Housing and supports for adults with severe addictions and/or mental illness in BC : Housing and support for adults with severe addictions and/or mental illness in British Columbia

From the Greater Vancouver Region to Northern communities, from the Gulf Islands to the cities and towns of the Interior, every region of the Province is experiencing the strain of inadequate housing and concomitant social, health, and economic issues. [...] In August 2006, the BC Ministry of Health – Mental Health and Addictions Branch asked the Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction (CARMHA) at Simon Fraser University to provide up-to-date information with regard to the scope of the problem, recommended solutions and associated costs. [...] Of the entire homeless population, the CMHA’s rural key informants estimated that SAMI affects between 60% to 100% of the absolutely homeless population and about 30% of the at-risk population. [...] In total, the annualized capital and housing support costs for providing adequate housing and support to the absolutely homeless with SAMI is approximately $179 million (annualized capital cost of $31 million plus annual housing and support cost of $148 million). [...] The Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance and BC Housing are currently piloting projects that simplify and expedite the application process for homeless people with SAMI.