'We were scratching our heads': Saskatoon child clinic raises concerns over proposed shelter nearby

There’s more outcry about a proposed temporary shelter in Saskatoon's downtown core. This time it's from professionals who run a children’s mental health clinic next door, servicing thousands of vulnerable kids each year.

The proposed shelter site has left them questioning if the city researched the impact to nearby businesses.

“If there is a threat anywhere, like close by, we're going to have such a hard time even getting them in the building,” clinical administrator Karen Cloutier told CTV News.

Cloutier is the first person that parents and patients who come for children’s mental health services, at the Rumely building see upon arrival. There are two such clinics operating there, Milestones Occupational Therapy for Children and Prairie Centre for Child Development.

The City of Saskatoon announced last week that a former Saskatchewan Transportation Company building located at 210 Pacific Avenue was identified as a potential temporary site for an enhanced 30 to 40-bed emergency shelter.

If approved by city council, the downtown temporary shelter is expected to open in winter to provide 24-7 access to shelter for clients, with three meals a day and access to case managers and other services.

When Cloutier first heard news of the proposed shelter location, she immediately feared for the well-being of children who receive their service, some of whom have to be coached to even come in these doors.

“We have to say it’s safe come in, it’s ok and then we finally get them in. This is a safe place for children, and we finally get them into the room where they're feeling comfortable here. This is a safe place for children,” Cloutier says.

Staff at these clinics wonder what sort of research was done about the type of businesses in the area and the impact a shelter would have given the vulnerable children they serve.

“This is confusing. We were scratching our heads. We said, well, how could this happen? We just said, is this real? Does this make sense? No one's asked us. No one's talked to us,” Stephan Bourassa, a pediatric occupational therapist told CTV News.

Last year alone, 7,000 children visited their clinic during the day and evening, according to Bourassa.

“Do people know where this proposed shelter is? It’s basically completely triangulated between across the street, a children's dance studio, and right next door, 50ft away from a pediatric mental health and neurodevelopmental clinic,” he said.

The Sutherland shelter decision is very much on their minds here. That proposal was reversed when council deemed a shelter couldn’t be set up within 250 metres of a public or Catholic school because of kids’ safety. The same principle applies here according to those we spoke to. These clinicians are also no strangers to the root issues of homelessness.

“Which are the same issues that we face here every day, which are trauma, which are adverse early childhood events, which are issues related to marginalization and disenfranchisement,” Jocelyn Poock, a registered doctoral psychologist said.

Poock chose the location with her colleagues in the Rumley Building because it was a safe location where they determined kids could feel safe, but now that could be in jeopardy.

“That means that us as clinicians, we're not able to do our jobs at that point because the cornerstone of true trauma-informed therapy is safety. Children have to develop a sense of safety so that they trust the clinician that they're working with. They must trust the building that they're going into,” she says.

Mayor Charlie Clark told CTV News that extra shelter beds are necessary heading towards winter and assures the province and The Mustard Seed -- an Alberta-based Christian non-profit that will operate the shelter-- will make it clear what safeguards will be used.

“How they are going to ensure and address, both the supports inside the building and safety in and around the neighborhood with police and fire will be working with them,” the mayor said.

These details will be made available at an informational session at city hall on Monday, where a large contingent of community members is expected to attend, including others in the neighbourhood, like owners of a dance studio across the street who publicly expressed their concern earlier this week.

The concerns of the operators of these child-centered businesses will be similar.

“It's going to be impactful, very impactful on our families, you know, that we have made relationships with and, you know, trust us. If the clients aren't feeling safe coming into the clinic, we have a large concern,” Cloutier added.

The last shelter location the city identified, a former fire hall in Sutherland, was later spiked by councillors in the wake of mass protests by residents, aided by a small but vocal contingent of Fairhaven residents who believe the shelter in their neighbourhood has caused a surge in crime — although police stats contradict their claims.

In Sutherland, the dispute came to a head with a February city council motion limiting the criteria for the selection of a shelter site — barring one from being opened within 250 metres of an elementary school. With the motion passed, the fire hall’s proximity to the Bishop Filevich Elementary School meant it could not proceed in Sutherland.