A recent survey shows frontline workers in the Canadian housing and homelessness services sectors experienced increased levels of burnout and deteriorated mental health throughout the pandemic.
Last week, the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) released a briefing which outlined their recommendations for addressing burnout in the sectors. The briefing is based on a report which indicates that COVID-19 has had a severe impact on the well-being of employees working in the sector.
The report was conducted in November 2020—during a lull in Canada’s second wave—and surveyed 427 direct service providers across Canada working in homeless services, supportive housing, and harm reduction services.
Nick Kerman, a post-doctoral researcher with CAMH, said the study, “highlights the considerable strain the pandemic has had on service providers who work with people experiencing homelessness.” Kerman says that before the pandemic, the workforce in question was already, “grappling with an affordable housing crisis, an overdose crisis, and a shortage of accessible mental health services.”
According to the report, nearly 60 per cent of workers who were primarily responsible for providing care to people experiencing homelessness, mental health and substance abuse faced increased levels of burnout. Many workers reported experiencing these issues in their own lives, with 80 per cent saying they had deteriorated mental health or an increased reliance on substances. Almost a third of participants reported experiencing severe financial strain.
Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa is a coalition of community members and organizations dedicated to ending homelessness by supporting the housing and homelessness services sector.
Executive Director Kaite Burkholder Harris says the employees her organization represents have reported experiencing similar issues.
“I'm hearing just a lot of people taking more and more sick time, because it's so stressful, what they're having to navigate,” says Burkholder Harris. “And the other big thing that's come across in the pandemic is retention. It's very difficult...finding lots of available employees. Everyone is really struggling to find staff to work in the sector. And I think it speaks to the level of burnout in terms of the people who have that set of skills.”
Burkholder Harris explains that the intersection of an existing housing crisis, an epidemic of substance abuse, and an unprecedented public health crisis have only added to the trauma, stress, and mental exhaustion typically experienced by workers in the sector. She says these factors have led to the resignation of some staff, and a reluctance for others to join the sector in the first place. This has presented staffing shortages, which has made it extremely difficult for the remaining employees to do their jobs.
According to the MHCC/CAMH report, 18 per cent of workers in the housing and homelessness services sector don’t receive paid sick days or health insurance. Some participants reported a lack of access to resources, with 18 per cent saying they required mental health or substance abuse services, but were unable to receive them.
Burkholder Harris says this is partially due to many agencies operating as non-profit organizations, leaving many of them unable to provide healthcare benefits to their employees.
“My ideal policy dream would be that mental healthcare, dental healthcare, eye care—all of that—is just a part of a robust comprehensive health care system that is publicly available,” says Burkholder Harris. “It's not up to an individual employer, if they have the funding, to provide or not provide that stuff. I think that it is entirely up to the federal and provincial governments to actually take on that role of expanding our healthcare system to actually cover the full concept of health, which we all know equals mental health supports, and equals those other kinds of supports.”
Burkholder Harris says that more funding is required to address the systemic problems affecting workers in this sector, and it’s the government’s responsibility to supply that funding.
In November, Ottawa’s community and protective services committee was approved to receive a $1.45 billion budget in 2022. $210 million of that will be invested in the housing services sector, which has jurisdiction over Ottawa’s shelters and services offered to the homeless population.
However, Burkholder Harris says that amount spread across 95 frontline agencies in Ottawa won’t go very far.
“It is spread very, very thin in terms of what money is going to what agencies,” says Burkholder Harris. “I think then within that context, you've got some bigger agencies that are able with other sources of funding to provide those kinds of benefits. And then a lot of small agencies are also doing pretty insurmountable work, but without that sort of infrastructure for benefits and supports. I think an increase in funding for service starts to take the level of burden off of the system.”
Burkholder Harris says adding funds to support housing and homeless services agencies would aid in creating a big-picture solution to homelessness. According to her, supporting frontline workers in that sector would not only improve their quality of work and improve mental well-being, but it would help mitigate homelessness in the long-run by allowing workers to focus on prevention strategies, rather than putting out fires.
In the briefing from CAMH and MHCC, Kerman encourages policy-makers to address the gaps in funding to the housing and homelessness services sector.
“More workplace supports to promote mental health and wellness, and more recognition of this essential workforce, are needed,” said Kerman.
One of the recommendations from the MHCC and CAMH briefing recommends strengthening support for the sector, saying that, “more sustained action is needed across the sector to address the housing and homelessness crisis and prevent further strain on the system.”
Some of the solutions the report recommends are contributing more funding to the sector, adding healthcare benefits and paid sick days, and making the sector a priority when it comes to supplying personal protective equipment (PPE).
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