Help needed in opioid crisis

Councillor wants team on the streets to assist users

Coun. Dean Pappas says the city needs an on-the-street team devoted to assisting people experiencing homelessness and addiction — and he wants it now.

“We need boots on the street immediately,” he said.

But the details are still unclear: Pappas says he doesn’t know yet who will be on that team, for instance, what “skill set” the team will need and how much it might cost to fund such a program.

All he knows for now is that there’s now an outreach worker who goes out to meet people experiencing homelessness and tries to help them — and it’s one part-time job.

“We need a team that’s out there all the time,” Pappas said.

More detail could emerge soon on a potential team approach to helping: Pappas is putting forward a notice of motion about it at a general committee meeting on Monday.

That means Pappas will be asking other council members to consider ordering a city staff report, to be delivered as quickly as possible, explaining what type of team program the city could potentially launch right away to help people who are living in homelessness or addiction.

However staff wouldn’t be constrained by the idea Pappas has in mind.

He’s asking staff to explore any crisis intervention strategies that could be quickly deployed while the city comes up with longer-term strategies.

Those longer-terms plans already have funding and deadlines: for instance, city council voted earlier this week to take back half of city police operating budget surplus from 2020, which was $245,000, and put it toward a new opioid addiction help program that city staff is expected to design in the first half of 2022.

Meanwhile city staff is also planning to release its Community Safety and Well-being Plan at the end of 2022 and it’s also expected to have detailed plans to assist people as they experience homelessness and addiction.