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Recovery Services Task Force will receive $750,000 from the province over three years to improve coordination between agencies and help the chronically homeless access a range of health supports, including mental health and substance use treatment, more quickly.
The task force is a collaboration of 26 representatives from homeless-serving agencies, government and community partners. Earlier this year, the task force released its final report, which makes seven recommendations to improve the health, wellness and housing outcomes for these Calgarians.
The new funding will be used to hire two staff members to streamline the referral process and implement the recommendations.
"What we’ve learned about individuals living in prolonged homelessness, and about their health, is that they have complex experiences and are not always getting the care they need to improve their well-being and move out of homelessness,” said Darryn Werth, task force co-chair.
The need for better integration amongst service providers is also a key finding that emerged from the provincial government's 2015 Valuing Mental Health Review.
That review found that more than 60 per cent of people with substance-use and mental-health issues will not seek the help they need, because of stigma and lack of help navigating the system.
The Alberta government continues to improve access to mental health services following the Valuing Mental Health review.