SAFETY

A focused partnership to help solve Hamilton's toughest problems

Hamilton has extraordinary institutions, employers, community organizations and people working every day to make our city stronger.

But some of Hamilton's toughest problems cross institutions and jurisdictions. No single organization has all the authority, resources or capacity to solve them alone.

That's where leadership matters.

As Mayor, I will rebuild Hamilton Anchor Institution Leadership, HAIL, as a focused, accountable partnership with the mandate, resources and responsibility to deliver measurable results.

The principle is straightforward: if you're at the table, you're there to help deliver.

✓ A CLEAR PUBLIC MANDATE

HAIL will be rebuilt around a Council-approved mandate to coordinate action on a small number of pressing, city-wide problems that no organization can solve on its own.

The renewed partnership will bring together senior leadership from the City and Public Health; Hamilton's health-care and education institutions; Indigenous-led health, housing and community organizations; community service and supportive-housing providers; philanthropic organizations; major employers and property owners; and representatives from small business, labour, neighbourhoods and people with lived experience.

Permanent membership will mean more than attending meetings. It will require a multi-year commitment of money, staff capacity, property, services or other measurable resources.

Private-sector and institutional interests will not hold a majority of seats.

This isn't about creating another discussion table. It's about creating a public-interest partnership with a clear mandate, balanced representation and accountability for what every participant brings to the table.

✓ MOVE FROM DISCUSSION TO DELIVERY

HAIL needs enough capacity to turn good ideas into action while remaining small and focused.

A small two- or three-person secretariat will support convening, research, agreements and public reporting.

A Hamilton Solutions Fund will combine a fixed annual City contribution, approved through the municipal budget, with pooled or matched institutional, philanthropic and private contributions, as well as independently valued in-kind resources.

The renewed HAIL will:

• work on no more than three active priority initiatives at one time;
• use formal contribution agreements setting out eligible expenses, deliverables and reporting;
• independently evaluate results;
• undergo a three-year sunset review; and
• pursue provincial and federal funding for successful initiatives.

The City could initially capitalize a challenge fund, with municipal dollars released when participating partners assemble qualifying matching resources. Any City funds used to purchase goods or services will remain subject to municipal procurement requirements.

The objective is simple: focus resources on a few problems, know what we're trying to achieve and measure whether we're succeeding.

Start by addressing complex needs

The first demonstration initiative under the renewed HAIL will be a Complex Needs Stabilization Pilot focused on people experiencing homelessness whose medical, mental-health, addiction, cognitive or daily-living needs cannot be stabilized through housing alone.

The pilot will bring partners together to provide coordinated, year-round support that can include:

• registered nursing and nurse practitioner support connected to designated housing and shelter locations;
• mobile wound care, chronic-disease management and medication assistance;
• direct connections to primary care, psychiatry, addiction treatment and recovery supports;
• behavioural, occupational therapy and personal support services where clinically appropriate;
• hospital-to-housing discharge planning;
• a named case lead responsible for each participant's stabilization plan;
• after-hours consultation and rapid intervention when a tenancy is at risk; and
• support for surrounding residents, businesses and property managers when recurring incidents arise.

Participation in health services will remain voluntary and governed by clinical consent, privacy and professional standards. Housing eligibility will not depend on accepting treatment.

Everyone deserves dignity. Everyone deserves safety.

The goal is compassionate and practical: help people remain successfully housed while reducing preventable emergency-department visits, paramedic and police interactions, shelter returns, disruptive behaviour and impacts on surrounding public spaces.

Instead of repeatedly managing the same crisis, we should be asking whether people's lives are becoming more stable.

✓ MEASURE THE RESULTS – AND ACT ON THEM.

Every HAIL initiative will begin with a public problem statement, baseline data, assigned partners, a defined budget and measurable outcomes.

For the Complex Needs Stabilization Pilot, that means measuring housing retention at six, 12 and 24 months; emergency-department visits; paramedic and police interactions; shelter returns and evictions; connection to primary care and continuity of medication; serious incidents and complaints around participating locations; participant, neighbourhood and local-business experience; and the cost per stabilized participant, including avoided crisis-system costs.

Council will approve the municipal funding envelope and receive quarterly public reporting.

HAIL will not direct police operations, clinical decisions, planning approvals or the independent mandates of participating organizations.

And programs will not continue simply because they were started.

Successful pilots will include a plan identifying which public system or institutional partners should assume permanent responsibility and funding. Initiatives that aren't delivering results will be improved, redesigned or ended.

That's what accountability looks like.

Hamilton doesn't need another partnership that measures success by how many meetings it holds or how much money it spends.

We need partnerships that solve problems.

Bringing people together is important. Getting them to deliver is leadership.

As Mayor, I'll take responsibility for bringing Hamilton's leaders and institutions together, setting clear expectations and holding the partnership accountable for results.