Victoria pushes for real-time data system to tackle homelessness 

Victoria is looking to better understand unhoused individuals’ specific needs and the trends that lead to people losing shelter in the hopes of making more informed decisions.

During a Committee of the Whole meeting on Thursday, July 30th, Victoria council unanimously passed a motion calling for the accelerated regional implementation of the Homeless Individuals and Families Information System (HIFIS).

The motion began seeking to create a By-Name List (BNL) of unhoused individuals in the city.

Councillor Krista Loughton advocated for the need for a BNL, and the benefits that such a list would provide.

“By-name lists, or by-name data, the standard best practice in modern homelessness response systems and they are used throughout Canada, the United States and internationally,” Loughton said during the meeting.

“The cities making actual measurable progress against homelessness aren’t working off of point and time-count data. They are using real-time by-name lists.”

She explained that to offer solutions to the issue, understanding the specific cause of an individual’s unhoused status could help council advocate for solutions.

The motion was seconded by Councillor Dave Thompson, who highlighted the importance of the issue.

“This is the top issue for people downtown and in many neighbourhoods that I’ve spoken with over the last few years,” he said.

“We need to know who these people are, and what they need in order to get them into the right kind of housing and moreover to have them succeed in that housing and move towards independent living.”

Councillor Susan Kim brought forward questions regarding the motion, and said that issues of privacy had been brought to her from constituents regarding who would have access to the information.

During a lunch recess, councillors revised the motion’s wording to address the concerns raised during the earlier discussion.

When the Council of the Whole returned to session, an amendment was offered that sought to press BC Housing and the CRD to accelerate the implementation of HIFIS in the region.

HIFIS is a system responsible for collecting information from unhoused individuals regarding what type of care they need and better understand the causes that led individuals to having unhoused status.

“As a comprehensive data collection and case management system, HIFIS enables participating service providers within the same community to access, collect, and share local real-time homelessness data to ensure individuals and families accessing services are prioritized and referred to appropriate services at the correct time,” the BC Government website states.

HIFIS has various levels of privacy and security at different levels of the system.

The amended motion passed unanimously, and the committee will discuss the progress made in this endeavour on September 3rd.