Housing critics want to know where the 'teeth' are in new shelter standards

Even as housing critics welcome long-awaited new standards for government-funded shelters,some say they're wondering how the guidelines will be enforced.

Labrador West NDP MHA Jordan Brown said he's finally glad to see the report,something his party has been demanding for years,even if some things are lacking.

"A lot of this is just common sense stuff that should've been in place for years," he told CBC News.

On Thursday, the provincial government released the standards for emergency shelters that receive government funding. They includes guidelines forsafety, health, cleanliness andstaffing.

Brown wants to know how the new standards will be enforced.

"What is the resources that are going to be given to Newfoundland and Labrador Housing or any agency that's going to enforce this?" he asked.

"This has to have some teeth. This has to have some ability to be enforced because they're vulnerable people."

Brown said he wants to see consequences like financial penalties for a shelter doesn't live up to the standards.

WATCH| Housing minister Fred Hutton says standards for shelters will be expensive but worth the investment:

Standards for shelters that get government funds will be expensive to put in place: minister

2 months ago

Duration 1:03

New shelter standards will focus on health and safety, and training for staff, among other issues. A CBC News investigation revealed multiple concerns including violence and a lack of food at government-funded for-profit shelters. If operators dont comply with the new rules, says Housing Minister Fred Hutton, the government will stop using those shelters and will find other spaces.

Dan Meades, provincial co-ordinator of the Transition House Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, said he'd prefer to see for-profit shelters done away with entirely.If shelters are run as a non-profit, he said, the organization will spend money to help their community, whereas a for-profit shelter is motivated to make money.

The new guidelines would have two staff members at a shelter at all times, he said, and they would need to have a high level in training in addictions and mental health

"If you get rid of the for-profit shelter model, you no longer have an enforcement problem," said Meades.

"A for-profit shelter, however, has an incentive to not provide two staff, to not provide food, to not provide any of these things that cost money."

For-profit model here to stay?

Meades said the report has some other implications for how the government is going to approach housing.

"It really identifies and solidifies the for-profit shelter system here in Newfoundland and Labrador. And that's the wrong direction to go in the sheltering model."

That's a reversal of previous stances, said Meades, where the government said it was moving away from the for-profit shelter model, said Meades.

"Now these for-profit shelters are going to be coming back with even higher price tags than we've seen."

Meades said there's much in the documents he respects, such as the guidelines on harm reductionbut he's concernedabout the idea the shelters need to be low-barrier shelters,which would mean people using drugs and alcohol could access them, which he says could pose safety problems.

He's repeatedly heard that low-barrier shelters can be dangerous for women who need to access the service and for those who work there. The new guidelines also don't apply to transition houses, he said shelters for women and children fleeing violence.

"I'm really concerned about this idea that every shelter should be low barrier without any indication of how we're going to keep women safe when they're accessing those services," said Meades.

It can be difficult for people who are trying to treat mental health problems or addictions to be in environments where drugs are present.

"The truth is that low-barrier shelters, where there's lots of drug and alcohol use, can be really detrimental to the sobriety of some people that are experiencing homelessness."

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