This past week Southwest YES talked about a community-needs assessment by the Southwest Regional Intersectoral Committee reaffirming their stance that Swift Current emergency youth shelter Dorie's House should get government funding so it can reopen. Now the ministry of social services has chimed in, and they are still of the opinion that it isn't necessary.

Tobie Eberhardt is a community services director within the ministry, and said she wants to see more of what went into the assessment's methodology.

Eberhardt said what Street Culture's youth homeless shelter program in Regina does is connect youth that stay there to a case worker within a 24-hour period, while Dorie's House - which was open for the better part of a year without government funding - wound up being more of a long-term stay for people.

"We don't see a need for a shelter in the Swift Current area," she said, adding that even the youth shelter in Regina is underutilized. "The other day out of the 15 beds, five beds were used the night before."

edit: The original version said Eberhardt was speaking about JP's House in Swift Current, but it was Street Culture's youth shelter homeless shelter program.