Prior Year Accomplishments
Sustainable Infrastructure & Services
• collaborated with the Income Services Manager to develop a new vision for the Centralized Intake Unit; clarified roles and made recommendations to Council regarding new service provider for discretionary benefits; partnered with IT to develop phone systems that enable a “Call Centre” approach; created savings and efficiencies
• supported the implementation of new technologies through the Social Assistance Management System (SAMS) and the implementation of ChequeMaster and Accertex systems to make technological advancements to provide better service
• worked with the Finance Department to clarify administrative roles and segregation of duties; lead the implementation of the changes with the involved staff
• worked jointly with the Finance Department to create daily cheque auditing processes • teamed with the Records Manager to implement new internal processes to continue to
improve the Department’s Records Retention processes and ensure compliance with corporate expectations
• involved with the GIS staff and Employment and Support Services Manager to build baseline data for program planning, public-facing information sharing and community planning purposes • led the continuing development of various staff groups such as the Centralized Intake Unit, the
administrative staff working group, the Communications Committee which involved facilitating or co-facilitating staff meetings and conversations geared to creating joint vision among the groups and staff as a whole—2 meetings on behalf the Communications Committee; 2 meetings for the CIU and 3 for the clerical staff. These initiatives, supported by the Management Team, are efforts to improve client service by integrating services at the staff level while focusing on quality and individualized services
• continued to build on build on internal performance measurement systems and statistical record keeping
Supportive Communities
• assisted the Director and External Consultant, Heather Graham, in planning a series of four Community Collaboration workshops
• supported the Community Leadership Development
Initiative (Northumberland Momentum) in hosting a Community Services Fair
• collaborating with the Food 4 All Manager and the Employment and Support Services Manager to examine opportunities to engage the community in planning, developing, and integrating existing programs and leveraging partnerships to create a comprehensive Food Security Strategy for the County. Goals of this include alleviating poverty, ensuring broader access to information about healthy eating and fresh, local foods, and creating
opportunities for social inclusion for target groups
• continued work with the Northumberland Poverty Reduction Action Committee and other interested community partners to develop local strategies and marry initiatives through the Community Outreach Program to better address local needs
• led the Communications Committee which has produced the following materials: o Social Media Launch and ongoing Facebook page
o website makeover
o Community Capacity project with Heather Graham o client engagement and feedback tools, including:
- Feedback Forms available to all clients of services - a new email address for feedback
- a telephone number to provide feedback
- promotional materials about the importance of feedback, and; - leading the conversation about services on the Facebook page o lobby makeover
o Department-wide branding
o a video production for the Department o re-designed printed materials update
Employer/Workplace of Choice
• Worked with the HR Department to bring forward recommendations to improve the County’s Succession Planning Program; will also assist with communications and any further intakes
2015 Service Objectives & Initiatives
The overall emphasis in 2015 for the Administrative Services Division will be the planning, development, implementation and measurement of programs and strategies that support healthy, accessible and sustainable systems of social infrastructure within Northumberland County. Innovation around sustainability is a major part of local decision making for any Consolidated Municipal Service Manager (CMSM.) The ultimate goal is that there is greater access to and coordination of resources needed for healthy living for all community members, and that root causes, rather than symptoms, of barriers are addressed.
Sustainable Infrastructure & Services
GIS Data Tracking and Outcome Measurement Development
Youth out-migration, in-migration and the aging population, service and demographic trends of Northumberland County have an impact on economic and labour force development, not to mention social concerns such as food security, housing, homelessness and health services. The collection of GIS data increases the Department’s ability to understand how our community is faring. Capturing a wider range of community indicators is also an important foundation to creating local and attainable strategies for a sustainable and innovative society. Understanding whether the Department is making effective use of its resources and having the anticipated impacts on those accessing services will help with forward planning.
Additionally, it is critically important in today’s world to build accessible data that is available through public-facing websites. The public expects a level of transparency and sharing of information in order to complete research and appropriately understand local services. The ability to customize information search requests is the way a large segment of the population seeks information and accesses community resources currently. In Social Services areas, the GIS Department will have completed a searchable, public-facing portal for any person seeking information about local supports such as employment centres, child care resources, housing units and other community sources by the end of 2014.
