Four-member squad could rise to five
Staff at the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit increasingly find themselves making house calls on the homeless.
The health unit’s homelessness response team currently numbers four. If the province is amenable to the idea, the health unit would like to add a fifth this year by way of a public health nurse.
This week, Heidy VanDyk, Norfolk and Haldimand general manager of health and social services, said the health unit’s homelessness outreach team is skilled in matching the homeless with available resources, whether that be emergency shelter, income-support referrals or permanent social housing.
However, VanDyk said the team could use a member with expertise in the area of health care.
If the Ministry of Health likes the idea, the health unit will receive $124,200 in 2022 for the nurse as part of a pilot program. The Norfolk and Haldimand board of health approved the request at its monthly meeting Tuesday.
“People fall through the cracks,” said Langton Coun. Linda Vandendriessche, a member of the board of health. “You have to hunt them out. We have a large area to work with in Haldimand and Norfolk. You look at the parameters of our counties – it’s a big area, a big zone.
“We don’t want to miss people. They are not going to engage with you. You’re going to have to hunt them out. I hope the program is set up so we can do that kind of searching and find these people who really require this service.”
The problem of homelessness has become a top-of-mind issue for local officials during two years of pandemic crisis management.
The board of health has heard that pandemic lockdowns have aggravated problems with substance abuse, which in turn have made homelessness an increasingly visible problem in Norfolk and Haldimand and many urban centers across southern Ontario.
“When you can bring these services to people who need it, you get the best results,” Waterford Coun. Kim Huffman, a member of the board of health, said.
Word of the pilot program was contained in the annual budget the counties’ health and social services division submits to provincial authorities for approval.
The 2022 submission represents a return to normal service delivery in Norfolk and Haldimand after two years of COVID-19. Many of the programs at issue were suspended while dozens of staff members focused on controlling the spread of the coronavirus in the local area.
The budget submission approved Tuesday totals $11.6 million. If approved unchanged, the Ministry of Health would fund $7.7 million of this while the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services would fund $892,100.
COVID-19 remains a concern even if the health unit and the health and social services division return to standard service delivery. Funding requested for COVID-19 management has been pegged at $4.5 million — $1.8 million of which is for the ongoing delivery of COVID-19 vaccines and boosters.
The draft budget approved this week calls on Norfolk County to provide $1.7 million in funding while Haldimand County’s share has been set at $1.16 million.
Norfolk council serves as the board of health for both counties due to Norfolk’s larger population.