Bulletin 2017-06: Shelter Standards Implementation Period Ends (June 30, 2017)

The Shelter Standards was approved by City council in 2015 and officially released at a public launch event in February 2016. Some standards took effect immediately upon Council approval. However, the majority of standards came into effect on February 1, 2016.

As part of the implementation plan to support shelter providers to transition to the updated Shelter Standards, SSHA:

Staggered and delayed in-effect dates for some standards that potentially required more work, lead time or cost to implement. These in-effect dates are posted online and can also be found in the appendix of the Shelter Standards.

• The last in-effect date is June 30, 2017 (date by which shelter provider and their staff are to comply with training requirements). As previously communicated, SSHA is not requesting that agencies submit documentation or to demonstrate compliance as part of this deadline.
• Rather, shelter providers are asked to submit their training information to their ARO/Housing Consultant in August/September as part of the budget submission process, as they have in previous years, in order to reduce the need for a new or separate report. Please take care to provide complete and accurate information as SSHA will initially rely on this data for planning and analysis.

Provided approximately $1.3M of funding to:

• Support the development of five (5) online training courses to facilitate greater ease of access to training and lower costs for providers.
• Conduct system-wide accessibility audits of shelter facilities.
• Help facilitate compliance with the Shelter Standards.
• Help providers complete small capital project/repairs and/or make acquisitions.
• Help providers acquire bed bug treatment equipment (e.g., heat tents, mattress covers, steamers).
• Partially reimburse providers for staff/board training costs incurred during the implementation period.

Delivered workshop / information sessions on allowing pets onsite to remove barrier for clients accessing shelter services and preparing documents (i.e., policies, procedures, plans) for review.

Created a Shelter Standards dedicated webpage to act as single source of Shelter Standards related content to support implementation.

Created tools, templates, and resources to raise awareness of changes to the Shelter Standards and improve communications with providers

SSHA has completed its planned implementation activities and this marks the end of the Shelter Standards implementation period.

Moving forward, Quality Assurance (QA) activities will help to identify where shelter providers are experiencing difficulty complying with Shelter Standards requirements.

The first planned QA activity is to review the required documents (i.e., policies, procedures, and plans) set out in the Shelter Standards.

• To date SSHA has received submissions from 21 (of 29) community shelter providers and from the five (5) main shelter programs operated by the City.
• Each provider submitted between 13-52 documents (average = 35).
• Agency Review Officers will reach out to community providers in the coming weeks to discuss how to submit any outstanding documents.

In the meanwhile, shelter providers are encouraged to contact SSHA as needed or to address any questions or concerns.

Resources: N/A
Contact Information: Community shelter providers may contact their Agency Review Officer for more information about this Bulletin.