Since the coroner’s inquest into the deaths of Cassandra Warville, Myranda Tizya-Charlie, Josephine Elizabeth Hager and Darla Skookum at the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter concluded and recommendations have been released, the main shelter operator is providing an update to the community on its response.
The spring report to the community on 405 Alexander St. contains a message from Chris Kinch, vice president of Yukon and Northern B.C. service delivery for Connective Support Society, known as Connective, which runs the shelter alongside the Council of Yukon First Nations.
Kinch recognizes the “heavy mental and emotional toll” an inquest can take on families, friends and communities of the deceased as part of “reliving the details of these tragic events so others could benefit from the resulting lessons learned.”
The jury’s eight recommendations relate to reviewing policies and training, improving communication among staff and creating safe spaces for LGBTQ2S+ and female-identifying service users are directed at Connective and the Yukon government.
On May 24, the Yukon’s chief coroner Heather Jones sent letters to Kinch and Stephen Doyle, the director of social support for the territorial Health and Social Services department, asking for a response that sets out intentions with respect to the recommendations specific to each organizational body.
Jones asked for that response to be received by July 5. Her letters clearly explain that her letters and any response — or lack thereof — to the recommendations will be made public.
An email from a Connective spokesperson to the News states the organization fully intends to respond to Jones by the given deadline.
Kinch's message to the community notes Connective endorses the recommendations and is set out to act on them, with confidence that the steps taken will make a positive impact on all clients who use the shelter.
“As an organization committed to growth and accountability, Connective recognizes that inquests are a vital public process and a necessary component of honouring lives lost, learning from tragedy and improving outcomes for those we serve,” Kinch wrote.
“We will continue to work together with our partners at the Council of Yukon First Nations, and funders at the Yukon government, to ensure that we are making timely progress.”
Kinch noted Connective has been mapping out its plan for making program changes in the short, medium and long term.
Tracking progress
A progress report in Connective’s spring newsletter lays out a timeline of six months for policy and training reviews.
“Relevant organizational policies, procedures and guidelines — including those identified as priorities by inquest jurors — have been captured and organized for review. We are currently engaging with an external resource to support the review and feedback processes needed to inform policy revisions,” reads the newsletter.
“We are identifying training options to support improvements to onboarding, orientation and ongoing professional development — including those identified as priorities by inquest jurors. We are conducting this work in concert with our policy review, to ensure training is aligned with any required policy updates.”
The newsletter indicates Connective has immediately started doing something about staffing priorities.
“We have revised our job postings to prioritize Indigenous recruitment, remove barriers limiting Indigenous applications and add messaging about preferential candidates. We will continue to advance work in this area by creating a recruitment page dedicated to equity deserving groups, establishing additional local partnerships to support Indigenous recruitment and attending Indigenous-focused networking, info sessions and job fairs,” reads the newsletter.
The Yukon government is working with Yukon First Nations to evaluate Connective’s compliance with the above-mentioned recommendations, as noted in the newsletter.
The newsletter indicates that Connective is working closely on an ongoing basis with the territorial government to come up with a framework and process for an independent critical incident review if future deaths occur at the shelter.
Per the newsletter, Connective is letting the Yukon government take the lead on meeting with those impacted by the deaths to hear out their concerns arising from the inquest.
"We are committed to following their lead on the appropriate timing and manner of engagement," reads the newsletter.
The wording of the jury's recommendations calls for leadership from the territorial government and Connective to meet with the impacted community.
For staff, Connective is going over a plan for in-person counselling. For now, staff can attend monthly group virtual session or refer to a guidebook.
As for communication, the newsletter offers a six-month timeline for gathering feedback on current shift exchange practices to inform ways to make it better.
Another six-month timeline is projected for coming up with a plan to “to engage with local LGBTQ2S+ and women-focused service organizations to explore the development of safe spaces, and safety generally” at 405 Alexander St.
Talking downtown
A press release issued by the Yukon government on June 24 reflects on the latest public gathering held one evening the previous week to collect concerns and solutions more generally for Whitehorse’s downtown core.
The release indicates that the June 18 community conversation will help guide carrying out the Yukon government’s downtown Whitehorse safety response action plan — and make it better.
The government has released a one-page "living document" last updated June 18 that contains completed initiatives and medium-term and long-term goals in response to downtown safety, particularly with respect to the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter at 405 Alexander St. For example, the government has checked off hiring private security to patrol around Alexander Street.
About 70 people went to the recent event, including Whitehorse residents, business owners and community members, as noted in the release. Government officials and RCMP gave updates on what has been done so far.
“People also spoke about the need for enforcement of existing laws and more accessible support services for vulnerable populations,” reads the release.
A briefing will be held for reporters in July to go over progress made on the downtown front this summer, per the government’s release.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
