How Toronto Could Save over $100 Million Yearly
July 23, 2011 - 9:19pm
Subject: PRESS CONFERENCE: Modest Proposal to Save Toronto $100 Million annually
Feedback to Mayor Ford: a Modest Proposal It is proposed that the City of Toronto could save a minimum of $100 million if it assisted homeless individuals with mental health and addictions to secure Ontario Disability Support Benefits (ODSP) and housing, while injecting $18 million annually directly to the City economy. This is calculated from the Toronto City budget for the shelters and OW. The community and the media are invited to an information session where the proposal will be explained. WHEN: July 27, 2011, 11 AM WHERE 1499 Queen Street West , The Parkdale Activity and Information Centre For further information contact either Victor Willis at 416 537 2262 , vwillis@parc.on.ca or Sarah Shartal 416 657 1465 sshartal@roachschwartz.com
Good topic but could the hall monitors move this to a centre of the universe forum instead of national news.
I aslo could not get it posted as an event
I hate the new system for posts I can often not figure out how to get them into the right forum. An extremely convoluted program IMO
This important event should be where it can be seen and not skipped over in a national forum.
THis is a summary article about the proposal
A Modest Proposal: How the City Could Save $100 million
The staggeringly simplistic nature of the KPMG report is an example of the simplistic approach to Toronto's budget championed by Mayor Ford. Although this report to review core services it only analyzes cuts. It neglects to consider if money could be saved by changing how programs operate.
One example of this kind of savings is found in examining the expensive services of Toronto's shelter system and the City’s costs for Ontario Works. (OW)
Emergency shelters were intended to provide emergency housing for residents in crisis. However they have turned into long-term housing for very troubled people with mental health and addiction disabilities. It is well documented that 80% of Toronto's shelter beds are occupied by 20% of shelter residents, the long-term homeless. Many live in the shelters for over a decade. We warehouse them.
The long-term homeless are also on OW for years. They account for approximately 30% of Toronto’s OW caseload. There are at least 1500 individuals covered by these programs.
The majority of these individuals are troubled and chaotic and clearly unable and unsafe to work. Most are also eligible for help from the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). ODSP is paid by Ontario.
However the ODSP application process is complicated. These are individuals who live with serious chaos that limit their ability to think and remember clearly. As a result they are unable to fill in the ODSP application forms without significant help.
City reports that the per night cost for a shelter bed is approximately $73. The Province pays $40 and the City pays the difference. There are approximately 1.5 million shelter beds per year. OW’s operating budget is over $200 million and it is paid by Toronto.
Added together Toronto pays over $100 million to warehouse seriously disabled people. This is the most expensive way to keep them from sleeping on the streets. We can do better.
If the City helped these individual gets ODSP, find housing and help them stay housed with social work support the City would save these costs. At the same time ODSP benefits for 1500 people would bring an additional $18 million into the City's economy and these individuals’ lives would dramatically improve.
In addition the Police would save money if these same individuals had benefits and housing because people with addresses are easier to find. The police would not have to waste officer time searching or them. In addition instead of arresting people for behaving badly in public spaces they could take them home.
Every time someone is arrested they are taken to the Police Division, processed, hel , and driven the Court. If there is a trial the officer has to attend court. This is labour intensive. It is cheaper to drive people home. Thus policing expenditures would go down.
The City already has successful programs like Streets to Homes and the Homelessness to ODSP Project Engagement (HOPE) that help homeless people secure ODSP and housing. These should be expanded and mandated to work with the long-term homeless shelter system. If the City really wants to save money it should aggressively help get people out and stay out of the shelter system.
If the City is serious about lower budgets it should look that where money is wasted on ineffective programs before it cuts libraries, parks and police officers
KPMG missed this one!