The statistics are disturbing, but there is hope. That was the message from the Honourable Michael Kirby, Chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, as he delivered the keynote address at the Collaboration for Change forum in Vancouver today.
An estimated 25 to 50% of homeless people have a mental illness and up to 70% of those with a severe mental illness also abuse substances. "The homeless population is disturbingly large and even more disturbing growing in size, in scope and in its connection to mental illness," Kirby said. "Recent research shows 1 in 7 users of emergency shelters across Canada are children and almost a third of Canada's homeless are youths aged 16-24. Street counts of homeless people indicate their numbers have increased at an alarming rate. For example in Calgary, the homeless population grew by 740% from 1994 to 2006, and by 235% in Vancouver."
Aboriginal peoples are disproportionately represented among the homeless and the mentally ill. Many immigrants and refugees also live in poverty in substandard housing.
"There is no single solution to either mental illness or homelessness, however, some initiatives are offering hope," said Kirby. The Housing First Initiative in Vancouver is based on providing housing first to the homeless, and then the services needed to support them once their lives are stabilized. A recent study by Simon Fraser University's Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction (CARMA) estimated that in British Columbia, the current financial cost to taxpayers for services to homeless people with severe addictions and/or mental illness is $55,000 a year per person. In contrast, providing these people with adequate housing and supports costs $37,000 a year per person. This saves taxpayers $211 million dollars a year in direct costs.