Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you. My name is Alyson Smith. I'm the Homeless Outreach and Supportive Housing Coordinator for the Vancouver Police Department. I took a look at the statistics that we have in Vancouver in terms of our homeless veterans. It's a count that we do every year in March. It look

Veterans Affairs committee  I've been in this position for about two and a half years.

Veterans Affairs committee  It's actually a count that's conducted by the city. Police are not involved in it. It's a count that's done within the metro Vancouver area every three years, and then Vancouver itself does a count every year. I'm not sure why they do it in March, but they do count people who a

Veterans Affairs committee  I think my role is one of relationships and partnerships. I conduct outreach every day. I'm out talking to our homeless population and trying to connect them to certain services. I'm a connection between those services and the police, in terms of just being a good contact and a g

Veterans Affairs committee  Certainly we do get life stories from people, and once you build that trust with them, it's a lot easier to be able to have those conversations. I am connected quite well with at least our city outreach teams, which certainly have the connections to things like welfare and housin

Veterans Affairs committee  I have. I've noticed a few really large posters at bus stops.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. That's a really interesting point. I think maybe a barrier we have had is not wanting to identify as a veteran, but I hear what you're saying in maybe wording it as “Have you served?” I think that's a great idea.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, the mental health aspect is large. We're certainly dealing with that here in Vancouver, and I'm sure across the country. It's always great to have as much information as you possibly can about the people you're dealing with to be able to have conversations with them or mayb

Veterans Affairs committee  I absolutely do. I am not a veteran myself, but certainly in the police culture we have a certain way of speaking to each other. If that's what you mean, I do think it would be helpful and useful to be able to have that type of conversation.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, I think that's a really interesting point, having a case manager, potentially, who has a military background. I can only speak from a police perspective, but there are certain things that you would say to the public and there are certain things that you would say to a colle

Veterans Affairs committee  Absolutely.

Veterans Affairs committee  At our last count it was 8%. Again, that's self-identified.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's a great question. I don't know.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think it's probably the trauma, the things they've seen and the things they've dealt with. I think that's quite different from our general population.