New beds reserved to get people off the streets in Quebec

Photo: Jean Gagnon Creative Commons The Lauberivière shelter will reserve 24 long-term beds for homeless people, men and women, who have a mental health problem.

Isabelle Porter in Quebec City

Published at 0:00

• Quebec

With the addition of funds to the PRISM program in Quebec City, the Minister Delegate for Health, Lionel Carmant, believes he can get dozens of people with mental health problems who can’t find shelter anywhere off the streets of Saint-Roch.

“The success rate is between 80 and 90%,” the minister stressed in an interview with Devoir on Tuesday. First developed in Montreal, PRISM (Projets de réaffiliation en itinérance et en santé mentale) provides long-term support to homeless people struggling with mental health problems.

The minister is expected to announce an investment of $1 million in the program in Quebec City during the États généraux de l’itinérance, which is being held at the Centre de foires until Thursday.

In his view, this program should be given priority because it is precisely “what is missing” in the service offering.

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In concrete terms, the Lauberivière shelter will reserve 24 long-term beds for homeless men and women who have a mental health problem. For a period of 8 to 12 weeks, they will be monitored individually by a psychiatrist and a multidisciplinary team from the Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux de la Capitale-Nationale.

Once their situation has stabilized, they will be offered suitable accommodation with follow-up. And this, “for a period of at least one year, until they are autonomous,” specifies the minister.

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A solution to cohabitation problems

In Quebec City, cohabitation problems between homeless people, residents and merchants regularly resurface in the Saint-Roch district, where Lauberivière is located, the largest shelter for homeless people in the capital.

M. Carmant rightly argues that PRISM can have beneficial effects in this regard since the homeless people who arouse the most fear are often those “who have mental health and drug addiction problems.”

In Montreal, the program mainly targets people with severe mental health issues. But in Quebec City, the criteria will be expanded to include those suffering from both less severe mental health issues and drug addiction.

Traditionally, these people rarely go to shelters, the minister explains. “Either they don’t want to go to a shelter, or they can’t because the shelters don’t accept them. So, they’re really on the street.”

They will, however, have to abstain from substances during their stay at Lauberivière since the facility prohibits residents from consuming on site.

But even if program participants don’t go to the shelter for a given period, they keep their bed.

“They will have workers who will be provided for them. They will also have their own bed reserved, and if they go out during the day, they can return to the same room in the evening,” the minister continued.

In Montreal, the program is offered at the Old Brewery Mission, the Bon Accueil Mission, the Patricia Mackenzie Pavilion and, more recently, at the Chaînon.

The government plans to extend the program to Abitibi-Témiscamingue next year, and discussions are underway with a view to implementing it in Sherbrooke.