Thank you.
Evidence of meeting #101 for Veterans Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was homelessness.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #101 for Veterans Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was homelessness.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Karen Ludwig New Brunswick Southwest, Lib.
Thank you.
Thank you both for your testimony today.
I'm going to start with Dr. Segaert.
I'm looking at your research. You're a Ph.D. grad from McMaster. Did you always have an interest in veterans or in homelessness, or both?
As an Individual
It was more with homelessness. The veterans issue came up.... What actually happened was that once we started collecting the information on veterans, I thought we had better start doing something with it. We came out with that report. It became public around Christmastime in 2016, I believe it was.
I did not have a specific interest in veterans. Homelessness, yes, I had been interested in poverty issues and homelessness in the past, just because I had known some people who were on the streets.
New Brunswick Southwest, Lib.
Thank you.
Would you consider your data collection methodology something you would recommend? We have 200 agencies falling within the interactive map. Would your method of data collection be something you would recommend for those who are dealing with homelessness, so that we could start tracking with the same methodology across the country?
As an Individual
It is the government's methodology, actually. I developed the methodology for the federal government. I was a public servant for almost nine years working on this. HIFIS, the software I mentioned, is produced by the federal government, and it is deployed in about half the shelters in Canada. I think that in the coming years there will probably be a little more uptake as well. The goal is, obviously, to get everybody on the same system.
I want to note, though, that it doesn't track individuals. It's anonymous information. It's more on demographics and usage patterns, but I think it's a good method, for sure.
New Brunswick Southwest, Lib.
Thank you.
Mr. Stanfield, thank you very much for all the work you're doing. It's amazing that it's being done by so many kind and caring volunteers in communities.
Have you applied directly to the veterans wellness fund?
Chairman, Cockrell House, South Mid-Vancouver Island Veterans Housing Society
No, we haven't.
New Brunswick Southwest, Lib.
That funding will be available in the new year. We can get you information after this meeting on it.
Chairman, Cockrell House, South Mid-Vancouver Island Veterans Housing Society
Excellent. I just heard about it the other day, to be honest.
New Brunswick Southwest, Lib.
In terms of getting information to you, were you aware of all of the new services that are now available—the pension for life, the re-opening of nine veterans' offices, the joint suicide prevention strategy, the veterans emergency fund, the career transition services program, the education and training benefit, as well as a medical tax credit for psychiatric service dogs, and the Centre of Excellence on PTSD? I can give you the list.
Chairman, Cockrell House, South Mid-Vancouver Island Veterans Housing Society
Yes, I have heard of them all. We've had some interaction on some of them.
You mentioned the emergency fund that came out a while ago. That has helped immensely. We will get a veteran who is in need of a place such as ours, and we're full. With the work we've done with the caseworkers back and forth, now we will just ask whether they can put him up in a hotel for a month: “Give us one month and we should be able to have a room.” That has really helped in two or three cases.
New Brunswick Southwest, Lib.
Thank you for that.
My colleague asked you some questions about the mental health side. One message I heard clearly from you, Mr. Stanfield, concerned veterans wanting to reconnect with their families. Within the capacity of the house you're operating, are you able to offer this, or who are the partners you're working with who could help make that transition more successful?
Chairman, Cockrell House, South Mid-Vancouver Island Veterans Housing Society
We can't offer it. It would be great, but we can't. Even the female veterans we come across we have to keep segregated.
I wish the house we have were entirely one-bedroom units, but it isn't. Most are two-bedroom units, so you share a washroom and the kitchen. We won't put a female in with a male. It has been interesting that every single one of the women will say it's not a problem: “We've served with guys; we know all about it.” I can tell you, however, that we're not going to do it.
New Brunswick Southwest, Lib.
Dr. Segaert said that 50% of vets under the age of 25 are females. Do you find the same ratio in your house?
As well, is it women or men who tend to stay longer?
Chairman, Cockrell House, South Mid-Vancouver Island Veterans Housing Society
That's an interesting question. We haven't run across the young ones whom Dr. Segaert talked about. We just haven't run across them yet. As far as those we have are concerned, although I never thought about it before, I would have to say that they probably stay a little longer.
Chairman, Cockrell House, South Mid-Vancouver Island Veterans Housing Society
No. We can't have that. No.
Liberal
Bob Bratina Liberal Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
Thank you.
Dr. Segaert, could you quickly explain how the information gets in during the data collection.
As an Individual
HIFIS is like a booking software that is installed at shelters. When someone comes to a shelter and is booked in, their name, date of birth and some information such as veteran status, indigenous status or citizenship is put into the computer.
Every quarter, each of the shelters using HIFIS uploads a small sample of this data to the federal government, where it sits with ESDC currently. We use that database to do research on such things as chronic homelessness, the number of people using shelters each year, stay lengths, patterns of shelter stays, demographic trends, things like that.
Liberal
Bob Bratina Liberal Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
Is it something you think can be continually improved and enhanced, or is it pretty much working?
As an Individual
It's always being improved and enhanced. There are updates to the software regularly. New features are added: case management, things that make it useful for the shelters, that kind of stuff. It's an ongoing thing.
Liberal
Bob Bratina Liberal Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
I know there are shortcomings, but if you can't measure it, it's really hard to deal with....
