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Regina non-profit promises review, but calls complaints about program 'a significant distraction'

A Regina non-profit says former employees who have spoken out about concerns with one of its programs are trying to discredit the agency, and called their actions a "significant distraction."

Street Workers Advocacy Project (SWAP) says it will be conducting an independent third-party review after advocates voiced their concerns with its Raising Hope program earlier this month.

The Raising Hope program, which is run by SWAP and receives government funding, provides housing and programming to women who struggle with addictions, and who have children in care or are at risk of having their children apprehended.

Last month, one of the program's participants, Fay Munro, raised concerns about Raising Hope, saying she is set to be evicted on Dec. 31 even though she doesn't think she's ready to leave the residential program. More advocates came forward with concerns earlier this month.

On Friday, the SWAP board of directors announced the organization will launch a review of the policy framework and outcomes of the Raising Hope program to ensure it is meeting the needs of its clients.

A release from SWAP says the decision was made because employees have raised concerns with the Ministry of Social Services and through the media, instead of taking the organization up on offers to bring their concerns to the SWAP board of directors.

"The individuals involved have chosen to escalate their concerns to the political level by addressing their issues directly to the Minister of Social Services, as well as engaging in a public and social media campaign to discredit the agency," the release says.

"This campaign has become a significant distraction for the agency and for the participants in the Raising Hope Program."

Four women who have worked for Raising Hope — Cheryl Deschene, Jenny Churchill, Maddie Sanderson and Donna Anderson Blind — said they had no choice but to go public with complaints when their private attempts to raise concerns with SWAP executive director Barb Lawrence and the ministry failed.

They allege that employees — including Deschene, who was recently fired after five years as a program facilitator with Raising Hope — have been terminated after raising concerns with management.

They are calling for urgent government intervention to prevent Munro's eviction, and asked that the government hire an independent and impartial third-party investigator to evaluate concerns and conduct a forensic audit of the non-profit. Furthermore, they want the government to assume immediate control of all operations until the investigation concludes.

The release from SWAP says the review will start in the early part of the new year. The release says the terms of reference for the organizational review are currently being developed and a search for the third-party reviewer has begun.