OTTAWA, Canada: Four severely autistic men continue to live in a converted 150-year-old farm-house, amid rat and mouse droppings which must be cleaned up daily. The danger of fire is so great that the fire marshal has ordered staff to conduct hourly fire inspections at night.

The Ontario Ministry of Community, Family and Children's Services has asked the agency responsible to find alternate accommodation for the four men "as soon as possible." According to internal documents of the Ottawa Valley Autistic Homes obtained by the Citizen, Wynn Turner, the association's former executive director, sought funding from the Ministry in August 2000 to build a new facility for the residents of the deteriorating Progress House, as the facility on Innes Road is called.

After health inspections in December 2000, and February 9 and April 4, 2001, the city health department found that Progress House was "not a suitable premises to operate a group residence. Alternate arrangements should be made to accommodate residents immediately."

Despite this warning, the autistic residents were not moved. Because of their condition, the four residents remain unaware of the controversy swirling around the conditions of their home.

For the employees who provide 24-hour care to the residents, Progress House is a health, safety and structural nightmare. Agency workers have complained that rat and mouse droppings, which must be cleaned up daily, suggest infestation. At one point, an order was issued to remove accumulating bat faeces from the attic after it began to cause a sickening stench throughout the house.

The kitchen area had to be reinforced in May 2001 so staff would not fall through the floor. Nor does the structure meet all the requirements of the fire code. The dry wooden structure and antiquated electrical wiring system have led to staff calling Progress House a firetrap. As an interim measure to allow continued occupancy in spite of the fire hazards, the fire marshal ordered the agency staff to conduct hourly fire checks throughout the night.

When contacted for comment, Ministry and agency officials would not discuss the specific reasons for the need to move the four men out.

The residents are due to be housed in new, permanent accommodations in Collins House in South Nepean as soon as Minto Developments, which manages the property, completes the necessary renovations. A Minto spokesman, Dan Paquette, stated that Collins House would be ready for occupancy in August.

In a written statement, A Ministry spokeswoman, Anne Machowski, said that its "foremost concern was for the health and safety of the residents of Progress House." She added that the "Ministry is closely monitoring the situation," but referred all questions regarding health, fire, structural and sanitation conditions at Progress House to Ottawa Valley Autistic Homes, as the organisation best situated to respond.

Group homes for disabled persons are funded and licensed by the Ministry under provisions of the province's Developmental Services Act. However, the legislation requires all such residences to meet municipal fire, building and health regulations.

In a letter dated February 15, 2001, Turner responded to problems the Ministry's own inspectors had identified during the licensing process. She wrote that she "strongly agreed" with Ministry inspectors that Progress House was "in poor physical condition" and reiterated the city health inspector's "real concern" about the house. She emphasised Ottawa Valley Autistic Home's predicament: "My concern is that, if the department of health or the building department pursue this, I can assure you that Minto, on behalf of the National Capital Commission, will give us notice (to vacate) if they are pressed to fix up this house."

Management services for Progress House are provided by Minto on behalf of the owner, the National Capital Commission. NCC spokesman John Kane confirmed that on June 26, 2001, the city issued it a compliance order to make repairs to the house, and the minor repairs to counters, baths and doors were completed before the July 21 deadline. He also stated that the city, Ottawa Valley Autistic Homes and the NCC had all agreed that the major renovations required by the order would be completed once the residents vacated the property this spring.

Kane said the NCC was unaware of Minto's change in the Collins House occupancy date from spring to August of this year. He also said NCC was not aware that Ottawa Valley Autistic Homes and the Ministry were looking for interim accommodations for the residents because of the results of the review recently completed by an independent consulting firm.

Kane noted that the NCC had offered the agency alternate accommodation on Cathcart Street, which the agency decided to reject as unsuitable.

For Ottawa Valley Autistic Homes, the jurisdictional and funding issues are complicated by the profound impact a change of surroundings would have on the four residents. Members of the board and agency staff consider the Progress House residents to be among the most severely autistic adults in Ottawa.

Minto issued a press release in December 2002 stating that the Ministry would provide the developer Canadian$500,000 to make the renovations to Collins House which would preserve it as a heritage house, while meeting the special needs of severely autistic residents. Minto will lease the facility to the agency at no cost. The City of Ottawa will waive all fees and charges for the developer's application.