Lethbridge city council approves coordinated encampment strategy

An encampment is seen in Lethbridge.

Lethbridge city council is moving forward with a new strategy for dealing with homeless encampments in a compassionate and collaborative way.

Council approved the coordinated Encampment Strategy on Tuesday.

The strategy includes the five goals:

1. Supporting the most vulnerable by connecting them to housing and social supports;
2. Ensuring parks and open spaces are safe and enjoyable for everyone;
3. Preventing entrenchment to minimize health and safety concerns;
4. Informing residents of how to report encampments; and
5. Keeping the community informed on encampment responses.

"We hope to be more proactive in getting out there and engaging with these individuals before it becomes three, four, five tents – and becomes entrenched," said Andrew Malcolm, general manager of community social development for the City of Lethbridge.

So far this year, the Lethbridge Police Service has dismantled and cleaned up six encampments.

In April, council approved up to $500,000 annually from 2023-2026, along with $250,000 in one-time funding, to support the strategy.

The money will go toward the following:

• Two full-time encampment response positions and one full-time housing specialist;
• Funding for Lethbridge Police Service overtime resources;
• Additional resource funding including, but not limited to: vehicle and fuel, biohazard cleanup resources, training, personal protective equipment etc.; and
• Contracted outreach services (increased with additional one-time funds.)

"We know we can’t solve homelessness overnight, which is why we have developed this strategy," said Mayor Blaine Hyggen. "It will help us manage the growing numbers of people experiencing homelessness in our community which, in the warmer months, we see in the form of encampments."

The encampment response process has been broken into three tiers:

• Tier 1: Inactive sites that are clearly vacated and abandoned items and debris to be removed and cleaned;
• Tier 2: Active sites that consist of one or two structures where no immediate health or safety risk is posed to occupants or community will be approached initially by an outreach-led housing-focused response; and
• Tier 3: Active sites that consist of three or more structures and/or pose high fire, injury, health and safety risk to occupants and community are prioritized for an enforcement-led accelerated closure.

The strategy includes partnerships with multiple agencies including Lethbridge Fire and EMS, Lethbridge Housing Authority, Blood Tribe Department of Health, Lethbridge Downtown BRZ Clean Sweep and the Lethbridge Police Service.