Health Minister Patrice Minors is maintaining her tough stance on Government grants, saying that if the board of Hope Homes do not uphold their responsibilities then the Ministry will take “whatever steps necessary”.

And Government is doing its part, with the Ministry of Works and Engineering beginning immediate repairs to the physical plant this Monday being top of the list.

Hope Homes has been the centre of controversy since the Health Ministry came under fire for allowing the conditions of the facility where the residents reside to fall into disarray. In a statement released yesterday Mrs. Minors summed up the history of the service. “The public is aware that the facility that Hope Homes owns and used as a residence on Brunswick Street is condemned and the Government stepped in (three years ago) to offer shelter to the residents while Hope Homes refurbished that site ...

“The facility that Government provided in the West End was rent free on the condition that the Hope Homes Board would ensure the maintenance of the West End premises and would refurbish the condemned building on Brunswick Street. The damage caused by Hurricane Fabian has put additional pressure on the Hope Homes Board and the residential programme.”

Those terms were not met, she said. “The facility in the West End has not been maintained and the Brunswick facility has not been refurbished ... We are now therefore faced with a residential programme that is not meeting the needs of the Hope Homes clients and the Board has not been able to identify viable options to resolve this in the short-term or the long-term.”

The Department of Financial Assistance, she said, provides a grant to the Board to help with their goal of delivering services to mentally challenged adults, helping them to lead as normal a life as possible. The Department provides a $160,000 annual grant and a $980 monthly subsidy for each resident's room and board. In total, Hope Homes receives more than $300,000 per year from Government, along with donations from the private sector. “The Department however has been faced with mounting concerns over the ability of the programme to meet their clients' short-term and long-term needs,” Mrs. Minors said. Meetings were held with the executive director to discuss concerns such as the physical plant, management and service provision, and the corrective measures that would need to be taken.

In spite of receiving funds from Government, Mrs. Minors said Hope Homes “has been resistant to and non-compliant with this Department's request to encourage greater accountability and overall improvement of service delivery to Hope Homes clients.

“As a result of the increasing and ongoing concerns, the Ministry has been looking at ways to assist Hope Homes in their mission and, failing that, possible alternative measures to ensure the safety and well-being of the clients while fortifying programme management.” At the Minister's request technical officers have reviewed Hope Homes and identified key issues which need to be addressed, as well as how the Ministry can help with those key issues.

“The Ministry is committed to the mission of Hope Homes and for this reason a grant is provided to the Board,” Mrs. Minors said. “In cases like this where stated goals are not being met, the Ministry has tried to encourage and persuade this grant recipient to take the necessary corrective action in order to carry out their responsibility. If Hope Homes will not do what is required of them, the Ministry will take whatever steps necessary to ensure that this segment of the community is well-served.”