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Lighthouse’s financial situation remains foggy

Jun 13, 2016 | 12:51 PM

Months after the Lighthouse shelter in North Battleford said it would be forced to close if the province didn’t change its funding policies, the emergency shelter still has not found a solution to its financial troubles.

Jeff Redakop of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Social Services said the ministry has been working with the Lighthouse to come up with a long-term funding solution, but have yet to decide on a strategy.

“We’ve been having some very encouraging conversations with the Lighthouse,” he said. “We’ve been certainly working toward longer term solutions and I’m encouraged by the conversations we’ve had so far.”

Redakop said the province is currently performing an evaluation of the clients at the Lighthouse, both in North Battleford and Saskatoon, to identify the types of services provided, the specific needs of individuals, and the responsibilities of the ministries involved.

“We expect that evaluation will be completed by the end of June of this year and that will help government be informed on longer term funding decisions,” he said.

Back in December, the Lighthouse said the ministry informed it government services would no longer pay for people receiving funding from a First Nation. This made many of the shelter’s clients ineligible for the provincial funding – roughly 90 per cent of them.

“Our ministries had a look at our processes and the billing that was coming in and we examined the billing to ensure that anybody who was funded through the Lighthouse in North Battleford was in keeping with our policies and regulations,” Redakop said.

If a client needs shelter, the province will pay for their first night or weekend at the Lighthouse. Redakop said he would expect the individual to connect with their First Nation or the ministry to determine if they qualify for ongoing provincial support.

“..we would work with the individual to determine what their plans are, what their needs are for shelter, for clothing, for food and we’d work with them on a plan to provide for their longer term shelter, maybe connect them with services that would meet their needs,” he said.

He said the ministry is working with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada to establish a protocol for clients to receive funding through a First Nation.

The Lighthouse in North Battleford and its parent organization in Saskatoon have not responded to repeated attempts for comment.

 

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