Chatham-Kent has developed some protocols to deal with homeless encampments.
Director of Employment and Social Services Polly Smith will present her report to Council on Monday night.
Smith said the protocols will not eliminate encampments, but they will ensure that the rights of all Chatham-Kent residents are respected and will prevent further harm to those who are unhoused across the municipality.
She noted a public awareness campaign will take place after Council's approval of the protocols to create an understanding of the steps and timelines.
Smith said homelessness and visible encampments have increased in Chatham-Kent in recent years along with calls to police and municipal staff to move them, while at the same time, available shelter beds and motel rooms have decreased. Smith said solutions for local unhoused residents have decreased because of that.
She noted administration recognized that a new approach was needed to balance the rights of the unhoused residents and those of nearby neighbours and businesses and a committee was formed to create the protocols on both municipally owned property and private property.
"The need for a consistent, coordinated approach to addressing encampments was recognized by Administration," said Smith. "The Encampment Committee looked at a variety of real-life scenarios and tested the protocols from the lens of each committee member’s area before coming to consensus."
Legal precedents set through court cases regarding encampments on municipal land in Waterloo and Kingston were identified and used to inform the protocol, according to Smith.
She said the protocols focus on the human rights of unhoused residents of Chatham-Kent which often take priority over bylaws or other legislation.
Smith said the protocols are intended to do the following:
- Ensure equitable and consistent treatment of people living in encampments;
- Assist unhoused people with housing, safety and basic needs;
- Keep public areas available and intact for their intended use;
- Be open and transparent with municipal residents and businesses;
- Provide an option for sympathetic private/non-municipal land-owners.
Smith's report stated that while private landowners have the right to have people vacate their property if desired or necessary by law, the municipality is aware that many property owners wish to do so in a way that offers emergency housing assistance or other needed services to individuals on their property.
Click here for more information on Protocol for Responding to Encampments on Privately Owned Land.
The removal of encampments from municipally owned land, regardless of whether there is a bylaw that restricts that type of activity on the space, may not be possible without ensuring there is adequate shelter space for the people living in the encampment.
"Removal of an encampment must be a last resort," said Smith. "It can have serious consequences on the wellness of the person living in the encampment and be traumatizing. It can make it much more difficult to assist the person affected by the closure by eroding trust or resulting in the person retreating further to locations that make it more difficult to be found and assisted by social service professionals. This does not mean that encampments on municipally owned property can never be moved. It means that care must be taken when assessing what the residents in the encampment require to move, and if a move is reasonable."
Smith emphasized there will be times when an encampment cannot be forcibly moved due to legal reasons.
For more information on Protocol for Responding to Encampments on Municipally Owned Land click here.
Overview of Processes Related to Encampments on Privately versus Municipally Owned Land can be found here.