It’s going to be another busy meeting of the Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee as they look at the present, near-future and a post-safe consumption site future in Guelph next spring. What’s in a HART Hub? You will find out at this meeting, and you will also get updates about the Delhi housing project, childcare fees for next year, and 2024 budget actuals, plus advocacy for what the County wants to do next on some big issues.
NOTE: This meeting takes place at 1 pm in the Guthrie Room at the Wellington County Administration Building on Woolwich Street.
DELEGATION:
Guelph Community Health Centre executive director Melissa Kwiatkowski will present the Guelph application for a HART Hub, the proposed replaced for the Consumption and Treatment Site downtown, which has to be submitted to the Ontario government on October 18. The goal of the Guelph HART Hub will be to support people who are medically complex and cycling through crisis to that their mental health, physical health and substance use issues all get treatment, and then, once stabilised, they can be connected to the next level of support.
65 Delhi St. Transitional Housing Construction Project – In this latest update, we see that installation of electrical services and the elevator has begun, drywall installation is ongoing, and the metal wall panel installation is complete. Coming up in the next month work should be done on the concrete curbs and sidewalks, and so should the elevator and waterman installation. The restoration of the two porches should also be complete, which means that the project is still on track to be finished before the end of the year.
Financial Statements and Variance Projections as of September 30, 2024 – As we approach the end of the year, there’s now a pretty clear idea of how the financials have shaken out in 2024. While Ontario Works is seeing a higher caseload, it will not have an impact on the bottom line since that’s funded through the Province. Similarly, childcare looks to be on track for the year-end actuals, with perhaps even a small positive variance. As for social services, the County is projecting a $135,000 negative variance, and this in spite of finding $500,000 in savings. Much of the extra funds were chewed up with the establishment of the new Norfolk Temporary Accommodation site, but there also been additional staffing needs and the extra costs from the winter shelter reposes plan, though staff are hoping the feds might come through with extra funding there.
Children’s Early Years 2025 User Fees and Charges – New childcare fees will go into effect on January 1, and while many rates are remaining unchanged, all the ones that are changed are going down. You can see the list of 2025 user fees and charges here.
Impact from Closure of Guelph Consumption and Treatment Services Site – As requested at last month’s meeting, the City of Guelph put together a report about the potential impact of the CTS closure on paramedic services. According to numbers provided by Community Health, the CTS has reverse 311 drug poisonings on site, only 12 of which ended up in a trip to the hospital, which has resulted in zero fatalities. In terms of what the impacts will look like after the CTS closes next year, the report says it’s too soon to know.
The Value of Licensed Child Care – This report outlines the important role that childcare plays in the social and economic life of Guelph and Wellington County, and some of the issues people have in being able to access it. The report outlines how childcare supports the health, well-being and development of children; supporting economic development; and how to address the growing need for affordable licensed childcare.
Social Housing Stock and the Centralized Waiting List – “Historic growth” is the term used to describe the length of the centralized wait list, which was hovering around 2,000 in 2019 and then hit a high of 3,369 in mid-2022 before dipping slightly to 3,295 in the second quarter of this year. Nearly 500 new units have been developed since 2005, but that’s clearly just a drop in the bucket as just over 2,300 total units are now available, and a lot of those are one-bedroom units. More housing, and a broader variety of housing types, is needed, and to tackle that issue County staff are planning another Affordable Housing Development Workshop, and are developing a new Expression of Interest to solicit proposals.
Inadequate Ontario Works Assistant Rates – Also discussed last month were the inadequacies of social assistance rates, especially Ontario Works. This report outlines how even though Ontario has the second highest cost of living in Canada, it has one of the lowest rates of social assistance income. The report also includes information about the County’s delegation at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference and the intention to keep up the pressure with the Government of Ontario.
Correspondence from the City of Guelph dated September 24, 2024 – Like with all local boards and shared services, Wellington County has received this memo to request that the overall budget increase for 2025 be limited to four per cent as per the mayoral directive given to City of Guelph staff earlier this year.
Guelph Politico 