediately define the role and mandate of the Encampment Office, including clearly outlining its responsibilities as part of the City’s response to encampments, and how these responsibilities relate to the work of other City services involved in responding to encampments. Information about the role and mandate of the Encampment Office should be included in the City’s public communications about its response to encampments.

 
6. As part of defining the role and mandate of the Encampment Office, the City should assess the resource and expertise needs of the Encampment Office to ensure it can effectively carry out its duties.

7. As part of defining the role and mandate of the Encampment Office, the City should consider whether the office should continue to reside with the Office of Emergency Management.

8. The City should give Ombudsman Toronto an update on the status of its implementation of these recommendations by the end of 2022, and then quarterly updates thereafter.

2. City Council direct the City Manager to take any funding or staffing changes necessary to fulfill the recommendations in the Ombudsman Toronto Interim Report Investigation into the City's Process for Clearing Encampments in 2021 and to report back to City Council in the new term on progress to achieve each of the recommendations.

3. City Council direct the General Manager, Shelter Support and Housing Administration and the Encampment Office to further develop and implement the support model piloted at Dufferin Grove, focusing on bringing comprehensive social and health service supports directly to encamped individuals through the development of the Interdepartmental Service Protocol for Homeless People Camping in Public Spaces, including:

a. housing workers;

b. identification workers;

c. income support workers;

d. primary health care, mental health and harm reduction supports;

e. Indigenous specific supports;

f. supports to help people reunite with their families or support in returning home to a community outside of Toronto; and

g. other populations specific supports depending on the circumstances which may include youth workers, support for refugees and supports for other racialized communities.