CSD report sheds light on local social issues
By Lethbridge Herald on April 20, 2023.
A report by the City's Community Social Development department says the city doesn’t presently have sufficient social infrastructure to deal with the social problems afflicting it.
Herald photo by Al BeeberAl Beeber – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com
A report was presented to the Cultural and Social Standing Policy Committee of city council Thursday about seeing better community outcomes for the homeless.
The report was given by Andrew Malcolm, general manager of the City’s Community Social Development department.
It was an update on the present state of CSD and to provide information on social issues in the city. Another purpose was to reconnect with city council to build a common understanding to guide the next steps in dealing with homelessness in a strategic manner.
According to Malcolm’s report, Lethbridge has one of the highest child poverty rates in Canada and 30 per cent of households live on less than $49,000 per year. The average household income here is $35,000 lower than the provincial average, it notes. And the median household income of $77,883 here is lower than the provincial median average of $98,646.
The numbers of homeless have increased by 150 per cent since 2016 and substance use is rising here, it adds.
The rate of domestic violence in Lethbridge is nearly three times the provincial average while the mortality is 47 per cent higher than the Alberta average. Theft here has increased by 97 per cent over the last five years and there are increasing rates of newborns with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum disorders.
The city also has one of the fastest growing populations of homeless with substance abuse being the No. 1 cause. It also has one of the highest proportions of households “with members who have cognitive, physical, or mental disabilities in Alberta,” says the report.
The report says the top concern of residents in the 2022 community survey were social issues and safety.
While many responsibilities for social issues are the mandates of other levels of government, Malcolm’s report states that “navigating the complaints, concerns and challenges these issues present in the community remains the City’s responsibility to shoulder.”
The report says the city doesn’t presently have sufficient social infrastructure to deal with the social problems afflicting it.
“Cities dedicate significant time, effort, and money to proactively plan and build physical and institutional infrastructure 20+ years in advance, but are reactive with social infrastructure with days, weeks, or months of planning and expected implementation,” it states.
CSD intends to complete a business plan within the next three six months and wants to start the process “in alignment with city council.”
The core mandate of CSD, says the report, is the administration of funds from the provincial and federal governments.
“In addition to grant management, we address urgent social issues, such as needle debris and respond to requests from city council and Administration,” says the report noting that Lethbridge – unlike other communities – doesn’t deliver social programs or own/manage affordable and social housing.
As a result in a change to provincial Outreach Support Services Initiative funding the operational budget for CSD has been reduced to about $725,000, a cut of $420,000.
CSD staffing has also been reduced from 15 to seven.
The report says CSD has outgrown the current model/approach and “is not positioned to deliver on expectations.”
The report says last September’s Point in Time count “underscores the need for additional provisional accommodation in the form of transitional housing and treatment spaces, as well as emergency shelter shelters.”
The 2022 report showed there were 454 homeless here compared to 223 in 2018. It also showed the numbers of unsheltered people rose from seven in 2018 to 235 in 2022.
The report lists several priorities for work involving social issues. At the top of the list are encampments, followed by a sober shelter, comfort centre, shelter, community care campus and a re-write of the City’s land use bylaw.
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How can you rewrite City Use Bylaws when you supposedly do not know where the Community Care Campus will be? CSD with the SSIG created one study, that was the 19 acres of Burnside. Stafford at the train tracks all the way to 5th Avenue North. It extended all the way back to the City Fenced area.
Council insists it has not made a decision where the Community Care Campus will go, yet you are rewriting bylaws? Shouldn’t this be brought in front of the Citizens of this City before you progress so far its too costly to roll it back, or IS THAT THE PLAN?
Can I presume you are working as feverishly determining what has to be ammended re:bylaws for this plan as well https://lethccc.com ?
I am getting the feeling no, more than a feeling, the fix is in and everyone wants to keep it on the downlow until you give Council no other option then to stick 100s of Addicts permanently in our downtown.
One question: WHY?
Is it because you have seen wild success in Calgary? Edmonton? DTES Vancouver? Seattle? Phoenix? San Diego? SanFranSicko?
Why is their a small group of 7 CSD employees (public servants) who appear to be in charge, and ensuring that we destroy our downtown?
