By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Big changes may be coming to Northumberland County’s homeless shelter, following county council’s recorded vote on Wednesday to support Cobourg Mayor Lucas Cleveland’s motion to request a staff report by June on operating the shelter as a sober-living facility – as contrasted with its current operations as a low-barrier shelter.
The motion noted the previous success of the shelter’s operator, Transition House, in a more restrictive facility that had curfews and zero-tolerance practices. Though its previous location was just around the corner from the current shelter at 310 Division St., at 10 Chapel St., Cleveland noted that there were nowhere near the numbers of complaints and criticism that have been occasioned since the larger facility on Division Street opened in November.
Given the magnitude of such a change, and the question of what would happen to residents and clients who do not fall within revised parameters, some councillors questioned how realistic a June staff report might be, but Cleveland did not want to see the matter left over the summer and even suggested the change might be made with a simple vote of county council – without the report.
“This magnitude of report is more than just a Google search,” Chief Administrative Officer Jennifer Moore said.
“It’s not just research, it’s the how-to that will take time. Other work needs to be set aside.”
As for what happens to those who might be adversely affected by the change, Cleveland said, “the provincial government has made it very clear what they are going to be doing. They are not building a large jail east of here and opening two jails in Toronto for no reason. They have a very clear plan of what they are going to be doing about people on the street using drugs and people in encampments. When is this level of government going to catch up?”
Deputy Warden Olena Hankivsky said it places “a very unfair burden on the staff of Transition House to be dealing with a whole range of very complex issues,” adding “I feel very strongly that a one-size-fits-all is not going to work.”
She referred to the current operational model as “too many diverse, complex needs under one roof.
“I just don’t think this is a model that can succeed with that complexity of need under one roof.”
“It’s a failure of the province, not creating enough of the kinds of support we need in the area of health, mental health and addictions services. But here we are left with what to do next.”
Councillor John Logel noted that the statistics in monthly reports from the shelter had showed an initial positive effect after it opened, but that this had deteriorated as months passed, weather warmed and clients of the facility spent more time out and about.
Cleveland spoke of triaging and focusing efforts where they were most needed – among multiple emergencies going on, he said, the three biggest were limited money, limited staff and limited time. The response must be to create an environment that supports people’s recovery with such features as zero tolerance, strictly enforced rules and regulations (including a curfew), as opposed to “an all-inclusive show-up-when-you-want-leave-when-you-want.”
The motion called for a report by the June 25 council meeting, one which takes into account all the feedback that has been provided to date.
