Grants and Contributions:

Title:

Halfway houses and the pandemic: Research on their best practices, vulnerabilities and solutions to protect these community organizations and ensure service continuity.

Agreement Number:

21587

Agreement Value:

$59,972.50

Agreement Date:

Oct 2, 2020 - Mar 31, 2021

Description:

ASRSQ will conduct surveys in 35 housing facilities in QC to understand their challenges and best practices (including francophone facilities in New Brunswick), with an in-depth look at two facilities in Montreal that had positive results during the current pandemic. A study of housing facilities’ vulnerabilities to a new epidemic will be completed and include recommendations to address identified vulnerabilities to aid in the development of uniform protocols and tools for use by all residential facilities in QC.

Organization:

Public Safety Canada

Expected Results:

Immediate Results
• Improvement of communication with CSC during a crisis and encouraging the implementation of more effective mechanisms (e.g. a dedicated platform to enable the sharing of best practices in times of crisis).
• Identification of a contact, expert in public health, who would be hired as a consultant by the ASRSQ and who could be called upon as needed by members.
• Increase in videoconferencing services offered (programs, meetings, assessments, etc.) via the WebEx videoconferencing platform.
Intermediate Results
• Standardization of pandemic protocols from one halfway house to another and development of a set of tools that CRFs/community shelters can put in place based on their capacity, needs, and specific situations.
• A reduction in the vulnerability of halfway houses to the spread of a virus through a series of recommendations both at the behavioural level (social distancing, disinfection, etc.) and physical level (adaptation of the premises, installation of plexiglass, automation of doors, faucets, etc.).
Long-term Results
• Development of partnership models that will be established prior to a potential pandemic to ensure the continuation of services even in the event of contamination of the organization (e.g. template agreements with local hotels or motels for each CRF/community shelter).
• Transformation of the network by converting halfway houses to single occupancy in the medium/long term.

Location:

Montreal/ Montréal, Quebec, CA H2J 1M3

Reference Number:

214-2020-2021-Q3-0003

Agreement Type:

Contribution

Report Type:

Grants and Contributions

Recipient Business Number:

106730799RT0001

Recipient Type:

Not-for-profit organization or charity

Recipient's Legal Name:

Association des services de réhabilitation sociale du Québec Inc.

Program:

(PDCP) Policy Development Contribution Program

Program Purpose:

PDCP supports strategic projects undertaken by the Department's stakeholders that contribute to policy making and improved service delivery, in the areas of public safety and emergency management.