Perhaps the answer is not to obsess about the failures in other communities who are dealing with a GLOBAL scourge in the own way consistent with their unique histories and community values. Since you make this the focus of your continuing ramblings, please tell us where your isolated internment camp model has been a measurable success.
City Admin And City Council are totally living in la la land where they think that this is morally correct to place a CCC right in heart of Lethbridge. Have other cities who have attempted this not shown you by example of what not to do??? (ie Phoenix) Give us an example of who has succeeded please. Even if the CCC is Federally or Provincially financially supplemented, it is Us the tax payers who will be burdened and paying for a system that Does Not work. Lethbridge citizens PLEASE WAKE UP as this is Huge and about to change Your life, Your children’s Lives even more than it already has.
Question… who will actually ‘man’ and support this? Daycares require a certain ratio of caretaker per child. And with this, we’re not talking about Puppies here but people who are full-blown addicts who will Do anything for a hit and our crime rate proves this. Do you want your newly educated social worker daughter (even if it’s a 6 week course offered on-line) to be the ‘hall monitor’ of such a facility? Our social services system is burned out where social workers are leaving their positions at a startling rate of 45% and new police recruitments are next to nil to find. Lethbridge’s addicted homeless (which is 95% of our homeless) are people who will require 24-7 care and if not, you can expect their permanently-placed homes damaged, burned or destroyed.
This is a REGIONAL planned CCC… people will come from Everywhere thinking they will be given a home where there is NO Way we will be able to keep up with either building, maintaining their homes nor social serving them. In Phoenix there are more encampments outside the Human Services camp then there are inside! Edmonton has spent $1 Billion on building homes for 900 people that will be ready in 2025. At the moment, they have 2,500 ‘homeless’. Make sense?
We will never have enough room, nor will the people be correctly cared for. The citizens of Lethbridge will not be safe of crimes or open illegal activities. You cannot place addicts in rooms (just so they have a home) left to their own devices thinking the addiction problem will be solved. The majority of addicts die in their home. When they’re ODing, who’s going to give them Naloxin to bring them back to life? How many of these people have died in Superlodge and Halmrest for example?
This is not right for them or us. But why won’t the City listen? Because Money talks that’s why. 7 Cities needs to be REVAMPED Especially for smaller cities such as Lethbridge and Red Deer. If they continue to fund only WITHIN city limits, they will destroy Alberta’s smaller cities as we don’t have the infrastructures to handle such a feat!
This is like putting a psychiatric hospital (but with Absolutely No boundaries thanks to our current lawless judicial system), right in the Center of our city. Do the people of Lethbridge have a say in Where this CCC will be placed?? I have never seen more selfish people (better you than me type of people) who bring no comradery to their fellow Lethbridge citizen. Plus, the people who are making this decision don’t even live Close to where the facility will be placed and are somehow on a ‘payroll’ due to the CCC.
PS a recent comment made by a councilor ‘to change the ‘perception’ of an unsafe downtown’ is Totally in denial of what the True reality is and that it will become 10x worse!
This needs to be OUT OF TOWN! http://www.lethccc.com
Maybe you’ve inadvertently put your finger on the problem by equating addiction with morality. May I be so bold as to suggest we need to take a scientific approach to the integration of poverty, homelessness, racism, addiction and crime. What if we accepted the reality that humans are flawed with family histories that may have shaped individuals to be more susceptible to addiction and dealt with it accordingly. Or, better yet, why don’t all those with superior knowledge spend a few years trying to come to some agreement on exactly what the nature of “the problem” is (including causes, not just effects”)? Or is that too hard for the average amateur social psychologist to wrap their morality argument around?
it has been well documented there exists a high correlation between lack of education, underemployment, poverty, crime, trauma and addiction. Yet most commentators appear to be obsessed with the consequences rather than the root cause of these maladies. Sadly, our education system has fallen short in responding to the needs of a growing economy that has left us ill-prepared for the future.
The social issues we are trying to address in such a haphazard fashion are at one and the same time a cause and an effect of our social malaise. It doesn’t matter what approach is being sought, everything takes time, money and resources. What we need is a cohesive plan to address a global crisis that also happens to be manifesting itself locally with a few unique traits.
