Kamloops city council backs down on demands for more security, services at supportive housing

Kamloops city council has softened the requirements it recently imposed on supportive housing in an attempt to reduce disorder on its streets.

Last week, the council approved a motion by Coun. Bill Sarai saying all current and future transitional and supportive housing operators "must commit" to offering their clients extensive services, including 24-7 security guards, daily on-site nursing staff and access to weekly mental health and addictions counselling services.  

But this week, councillors in the southern Interior city amended the motion to add "where appropriate," after housing operators said they were being unfairly blamed for problems they are actively working to fix — and couldn't pay for the added services anyway.

ASK Wellness Society, one of the social housing operators in Kamloops, says the city seemed to target them as scapegoats for disturbances and crime caused by people struggling with homelessness and addictions.

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"To blame us [supportive housing operators] for those folks that aren't being successful [in recovery from addictions] is really quite frustrating," the society's executive director Bob Hughes told Daybreak Kamloops. "We have to work together, and to throw us under the bus is not the way to go."

Hughes says wraparound services such as on-site nursing and mental health counselling should be funded and provided by the B.C. government and the Interior Health authority.

"We don't have pockets where we can suddenly magically pull this [sort of wraparound services] together," he said. "That's going to be something that we need to push the province to do and the health authority [to do], and we'd love to join in with that voice with the city."

Coun. Dale Bass said she proposed the change after she talked to nine agencies that run social housing. On Tuesday, the city council unanimously passed Bass's amendment saying housing operators "should provide" the wraparound services only in circumstances "where appropriate."

Bass says she should have known some transitional and supportive housing operators don't need to provide the wraparound services as mentioned in Sarai's motion, because their clients haven't been involved in theft or vandalism that has raised concerns among some Kamloops residents.

"I realized that the language was way too all-encompassing," Bass told CBC. "It sort of blew up with what I think may be a significant misunderstanding of the intent Coun.Sarai had."

 Click the link below to hear Bill Sarai's interview on Daybreak Kamloops:

The motion also asks the province to review supportive housing programs and B.C. Housing to review future long-term housing projects for Kamloops, but doesn't specify who — the province, the city, or the housing operators  — should pay for the improved services.

Housing Minister David Eby says the provincial government recognizes gaps in supportive housing programs where some clients are evicted for their disruptive behaviour, and promises support to municipalities.

"We certainly accept responsibility for providing support to cities to be able to deal with these issues," Eby said Monday on Daybreak Kamloops.