• In January 2019, the Coordinated and Informed Response to Encampments was created. The committee was led by Housing Services and was comprised of various municipal departments including, but not limited to, 311/211, Building and By-Law, Environmental Services, Parks, Operations and Human Resources. In addition, Windsor Police and Family Services Windsor-Essex participated on the committee.

• As a result, a protocol was created based on best practices; 311 created and implemented a service request to monitor and track the response on calls for service.

Strategy vi: Establish prevention approaches and housing solutions that respond to family needs based on evidence and sector best practices

• Through funding enhancements received from the Government of Canada’s Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy , funding was provided to Housing Information Services through Windsor Essex Housing Connections for a Housing Loss Prevention & Intervention Worker to assist moving families from shelter into housing, and work upstream to support women and families diverted from entering shelter.

Strategy vii: Research, assess and, where appropriate, implement a diversion approach

• Pre-Intake Assessments were implemented at the Welcome Centre Shelter for Women & Families and at the Salvation Army to assess and divert women, men and families from accessing emergency shelter, where appropriate.

Targets:

• By 2028, 2,800 people experiencing homelessness will be housed through Coordinated Access systems following a Housing First philosophy - 388 people were housed in 2019.

• By 2024, 50% of people experiencing chronic homelessness will be housed with appropriate supports – 48 households experiencing chronic homelessness were housed with supports. An additional 145 households experiencing chronic homelessness were housed and self-resolved their experience of homelessness.

• By 2024, the number of people experiencing chronic homelessness will be reduced by 50% - in 2019, the number of households experiencing chronic homelessness increased to 342 (45% increase from 2018).

• By 2022, additional formalized partnerships will be established with organizations serving Windsor Essex residents at risk of homelessness to work in an integrated manner to ensure those at risk of homelessness receive appropriate supports – an additional 8 Memorandums of Understanding were signed with agencies to participate on the By-Names Prioritized List.