July 5 Update: Community Social Safety Initiatives Action Plan Fully Operationalized in Maple Ridge

On Tuesday, June 28 Council received an update on the Community Social Safety Initiative (CSSI) from Chad Cowles, Manager of Community Safety. Mr. Cowles shared the news that the City’s CSSI Action Plan (Plan) is fully operationalized and that the multi-faceted initiative is attracting attention from around BC as the data continues to show the effectiveness on the front lines of the community.

Mr. Cowles noted that the 35 programs and initiatives within the Plan have been mobilized and credited the Community Safety Officer program as being a key component of the Plan. “Bringing together a team of people that are street smart, understanding, compassionate and committed to help people first has been the heart of the CSSI program,” said Mr. Cowles. 

He continued, “I feel like I was set up for success as Council has been supportive of this Plan from day one and invested community safety dollars into building a team of people to encourage compliance and move the bar on community safety.

The presentation showed that in 2022 CSOs dealt with 165 homeless encampment files, removed 195 truckloads of garbage from public spaces and achieved a 93% file closure rate within 48 hours. He spoke about the collaboration with RCMP on ‘Project Daylight’ that sees CSOs and RCMP at work in the community starting at 6:00 am to ensure local businesses and their customers are not arriving to people loitering in their entrances.

Mr. Cowles noted that another important component of the Plan has been the Community Hub, funded by a $1.3 million Provincial and Federal Grant and initiated by a network of local community organizations, to serve people that are unhoused or under-served by social programs.

“One of the things our CSOs heard very early on in our deployment was ‘where do you expect me to go’ when we were interacting with people camping on private property or having negative interactions in the downtown,” said Mr. Cowles. 

He continued, “The Community Resource Hub provides a place for people to access basic health care, food, a shower, and connection to treatment and support services that could literally change their lives.”

The report highlighted how the Hub has had nearly 4,300 visits in its ten months of operation. More importantly, Mr. Cowles noted that there have been 87 referrals to treatment and recovery and 97 housing referrals.

“This has been a game changer. We don’t want to just move problems around from place to place, our integrated approach and the collaboration between local agencies has allowed us to connect people with life changing services. City staff are volunteering to help people complete their taxes, claim benefits and get proper ID. Other Hub Team members are getting people essential medical care and submitting housing and treatment referrals. This program is about meeting people where they are and saying ‘how can we help you today,” noted Mr. Cowles.

The update spoke to the success of the ‘Lock Out Crime Through Environmental Design’ (LOCTED) program that’s being run in collaboration with the Downtown Maple Ridge Business Improvement Association (DMRBIA). CSOs have conducted 17 comprehensive safety assessments and businesses have in turn applied for grants to make safety modifications to their buildings. The City and the DMRBIA jointly funded a grant program and distributed nearly $24,000 to support these changes. 

The presentation ended with an update on the work that is underway to move to ‘Hub 2.0’ and bring together a wide range of agencies to increase the capacity of the HUB pilot project.

“With the HUB in operation we see a 21% decline in CSO calls for service in the downtown core. This demonstrates the great value to businesses and citizens in the Town Centre,” noted Mr. Cowles.

At the end of the presentation Mayor Morden thanked his fellow Councillors for having the courage to try something different and invest local tax dollars from the Community Safety Reserves in a new and innovative approach.

 “The CSSI is a demonstration project to show that there is a better way to address problems that are prevalent in every community. Fifteen communities in BC, that are tackling the same challenges many cities are seeing throughout BC and North America, have reached out to learn more about what we’re doing that’s proving to be a best practice,” said Mayor Morden.

He continued, “On behalf of Council, I want to thank Chad, our CSOs, along with the frontline team of dedicated, passionate people with great assessment skills, who have proven there is a better way through intervention. We dared to take a different approach, one that understands human behaviour and its underlying factors. This tier of service is a responsive, effective addition to our public safety program. We set municipal priorities to have police respond to the more serious criminal activity, and CSOs intervene on matters that call for different solutions. CSOs are purpose trained to work with persons who have complex problems, possibly mental and/or physical health, substance misuse, as well those who for various reasons don’t have a home. The team taps into the social safety net we have built around the existing service providers, in order to facilitate a pathway forward. Our plan, a first in BC, has been fully implemented within our financial limits. This city-led solution recognized societal problems shouldn’t necessarily default to the police, but often are best tackled under a model of collaboration. Council were mandated to take on what is predominantly a provincial responsibility, however we took this on because the business community and the public were angry, frustrated, and demanded we respond. We’ve done that, but there’s so much more work to do to pick up from the interventions our team makes every day, such as infill the gaps in the continuum of housing, demand access to treatment, healthcare, which are in critical demand, all of which are necessary when you’re building a complete livable, healthy and safe community for all.”

“We’ve been anxiously awaiting implementation of a $200 million investment into a Housing Plan that was offered by the BC Government, and accepted by the City. We didn’t agree on the new site for Royal Crescent temporary housing, a viable alternative was offered in two weeks as requested, but a provincial cabinet order was used once again. We’ve done our part, largely at municipal cost, collaborated in good faith, we’ve demonstrated our program works with corroborating data, but this program is contingent on partnerships. The provincially required housing assessment we undertook was resoundingly clear, there is an urgent need for housing for seniors, families and individuals who do not have complex problems, other than they simply cannot afford a home in our high cost region. This plan has always been about the building of an effective social safety net, intervention to facilitate better outcomes for people, a safe community for all, but best possible outcomes depend on prompt access to health care and housing,” said the Mayor in conclusion.

Read the July 8 Update Advertisement

Click on the image below to view the full advertisement.

Watch the Presentation

You can view the Community Social Safety Initiative presentation by Chad Cowles, Manager of Community Safety from the recording from the June 28, 2022 Council Workshop meeting. The presentation starts at the 0:06:00 point. Click on the image below to view the presentation.