provides appropriate protections for shelter seekers across demographic differences. Cultural competence practices should involve all staff having a level of cultural competence but could also involve providing clients the option of engaging with culturally specific staff/teams. Having staff that reflect the population of those seeking shelter is a best practice approach to support inclusion and cultural competence.

Shelters should have an orientation towards working with people that may be engaged in higher-risk, exploitive, and/or harmful activities 16 . Shelters should specifically indicate that clients do not need to alter their substance use, etc. to access shelter. They should also be provided with direct access to harm reduction supplies (e.g. needle exchange, distribution and disposal) as well as education regarding how to avoid risky behaviours and engage in safer practices (e.g. overdose prevention). Some shelter models go even further with harm reduction services, to include controlled quantities of alcohol to replace non-beverage/ non-palatable alcohol.

Promoting dignity and respect begins at entry. The intake process should be as unobtrusive as possible regarding the person and their possessions 17 . Information collected should be limited to the bare minimum of what is required to access a bed. Clients should be given the option between meeting in a private closed-door space and a more open-concept space with a private corner. Clients with disabilities should be offered clear opportunities to request reasonable accommodations within applications and screening processes. Amnesty totes should be offered for clients to safely store anything in their possession, and the contents will not be searched by staff, nor will they be punished for the contents.

The built form and layout of an emergency shelter should also promote dignity and reduce conflict 18 . Shelters should be 24-7 spaces clients can access at any time and where they can have all of their basic needs met, including being able to receive food, hygiene, storage, etc. They should also be of a “human scale”, meaning that they should be a size that is reasonable for an average person to use and not perceived as a massive institutional facility.

Rules are another crucial area related to the promotion of dignity and respect. Rules should be clearly communicated to clients and easily accessible for review by clients 19 . Rules should be reasonable, and their enforcement be transparent and proportional. When someone does not meet an expectation, staff should work with the person to help them meet the expectation, rather than creating a conflict for violating a rule or use the power dynamic to threaten dismissal and force compliance 20 . Clients should be involved in developing and updating rules and other shelter policies, for example, through a client advisory board or regular “house meetings”.

Data to Measure Performance

Using data to measure performance of the shelter system involves establishing targets, regularly reporting on performance measurements, and using the information to evaluate the effectiveness of the shelter system and improve outcomes.