Toronto's CORE Program Extended for Homelessness Outreach

0:00Toronto's Board of Health just voted to extend the pilot program called CORE by 18 months. It pairs public health nurses with police to outreach unhoused folks around young and dundas streets linking them to services for homelessness. Mental Health and Addiction Launched back in December 2024, the program got evaluated in February and showed real promise, especially helping with substance use. Housing and getting IDs, they beefed it up with wound care in February and immunizations in March. The medical officer highlighted how over 11,000 people faced homelessness in Toronto this January with drug overdoses causing 55% of deaths among them last year. Business leaders say it's boosted safety downtown, but some advocates worry police involvement scares people off, pushing for community workers. Instead, nurses logged over 8,000 client interactions across hundreds of shifts, averaging 15 per shift. They handled 12 overdoses, send 20 folks to hospitals, handed out thousands of harm reduction

1:04supplies, naloxone kits, clothes, and snacks. Plus, managed cases for shelter and doctor visits. Staff will check back with final recommendations in the third quarter of 2027, building on these early wins to refine the approach and keep the momentum going. That's the story for today, Toronto News Today, Driven by AI.