ST. JOHN'S -- An Ontario-based consulting form has developed a set of standards for public and private emergency homeless shelters in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The province's Department of Housing released the long-awaited shelter standards report from OrgCode Consulting today.
The document covers details ranging from the size of mattresses that must be provided through to the number of staff per guests that should be employed by shelters.
Newfoundland and Labrador uses publicly funded emergency shelters, and it also pays nightly fees to private landlords who provide beds to homeless people in their buildings.
A list of complaints about private shelters from Nov. 1, 2023, to April 1 of this year, released through access to information legislation, describe shelter residents as feeling "terrified" and "in danger" in facilities one complainant called "hell on earth."
Two homeless encampments sprang up last year in St. John's where many residents said they felt safer in tents than in for-profit shelters.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 11, 2024.
