Proposed criteria for 15 homeless hubs would permit drug use. Why weren’t Londoners consulted earlier?

A local member of parliament is calling for public input before council decides if the use of illegal drugs will be permitted at service hubs for Londoners living unsheltered.

The proposed criteria for 15 low barrier hubs that would be part of London’s $247.5 million Whole of Community Response to Homelessness include permitting illegal drugs to be used on site as part of a continuum of harm reduction care.

“Some people may select or choose to use on site, others may not,” explained Deputy City Manager of Social and Health Development, Kevin Dickins.

Specifically, a report going to city council for approval next week describes the substance use support and treatment continuum.

“This continuum spans the breadth of known and to-be-known services from: distributing new equipment to addiction treatment,” reads the report. “The continuum recognizes that the self-determined goals of abstinence and harm reduction are equally-valued and interrelated goals of care.”

However, Dickens emphasized that the hubs would not be supervised drug consumption facilities like the Carepoint Consumption and Treatment Service at 446 York St.

“Some people may use drugs on [a hub] site. These are not safe consumption sites. These are not safe consumption facilities,” he said.

Carepoint is London’s only federally exempted supervised drug consumption facility.

In 2017, the Middlesex-London Health Unit undertook extensive city-wide consultation before bringing a proposal before city council.

That process heard from 2,145 survey responses, 334 community consultation participants and 56 focus group participants.

“Just as [Londoners] were allowed to do with respect to the safe consumption site, they ought to be able to express themselves on this very important issue,” London North Centre MP Peter Fragiskatos told CTV News London.

Fragiskatos said he understands the public health rationale, but would like to see council provide time for the public to be consulted.

He is worried that council approval of the hub criteria appears rushed.

“Of course we need action, and [to have] homelessness addressed in a very meaningful way. At the same time, I think a rushed process is not what ultimately gets us to where we need to go,” Fragiskatos warned.

In June, the city held a series of well-attended public input sessions about establishing criteria for the proposed hubs — but Dickins admitted illegal drug use at the sites was not part of those consultations.

“In terms of asking the public, no it was not a part of our list of questions to determine how the public felt about people’s choice in drug use or how we would try to address addictions,” he said.

He suggested internal discussions during the development of the criteria included concern that if abstinence or sobriety was required — some people living unsheltered might not attend the hubs.

“We have feedback from the community all the time that people are using illegal substances in their doorways, in their businesses, and in their backyards. What we’re trying to do is create a safe space where people can come in, get the wrap around care,” Dickens explained.

When asked about permitting drug use at up to 15 new hub locations on properties zone to permit emergency care establishments, Civic Administration responded in a written statement, “The City of London does not have a law enforcement mandate with respect to prohibited substances.”

Council will consider the proposed hub criteria at a committee meeting on July 24 and make a final decision the next day.

Each hub will offer 25 to 35 beds, within about 8,000 to 10,000 sq. ft. of multi-use space with a side-entry off the street, fenced private space, greenspace, commercial kitchen and laundry facilities.

The estimated cost of each hub is $2 million (capital), plus $2.7 million per year in operating expenses.

The functions of hubs are intended to include:

• 24/7 safe places
• Basic needs
• Community engagement
• Housing access support
• Income supports
• Integrated care planning
• Justice system services
• Medical stabilization beds
• Access to acute and primary Care
• Respite beds
• Transitional beds
• Translation and interpretation
• Transportation

The first hubs will offer service to so-called “priority populations” including:

• Couples and families
• Indigenous individuals
• Medically complex individuals
• Women and female-identifying individuals
• Youth (16-25)

Pending council’s approval of the location criteria on July 25, an expressions of interest (EOI) procurement process will be launched on the City of London website by early August.

After four weeks, city staff will lead the evaluation of the EOIs received.

Council will be asked to approve the location of the first three to five hubs in September.