Agenda Package - City of Vernon

Evaluation of Homelessness Strategy for the North Okanagan
need to be rethought (e,g. decrease in number of consecutive nights people stay in
shelter). Adopting a SMART approach to the preparation of appropriate indicators is a
good rule of thumb (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timebound)'
Some examples are discussed below:
ln itiative/lndicator
lnitiative: More local access to
range of detoxification services
lndicator: Decrease in emergencY
room visits for detox.
lnitiative: Affordable Housing
Strategy
lndicator: Decrease in number of
homeless in Vernon.
Comment/Suggested indicator
Comment: What is the connection between detox
services and eliminating homelessness? lf it is about
providing secure/safe/healthy programming to assist
those that are homeless then the connection and the
performance indicator should be made at that level.
Suegested rationale/indicator:
To improve the safety, security and health of those
who are homeless; and recognizing that ¡t is difficult to
access or there is an absence of accessible detox
services; a range of detox services must be made
readily available to the. homeless. Measure of this
performance is: to reduce emergency room visits for
detox services (or a specified service) by 10% by
December 2010 (from XXX/month to XXX/month) by
providing local access to detox services (or a specified
service).
Comment: What is the connection between the
affordable housing strategy and eliminating
homelessness? lf it is about providing more
accommodation then it should focus on that
imperative. lf it is on assisting individuals and/or
families that are homeless to access affordable
housing then again it should refer to that specific
measure. As it stands what if affordable housing stock
increases by 100 and the numbers of homeless
assisted in accessing affordable housing increases from
10 to 1000 but the overall homelessness rate increases
and thus the numbers of homeless does not decrease;
is this then to say that the implementation of the
Affordable Housing Strategy is a failure? Likely not.
The indicator should focus on the anticipated
outcomes.
Suseested indicator:
lmplementation of the Affordable Housing Strategy
leading to an increase in affordable housing stock from
344 to 350 by April 2011 and to 346 by April 2012. (this
measure could even be more focused building from
say an objective to increase the numbers of affordable
housins alternatives for families etc.).
9. To ensure performance is monitored regularly and frequently specific milestones and
accountabilities should also be spelled out in the plan.
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