Community Safety and Well-Being in Halton:
A Plan for Collaboration and Action

The Supported Living for Adults with Complex Needs Action Table was convened to explore and coordinate a collaborative supported housing model for adults with complex needs. This model would provide wraparound services for adults with dual diagnoses (i.e., diagnosed with both a developmental disability and mental-health issue) that is person-directed, trauma-informed, and grounded in harm-reduction.

The Action Table is led by Support House and Central West Specialized Developmental Services.

Key areas of action include:

• Investigating best practice models of supportive housing, especially for adults with dual diagnoses and complex needs.
• Developing an integrated framework, while exploring each partners’ capacities to contribute services and resources, to supportive housing.

The Alcohol Action Table provides dedicated support and input towards developing and implementing a comprehensive community-based action plan to reduce harmful alcohol consumption and the related health and social impacts in Halton. The Alcohol Action Table will support the implementation of this plan using evidence-based and innovative strategies.

The Action Table is led by Halton Public Health.

Key areas of action include:

• Developing a community-based action plan to address harmful alcohol consumption in Halton.
• Supporting a community report that provides a broad range of perspectives on local alcohol consumption and informs a strategy to reduce negative impacts.
• Contributing to a Regional alcohol policy and resources that support the development of alcohol policies by local municipalities.

The Building Safer Communities (BSC) Action Table was convened in response to the federal government’s announcement that Halton Region would receive approximately $3.9 million over four years through Public Safety Canada’s Building Safer Communities Fund (external link), which is intended to support the development of community-based prevention and intervention activities that address youth at-risk of gun and gang exposure.

The Building Safer Communities in Halton Grant (BSCG) was subsequently established to distribute federal funding as one or two-year grants to programs and initiatives that support youth and young adults who are or may become vulnerable to gang involvement and gun violence.

The Action Table is led by Halton Region.

Key areas of action include:

• Developing cross-sectoral, multi-service, and evidence-based initiatives to address gun and gang prevalence in Halton.
• Developing data-driven processes to monitor and evaluate BSC initiatives, in addition to providing guidance for funding decisions through the BSC Grant Program.
• Mobilizing knowledge and evidence of what works to contribute to BSC publications and future programming.

The Community Wellness Hub (CWH) Leadership Action Table was established to support older adults in Halton and guide the spread and scale of the CWH model (previously called the Program for All Inclusive Care for Elders or PACE) throughout the region.

The CWH model is a continuum of services provided by an alliance of local service providers that work together as a one team to proactively identify and address the health, social, and housing needs of older adults.

The Action Table is led by the Burlington Ontario Health Team and Connected Care Halton Ontario Health Team.

Key areas of action include:

• Leveraging local data and community expertise to identify high need areas for older adults (i.e., areas where the priority population of older adults made vulnerable by the social determinants of health reside in high densities).
• Providing evidence-based guidance on the location, planning, implementation, and evaluation of CWH sites.
• Increasing integrated health and social services, provided through the CWH model, to support older adults with maintaining their independence and aging safely, healthily, and happily at home.

The Crisis Mental Health Action Table aims to improve access to crisis mental health services in Halton. This Action Table builds on the success of the Youth Mental Health Action Table in improving system navigation.

The Action Table is led by Reach Out Centre for Kids (ROCK) and the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Halton Region Branch.

Key areas of action include:

• Identifying existing service gaps, underserved populations, best practices, and up-to-date evidence related to mental health crises.
• Mapping system capacity, overload, and opportunities to divert or optimize care.
• Determining additional opportunities to enable collective action, coordination, and seamless integration along the continuum.

The Dual Diagnosis Action Table was convened to support children and youth that have both a developmental and mental health diagnosis (i.e., dual diagnosis). Their work aims to address the significant challenges in accessing services and supports experienced by individuals with dual diagnoses, and their families.

The Action Table is led by Reach Out Centre for Kids (ROCK) and Halton Region’s Children’s Developmental Services.

Key areas of action include:

• Developing a collaborative, cross-sectoral, and multi-service framework to improve access to services for children and youth with dual diagnoses, and their families.
• Raising awareness of dual diagnosis and related barriers through educational sessions within service providers and the wider community.

The Homelessness Action Table is working collaboratively to create a more coordinated approach to addressing homelessness and encampments in Halton. Their goal is to improve the experience of individuals who are at-risk of or already experiencing homelessness by integrating and improving access to current programs and services.

The Action Table is led by Halton Housing Services.

