Is complex needs 'shelter' the best title for new facilities opening in Regina, Saskatoon?
Facilities more like 'forced detox' than shelters, advocate says
Two facilities that the provincial government calls complex needs emergency shelters are opening in Regina and Saskatoon, but some experts say the term "shelter" isn't appropriate.
The two temporary 15-bed facilities will operate around the clock, seven days a week, for people considered a danger to themselves, others or a disturbance to the public.
They are meant to provide an alternative to police cells for people who are intoxicated and to provide support for substance use and mental health issues. But they will only accept people taken into police custody under the Summary Offences Procedures Act.
Regina's location at 430 Pioneer Dr. is open and the Saskatoon site on the corner of Idylwyld Drive North and 38th Street West will open next week. Both are a part of an 18-month pilot project.
According to provincial documents, the shelters will provide a "secure and medically supervised" environment for up to 24 hours, or until the person is no longer a threat to themselves or others. It's part of the province's plan to address homelessness and help vulnerable people.
Experts and advocates see benefits to the facilities — and praise the step toward a more focused response to complex needs — but some are conflicted with how the people are taken into custody before being taken to the facility.
They believe that deviates from the conventional idea of a shelter as a place of refuge.
As a recovering addict, Shylo Stevenson is in favour of the facilities and believes the current system, where people have to seek out help, isn't working.
But Stevenson said that calling the facilties "shelters" is sugarcoating the situation.
"If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, it's a duck. It's a forced detox," said Stevenson, the community wellness co-ordinator for the Queen City Wellness Pharmacy in Regina, which works in healing and community support.
The provincial Ministry of Health said in an email the name for the facilities was developed as part of the provincial approach to homelessness.
How will the facilities operate?
Saskatoon police Chief Cam McBride said that people will have better access to support at the facilities, rather than sitting in a cell where they're assessed by a paramedic, locked up and given the bare necessities until they're sober.
McBride told the Hard Knox Talks podcast, which discusses the complexities of addiction, that people in cells are held until they're assessed to be able to care for themselves, which is typically about eight hours.
"They're released to nothing. They're released to the street to fend for themselves," McBride said.
Staff at the new facilities will include clinical counsellors, licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, support staff and security.
When the people are discharged, the Ministry of Health said they will be referred to support services and resources such as an addictions treatment facility, mental health counselling services, community supports, or income or housing assistance services.
Stevenson helped teach the staff expected to work at the facilities about Indigenous issues such as the history of residential school trauma and about lived experience — knowledge he believes is paramount and something staff were lacking. He said, from his knowledge of the operation, that people who are detained have the option to go to police cells or the complex needs facility and sees the latter as a better option.
In an email, the Ministry of Health said Regina and Saskatoon police will determine if an individual is eligible to go to the facilities.
Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark said the discharge process is going to be important and he is concerned the city is lacking the proper medium- and long-term supports in the city.
Saskatoon's city council has voted to request that the province develop a report on the facility's progress every six months.
Some academics oppose judicial role in facilities
Andrew Eaton is an associate professor of social work at the Saskatoon campus of the University of Regina. His research focuses on mental health care, including for people who use drugs.
He said he's happy to see there's more investment in helping people with complex needs, but is "disappointed that these two facilities in particular are solely for those under correctional orders."
Eaton said Regina and Saskatoon need facilities like the two opening, but the restrictions on the person's rights are concerning.
"What I would like to see is individuals given the informed choice to access facilities such as these and being able say, 'Yes, this is exactly what I want,'" he said.
He said voluntary models have been shown to be more effective.
Other academics from Saskatchewan universities echoed Eaton's concerns that people are being taken into custody and then to the facilities.
"This process is being forced upon some of the most marginalized in our communities," Barbara Fornssler, an assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan's school of public health, said in an email.
"This approach will diminish trust in care providers and reduce access to care in Saskatchewan."
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With files from Alexander Quon