Two group homes in the city’s downtown area will not be closing until a new $1.1-million facility the government bought last May opens sometime next year.

That site, which currently sits vacant at 22 Wann Rd., is expected to begin welcoming youth to its Porter Creek location from the two other group homes sometime in 2019.

It will happen after the building undergoes renovations, estimated to cost the government between $500,000 and $1 million, to convert the one-time bed and breakfast into a group home.

Speaking to reporters Monday afternoon, Health and Social Services Minister Pauline Frost assured the two downtown sites have not been closed yet.

“The objective is as soon as we’re done with the 22 Wann Rd. project, we’ll cease and desist those two facilities,” she said. “So until that happens, we will have facilities opened and providing services.”

The tender for renovations to the site is yet to be issued and is expected to be up Nov. 5, a Department of Highways and Public Works (HPW) spokesperson confirmed late this morning.

That’s Oshea Jephson, who said that it will go up on the government’s tender management system by that date.

It is expected that HPW will hand off the keys to the building to the Department of Health and Social Services (HSS) by April 30 of 2019.

The Star was unable to verify whether that meant youth would begin moving into the site as of that date, or if there would be a time period after it’s handed off to HSS and it begins accepting youth, in time for this afternoon’s publication.

With the Porter Creek site’s opening coinciding with the closures of two other homes as planned, Frost assured there would not be a gap that needs to be filled – something that could have proved extra-difficult given winter is fast-approaching.

“There are no disruptions in services, let’s make that very clear,” she said, noting that the youth would be moving from one site into another.

“The one unit is intended to provide efficiencies for youth who are transitioning out,” she added in the legislature.

Currently, there are four youth in each of the two homes set to eventually shut down.

With the new 10-bedroom site, that leaves space for two more youth who can move in from another facility or group home into the Wann Road site.

The minister, meanwhile, also took aim at the previous government’s approach.

“They effectively discontinued services as a child aged out of the system – and that’s not acceptable,” she said of the previously governing Yukon Party.

“The law requires us to provide services and so we are doing that.

“We purchased the property on Wann Road to ensure that we provide that transitional support,” she added.

The site will particularly help those who are transitioning out of government care into early adulthood, meaning they are 19-plus, HSS spokesperson Patricia Living explained Monday afternoon.

She added that as of late Monday, there were a total of 20 youth in group homes in the territory (a figure similar to what Frost mentioned). Most of those youth currently in care are in Whitehorse.

Though Living added that that number could change frequently on a daily basis, the government is planning for 2019 by taking into consideration trends and historic data.

“We have a pretty good idea of age groups and who comes in,” she said.

“We’re not anticipating that number would double.”

Frost, meanwhile, explained that the territory has at times seen upwards of 380 youth in government care, a number that has clearly dropped.

“They have a right to services and we have a right to deliver services – we have an obligation, a legal obligation.”

The two sites that are set to close do not currently meet building code standards, she explained. “Nor are they very effective.”

The government is not releasing which exact two homes will be closed come next year for privacy and safety reasons, but Living did confirm Monday they are both in the downtown area.

Back in the legislature Monday, NDP MLA Kate White asked the government to “explain the delay” in opening the transitional home.

To be clear: the government had initially hoped to welcome youth into the Wann Road home by the end of this year, as reported in the Star last March.

Highways and Public Works Minister Richard Mostyn rose Monday to respond. While he did not directly account for the delay, he did provide an updated timeline of events leading up to the home’s opening.

The tender for those renovations, he said, is expected to be out in November to December (confirmed by the Star today to be Nov. 5), meaning work should be wrapped up by spring of next year.

The estimate of costs for the work was made without any completed drawings nor design details.

That means the exact cost will be determined once the tender goes out and a contract is handed out.

Meanwhile, Frost also referenced a number of other reports and actions being taken around group homes in the territory, sparked in part by CBC reporter Nancy Thomson’s investigation into allegations of mistreatment.

Among them are: the Child and Youth Advocate’s systemic review of transitional support services and the government’s report from external investigator Pam Costanzo.

For clarity: the Costanzo report has not been made public in its entirety, but sparked the government and Frost to issue a public apology to youth in early September.

“The objective is to ensure we provide care for all children that we have responsibilities for.

“And that’s part of the reports that we’re conducting and assessments that are happening – it’s really to look at systemic issues that have been brought to our attention,” Frost told reporters.

As the Star reported Oct. 22, the government has already committed just over $118,000 in contracts related to the Porter Creek building.

HPW and HSS spokespeople at the time confirmed that it was related to design work as no money had been spent on renos or upgrades yet.

That figure stayed the same as of press time today on the government’s public contract registry.