{"id":17263,"date":"2020-12-08T16:16:42","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T21:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hsjcc.on.ca\/?page_id=17263"},"modified":"2020-12-18T10:04:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T15:04:16","slug":"housing-and-justice-report","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/hsjcc.on.ca\/housing-and-justice-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Housing and Justice Report"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
Improving supportive housing for justice-involved individuals with mental health and addiction issues<\/p>
Read the full housing and justice report<\/a><\/span><\/p> Download the summary of key themes and recommendations<\/a><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t A new report by Ontario\u2019s leading experts on housing, justice, and mental health and addictions has outlined how existing supportive housing could more effectively meet the needs of justice-involved individuals and reduce strain on the health and justice systems.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p> \u00a0<\/span>The Provincial Human Services and Justice Coordinating Committee (P-HSJCC)\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Housing and justice report: Improving supportive housing for justice-involved individuals with mental health and addiction issues<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>recaps key themes that emerged from a<\/span>\u00a0provincial housing and justice forum\u00a0<\/span>in February 2020 and makes six recommendations for immediate action to improve access, service delivery and provincial ministry-level policy related to supportive housing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p> During the February forum<\/a>, human services, housing and justice leaders and individuals with lived experience identified six core areas of need in the system, including: available and accessible core services; increased communication, co-operation and collaboration among the sectors; continuity of care\/consistent discharge planning; increased education and training for service providers; increased access to legal support services for justice-involved individuals; and increased housing supply.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t COVI<\/span>D-19 has<\/span>\u00a0since\u00a0<\/span>underscored these issues.\u00a0<\/span>To limit spread in correctional institutions, many non-violent individuals<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>have been released from custody, but often<\/span>\u00a0without plans or the necessary tools<\/span>\u00a0in place<\/span>\u00a0to support their reintegration<\/span>\u00a0to society<\/span>. A lack of discharge plans, especially for those on remand, is putting\u00a0<\/span>these individuals<\/span>\u00a0at additional risk\u00a0<\/span>of<\/span>\u00a0negative outcomes.<\/span>\u00a0This has\u00a0<\/span>put considerable strain on mental health and addictions, justice and housing\u00a0<\/span>supports<\/span>\u00a0in communities across the province with correctional institutions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p> \u00a0<\/span>\u201cThe P-HSJCC as well as local and regional HSJCCs across Ontario urge the province to take immediate, targeted steps to ensure justice-involved individuals with mental health and addictions issues have access to safe, affordable and stable housing wherever they\u2019re being discharged,\u201d said P-HSJCC co-chair Sara Dias. \u201cWithout long-term solutions, lack of investments in supportive housing for justice-involved individuals will continue to overburden the health care and justice systems, place strain on community service providers and will lead to a continued cycle of justice involvement rates and negative outcomes for these populations.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t \u00a0The housing and justice report outlines three recommendations to improve service delivery:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> Additionally, the report makes three\u00a0provincial\u00a0policy recommendations:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> \u00a0<\/span>\u201cRelease-from-custody planning, supportive housing and case management set people up for a second chance,\u201d said\u00a0<\/span>Trevor\u00a0<\/span>Tymchuk<\/span>, who has lived experience of justice involvement in\u00a0<\/span>Toronto<\/span>. \u201cOnce you\u2019ve been in the criminal justice system, it\u2019s really hard to get back on your feet. Without these supports, it\u2019s too common for\u00a0<\/span>people in my situation<\/span>\u00a0to needlessly cycle in and out of the system. Ensuring supports are in place upon discharge gives people hope and a shot at success.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p> \u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe are challenged at the best of times to find housing for individuals with dual diagnosis who have come into conflict with the justice system as they often don\u2019t fit in well with traditional developmental service housing models,\u201d said Lisa Holmes, manager, Community Network of Specialized Care,\u00a0<\/span>Ongwanada<\/span>. \u201cAt the same time, they require more support than either mental health or justice-focused housing programs can offer. The lack of housing for individuals with such complex needs means they often end up homeless or inappropriately housed where they are extremely vulnerable to being victimized or getting further involved with criminal activity or substance misuse.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t Closed Quarters:\u00a0<\/a>Challenges and Opportunities in Stabilizing Housing and Mental Health Across the Justice Sector<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t Promising Practices: 12 Case Studies in Supportive Housing for People with Mental Health and Addiction Issues<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t Older Adults and the Justice System: A navigational guidebook for caregivers and service providers<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Provincial HSJCC Housing and Justice Report Improving supportive housing for justice-involved individuals with mental health and addiction issues Read the full housing and justice report Download the summary of key … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hsjcc.on.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hsjcc.on.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hsjcc.on.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hsjcc.on.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hsjcc.on.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hsjcc.on.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hsjcc.on.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}About the housing and justice report<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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