Asking those who are unemployed, unhoused or addicted to “buck up or get packing” shows a complete misunderstanding of both the causes and effects of the current malaise. I strongly urge the community to make Economic Develop the NUMBER ONE objective to provide the foundation for moving our region forward. While this is no panacea for our current malaise (which can in fact be treated symptomatically), family supporting incomes are essential to our long term well-being. As the Province of Alberta has been striving to put programs into place to build a prosperous future, it is time the City stop spending like drunken sailors on programs that provide no measurable benefit except to drain the pockets of residents.
We desperately need leadership from the City to resist cutting wasteful spending, choking development, and picking everyone’s pockets instead of investing in economic development.
i feel i understand your concerns, and have butted heads with regard to numerous of those issues raise. indeed, there is an element of prejudice, racism, judgement, moral superiority among the most reactive, at least. however, i am feeling the plan referenced by dennis, and supported by a number of first nations, has the potential to be more effective and decent than the city plan. does not the city plan mirror numerous other expensive and expansive plans that have not fixed anything, and have even created a worse scenario all the way around?
have you read the alternative plan coming from https://lethccc.com/ ? if so, how do you see the city plan being a model than the indigenous plan? or, what do you see that makes the indigenous model less effective?
Much to sink one’s teeth into here. Well written. Agree too,”while this is no panacea for our current malaise..”. The current malaise is our immediate concern. Because it is soo draining on all resources. Or at least the avenues the city has seen fit to apply.
It’s not soo much what the CSD and city council is telling us here, rather far more scary is what they are not telling us. They maybe somewhat influenced by the protection of their jobs and empires? They are muddying the waters with progressive guilt think strategies. The people with substance abuse issues are the focus here with the mention of “encampments,sober shelters,comfort center,shelter and community care campus”. The shovels will be in the ground before the people of Lethbridge are properly informed about what they (Lethbridge Housing Authority, City Council, Opportunity Lethbridge and the city’s Community Social Services department) are continuing to enable here. There is nothing new here, folks. It is the same old,same old. Except they want a bigger budget and staff to do it with. Don’t buy the same old story there is nothing new here and we know where that has gotten us.
These departments want the money and the power and control that funds from the province and feds enable. Not to mention the $14 mil that came directly out of the city bank account last year., to address this issue. Many of the services for the substance abuse crowd could be out of city limits. Where their contact with drug dealers could be better managed,is just one benefit. to mention. We need to put the drug dealers out of business. No one, the CSD,city council etc. wants to address where the drug dealers are and will be in this continuing saga.
If we move some of these services to the county these departments and city council lose a big chunk of the money and control of it.
Many indigenous and others support the “Bringing the Spirit Home ” strategy.
There are other ideas/plans for services out of town for Indigenous and non alike.
These many other strategies just don’t totally include or support the empires currently running the narrative. Please seek other points of view and information to what is currently a self serving turf struggle.
the city plan is likely already a done deal, and the hush hush still at this juncture is to ensure the well placed will remain certain to enjoy their usual pocket lining opportunities. the city plan will ensure a front end load of money to be made via the public purse, and it will also ensure a steady stream of ongoing pocket filling over the longer term.
what the city plan will ensure is that we will get to enjoy the company of pretty every one of the most hard core cases…a great boon to the severe issues we already so much enjoy. we have all heard the “build it and they will come” mantra. so long as the highly addictive synthetic drugs rule the roost here, at their ridiculously inflated prices, we will witness exponential growths in each of the most hardcore populations, and in the types of crimes that support desperate addicts. but still, so long as money is to be made for ins with the city plan, eh?
what seems the far better approach is that which dennis and it seems numerous first nations have put forth. here is blip from that plan, which can be read in full at this site https://lethccc.com/, which dennis has posted often. “A Drug Addiction Retreat located adjacent the Blood Reserve. A Homeless housing Retreat in Downtown Lethbridge that also could be used for a Dry shelter for those who are rehabilitated. The concept does not duplciate services as the Downtown Plan does. The plan does not house Addicts near the homeless as the Downtown plan does! The plan accomodates the wishes of the Blackfoot Confederacy….”