Key areas of action include:

• Creating a framework to strengthen how local service providers identify and support individuals who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. This work includes developing a centralized model of intake and referral; a common assessment tool; and referral pathways to mental health services.
• Facilitating the creation of a protocol to ensure interagency collaboration on encampment response.

The Food Security Action Table is working to develop a coordinated and effective food security system in Halton, with the aim of ensuring that all residents have access to healthy and culturally appropriate food.

The Action Table is led by Food for Life and Kerr Street Mission.

Key areas of action include:

• Establishing a collective impact approach for achieving shared outcomes and a common vision of serving food insecure residents in a coordinated manner.
• Leveraging food system infrastructures to provide streamlined and equitable distribution of nutritious food options to anyone in need, with an eye on agency variability and capacity.

The Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Action Table works collaboratively to better understand and address the issue of IPV locally, which was declared to be a crisis in Halton by Regional Council in June 2023. Through this work, the Action Table strives to improve supports for victims experiencing IPV and the agencies that serve them.

The Action Table is led by Halton Women’s Place and the Halton Violence Prevention Council (HVPC).

Key areas of action include:

• Mapping existing supports and services to identify gaps, consider opportunities for collaboration, and improve access for individuals who have experienced IPV.
• Increasing public awareness and public education around IPV to ensure that that services reach all demographics.

The Older Adult Isolation Action Table works to reduce the social isolation of older adults in Halton, by improving their access to resources, services, and supports that increase meaningful connections.

The Action Table is led by Acclaim Health and the Town of Halton Hills.

Key areas of action include:

• Advising and guiding the Connection in Action (external link) initiative by:
  • Connecting directly with older adults to provide services and supports through the Connection Specialist role.
  • Spreading awareness and education of older adult isolation in Halton through community engagement.
• Developing and implementing a tiered-approach framework to address social isolation in Halton.

The Opioid Action Table was convened to collaboratively develop and implement an evidence-based community response plan for opioid use, and its related harms, in Halton.

The Action Table is led by Halton Alcohol Drug and Gambling Assessment Prevention & Treatment Services (ADAPT) and Halton Region Public Health.

Key areas of action include:

• Identifying and aligning practical and impactful evidence-based solutions for a community response plan, based on the four-pillar framework of Prevention, Treatment, Recovery and Rehabilitation; harm reduction; and community safety.
• Leveraging the relationships built by community partners to engage and involve local residents and families with lived experiences in the development of the community response plan.
• Regularly monitoring, reporting, and sharing data related to opioid use and other key indicators identified by the community, in collaboration with community partners.

An ad hoc Action Table was established at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to support coordination and information sharing between local municipalities, Halton Region, Halton Regional Police, and many community partners. The Table was sunset in April 2021 and will be convened as required in the future.

Key areas of action include:

• Providing input on the development and implementation of COVID-related programs and policies.
• Improving readiness to mobilize on community issues and needs, through collaboration and system integration, during the COVID-19 response.

The Youth Transitioning from Care Action Table works together to support youth ages 18 to 24 who are transitioning from the care of child welfare services. This collective impact initiative offers mentorship opportunities and supports with meeting educational, employment, and personal goals.

The Action Table is led by Halton Children’s Aid Society and Oakville Community Foundation.

Key areas of action include:

• Creating a seamless transition for youth leaving the care of Halton Children’s Aid Society, through improved access to education, employment, and training opportunities.
• Supporting youth with mentorship, specifically related to goal-setting and improving connections.
• Overseeing a community table of partners who can assist and support youth transitioning from care in personal and professional areas.

The Sexual Assault Action Table (also the Sexual Assault Advisory Committee) was convened to improve the experience of sexual violence survivors across the continuum of local services, increase accountability of perpetrators of sexual violence, and eradicate sexual violence in Halton.

The Action Table is led by Thrive Counselling and Halton Regional Police Services.

Key areas of action include:

• Providing recommendations to the Halton Police Board, following a review of the Halton Regional Police Service’s sexual assault investigations, on how to improve their processes to make it easier for survivors to come forward and report assault.
• Designing a comprehensive e-learning program for police officers about engaging with survivors.
• Maintaining the “Survivors Voices” website (external link), which was created by the Action Table to be a community platform that provides information, resources, and support relating to sexual assault.

The Youth Mental Health Action Table works collaboratively to enhance access to mental health supports for youth and adolescents.

The Action Table is led by Reach Out Centre for Kids (ROCK).

Key areas of action include:

Coordinating a model of access and system navigation to make it easier for children, youth, and their families to connect to the mental health programs and services best suited to meet their needs.