Practical frameworks for change : Supporting women and children in Alberta emergency shelters

Coordination of the project was provided by the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters’ Director of Member Programs and Services and the work of the group was supported by ACWS staff and external consultants. [...] In addition to the time devoted to the work of the leadership team, each individual shelter made significant contributions to project implementation through: • the participation of shelter management and staff in numerous meetings and teleconferences; • delivering and attending training both outside and internally in the shelter; • developing and maintaining community partnerships;. [...] Concerns associated with the administration of the DA Calendar were about the traumatic impact of the tool on women and staff, time required to administer it and the ability of the woman to recall the events. [...] The “Legal Issues” component of the PFC project involved several activities, including partnership with Legal Aid Alberta (LAA) to initiate a telephone line dedicated specifically to calls from shelters, training associated with the implementation of the line, collection of information about the legal needs of women in shelters, assignment of staff within each shelter to support the legal needs of [...] According to the feedback gathered using the interviews and the survey about the LAA line and related training: • The training was extremely helpful, with the exception of its applicability to all locations and challenges associated with the “Train the Trainer” concept; • The pilot implementation was initially slower than expected, with only a few shelters using it in the first few months.