Advocacy groups welcome promised Sask. budget item for women fleeing domestic violence

Organizations that advocate for women and children fleeing domestic violence are applauding the news that the Saskatchewan government plans to provide money for second-stage shelters to operate in the province.

Saskatchewan Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre announced during question period Wednesday that the Saskatchewan government has earmarked money for operational funding for the shelters in the upcoming budget, but didn't say how much.

Eyre did say that the provincial government has taken a serious look at what facilities and operators are out there, who can offer second-stage shelters, how they can offer them and how the government can best invest in them.

Lise Martin, the executive director of Women's Shelters Canada, said her organization is very happy the Saskatchewan government will do this.

"It's a very important process in allowing women to build back their lives," Martin said.

Stakeholders and the Opposition have been calling for this for years.

Saskatchewan has had the highest rate of intimate partner violence against female victims reported to police among Canadian provinces in recent years.

Saskatchewan puts money toward operational funding for emergency women's shelters, but is one of three provinces that don't currently fund second-stage shelters.

"We strongly believe that the levels of services and the levels of protection provided to women and children should not depend on their postal code," Martin said.

"This was a concrete example of how a level of service did depend on the postal code."

Path to independence

Second-stage shelters are secure, subsidized, apartment-style units where women and children can typically stay for six months to two years beyond emergency shelters.

The shelters are high-security facilities, with social workers present to provide counselling for complex issues like trauma, addiction and poverty, and support for the women to become independent.

Melissa Coomber-Bendtsen, the CEO of YWCA Regina, said her organization is very excited about the promised funding, adding it is an important part of the continuum of support for women fleeing violence.

Coomber-Bendtsen said she believes this will have a "huge impact" on the turn-away numbers in Saskatchewan's shelter system and on her organization's capacity to keep families housed.

"I do think that this will impact our domestic violence rates in the province," she said.

"Because it will mean that women aren't returning to dangerous situations or are precariously housed as they try to navigate the system."

YWCA Regina is one of the organizations that currently run second-stage housing without government operational support.

"One of the things we see is women going back into the shelter system, which is very costly and is not where they need to be," Coomber-Bendtsen said.

"But they have to go back into that shelter system because they don't have the support they need to maintain second-stage housing."

Cautious optimism

Jo-Anne Dusel, the executive director of the Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of Saskatchewan (PATHS), said this is a good step forward.
    
Dusel said her group is cautiously optimistic the new money will be what is needed for second-stage shelters — and that it will be sustainable, ongoing and adequate funding.

She said second-stage shelters lead to better outcomes for survivors of domestic violence and reduce backlogs in emergency shelters, meaning people who are in crisis are more likely to be able to access space in emergency shelters.

"Emergency shelters are overburdened, overwhelmed, understaffed, and they're underpaid," Dusel said. "So there's a lot more that could be done to invest in addressing this issue in Saskatchewan."

Ideally, government operational funding would be enough for staff and the people that they serve, she said.

Dusel said the frontline domestic violence shelters and counselling services are telling PATHS that staff are overwhelmed by the rate of violence — and that the severity of violence has increased over the last few years during the pandemic.

She said there is a lot of burnout and staff turnover, because people can go to other jobs where they're doing similar work for much higher wages.

"That makes it very difficult for the agencies that exist to maintain staff to provide the best quality service to people in need — when they themselves are just hanging on by a thread," Dusel said.

Reaction from Alberta

Jan Reimer, the executive director of the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters, recalls the difference operational funding for second-stage shelters made when it began in her province.

"I think that's a great move," she said of Saskatchewan's plans. "We know what it did in Alberta, and it meant a lot.

"I mean we had shelter directors literally losing their hair wondering how they were going to meet payroll and how they were going to keep these facilities operating."

Reimer's advice for Saskatchewan is multi-year funding agreements, as well as funding that accounts for inflation.

"By investing in these programs at the shelter level, you are saving lots of money in the criminal justice system, in the child welfare system, in income support, in so many different areas that it's just a really wise investment," she said.

Support is available for anyone affected by intimate partner violence. In Saskatchewan, www.pathssk.org has listings of available services across the province. The Ending Violence Association of Canada website also lists resources in Saskatchewan.

People can also contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or texting "START" TO 88788.

If the situation is urgent, contact emergency services in your area.