The province’s Child, Youth, and Seniors Advocate has released his report on the $1.4 million the Regional Development Corporation provided to Village of Hope to expand a recovery centre for people suffering from addiction.
It raised concerns about the use of the politicized Regional Development Corporations processes to make decisions on the funding “of social services and the lack of attention to growing waitlists for addiction treatment.”
The Village of Hope is located in Tracy, New Brunswick – about 35 kilometres away from Fredericton. The organization’s website is not active, but says “coming soon.”
Kelly Lamrock said the RDC is an economic development body and is not equipped to manage social services funding and policy considerations.
“It is clear that the Regional Development Corporation’s process did not account for the potential impacts of shifting addiction treatment capacity toward faith-based services without adequate review of the overall system capacity,” said Lamrock in a release. “Fast-tracking faith-based services through a political process while failing to address wait-lists for regulated, evidence-based services can remove the ability of people seeking help to truly exercise free, informed consent.”
Lamrock said the governments “must ensure that social programs are funded and managed by the departments with the necessary expertise to oversee them.”
He said the Village of Hope “acted in good faith within the application process,” and that “the lack of due diligence was a failing of the government.”
His report called on the government to provide better regulatory oversight and accreditation of private addiction treatment centers if it is to “refer vulnerable people to them for care.”
It noted the use of unpaid labour and supervised living conditions within the Village of Hope treatment model and the disconnect between the government departments facilitating placements while having no way to ensure safety.
“There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Village of Hope,” said Lamrock. “However, its activities – like many social services – place operators in a position of great power over vulnerable people. These models require robust oversight to ensure safety and effectiveness.
He said in a release that several government departments appear to refer vulnerable people to Village of Hope while taking no responsibility for oversight to avoid exploitation.
“This creates a troubling scenario where government departments know just enough to use the program, but not enough to be accountable if something goes wrong,” the release said.
The money was provided under the previous Higgs government.
The advocate’s recommendations include
- Clarifying the corporation’s role regarding the funding of social programs and services
- Addressing wait times for addiction services.
- Having a process to regulate and accredit any private facility to which government provides referrals or facilitates access.
“Significant public funds were spent on a scarce public resource without adequate efforts to ensure that the funds met the broader public interest,” said Lamrock in the release. “Private services jumped the queue without adequate oversight to protect both people seeking treatment and the taxpayer.”
Gillies LePage, the minister responsible for the Regional Development Corporation, said he has received the report and is reviewing it.
“Although I cannot comment on the decision-making of the previous government, I recognize the recommendation to clarify the mandate of RDC regarding the funding of organizations whose dominant purpose is the provision of social services, and I have asked staff at RDC to collaborate with the Attorney-General’s office to consider it in the organization’s mandate in spring of 2025,” he said in a statement to the Courier.
The Village of Hope has released a statement on the advocate’s report.
“Since its establishment in 2008, the Village of Hope has valued its long-standing partnership with the provincial government in supporting individuals and families in need,” the statement reads. “We are grateful for this ongoing collaboration.”
It said in the statement, it is encouraged by Lamrock’s recognition of the important role faith-based programs play alongside other community initiatives.
“We understand that the focus of the Advocate’s review was on the government funding process and not on any shortcomings of the Village of Hope,” the statement reads.
It said it shares the advocate’s desire to see individuals and families “supported during this critical crisis.”
“People are suffering. This is a problem – people are dying, and crimes are being committed,” it said in it’s statement. “The need for support is immense, with long waitlists for services as the Advocate noted in his report. The Village of Hope is just one part of the solution to this growing need, and we are thankful to play a role in addressing it.”
It said it believes a variety of support options should be made available to individuals and families, adding it remains committed to collaborating with all those in the addiction field — including government partners, and other organizations.
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