Therefore, in 2015 the Division will:
• continue to work with GIS staff to build the base of information for Department • work with select community members to build baselines and targets for achievement • work with Forum Research and the Communications Committee to analyze opinions
from the community at large and clients of our services and provide easy and accessible reports on information gathered
• build a database of demographic trends and community benchmarks in terms of poverty and health
Administrative Initiatives—Reception
For the last number of years, the Department, and the Administrative Services Division in particular, has been working on a number of fundamental shifts in service delivery systems to meet the demands of our funders, community and clients. This evolution has coincided with a significant transformation over the past decade at the provincial level, which has seen a number of critical human services and roles being passed to the municipal level. It would appear that this is a policy shift with the implicit assumption that the best way to build strong, prosperous, healthy and sustainable communities is with local decision-makers and using community-based, collaborative planning mechanisms. Accompanying that shift has been the need for Consolidated Municipal Service Managers (CMSM’s) to more fully modernize and integrate their staffing and their services.
In late 2014, the Department will have laid the groundwork to move further toward the goal of fully realizing integrated human services and modernized administrative support staff. At the same time, the Department’s overall lobby and reception space and welcoming of clients should be considered with a lens to determine whether it meets the needs of clients, the
direction and anticipated further development and direction of the Department, and whether it supports the needs of the fully integrated administrative activities.
Coinciding with this occurrence:
• a noted Best Practice among CMSM’s has been to rebrand their organizations as the Human Services Department or the Community Development Department.
• the reception areas in a number of progressive CMSM’s is shared space where the support staff permanently locate so that clients of all services can be served promptly and by any one of the staff members. Currently our reception workspaces are not equipped to support full integration and this modern approach
• the Department’s Communications Committee has been working on improving the look, feel and services in the lobby environment and with obtaining client feedback about the changes. The Committee is also working with the IT Department to bring Free WIFI to the lobby that will include a brief survey that can be adjusted to focus on specific issues we wish to measure. Additionally, we have set up an email address that is solely intended for feedback as well as questions and conversations on our Facebook page • the work plan for the Communications Committee in late 2014 and early 2015 includes
developing a Client Advisory Committee to engage and discuss proposed changes, barriers to effective client services on their path through our Department and other issues and concerns that we would like to better understand
• the Community Collaboration series hosted by the Department may lead to some innovative ideas regarding co-location of services and development of a standard level of service among community service providers
• the Department will be hiring Forum Research to conduct some interviews and analysis about service delivery and expectations.
The Management Team has reviewed the opportunities and is moving forward with the development of a single, shared job description for the 5 clerical support positions within the Department. The new job description emphasizes the demands of service integration, the expectations of customer service in the Reception area and the necessary technical and soft skills as we move forward. All clerical support positions within the Department will become Customer Service Representatives.
Administrative Initiatives—File Management
Continuing to build on these processes and support the work at the corporate level is an important activity for the administrative staff in the Department.
Supportive Communities
Food Security/Healthy Communities
Numerous research reports cite Canada as an over- and under-nourished country. Both aspects of this statement involve costly and onerous government interventions by services such as health care, senior’s programs, the education and social services sectors. Low-income people most often experience under-nourishment that leads to:
• ill-health that is strongly linked to unhealthy eating and limited access to healthier food options;
• potentially higher risk of mental health issues; • greater social isolation; and,
• a lack of sense of belonging to a community.
The traditional government and community response to hunger has been to fund food banks and “charitable” lunches. Although this is a necessary step in supporting vulnerable people, it is a temporary solution to a complex systems problem. These programs provide food to relieve the immediate need, but do not address the greater issue of a healthy and adequate food supply on a regular basis.
This joint initiative, between the Manager of Food 4 All, the Employment and Support Services Manager and the Administrative Services Manager, will be initiated in 2014 with links fostered through the assistance of the Economic Development Department with the distribution of coupons for local farm markets in the Good Food Box. Development of a “Community Strategic Food Plan” will begin early in 2015. Building on existing community activities (i.e. the local Food Charter group, the Health Unit, community kitchens and the food bank systems, and the nutrition programs through the Port Hope Community Health Centre), discussions will aim to
break down service silos and bring the community together to create a collaborative and holistic community vision and action plan for food. The development of a community action plan and the implementation of sustainable strategies that target long-term solutions will be an inclusive process that involves government, the general public, the community agencies and the private sector. The plan will build on existing programs and the strengths in the community while having candid discussions on local problems and weaknesses within the current food systems. The plan would then detail movement forward with positive, specific, and achievable goals and outcomes. Consideration will be given to the following:
• Ensuring community-wide food security
• Guaranteeing children have access to nutritional food
• Working with the school system to connect and educate children in food activities— including growing food, harvesting food and fostering a better understanding of nutrition and food preparation
• Increasing the abilities of individuals in the community to support each other— including identification of individuals at-risk and individuals who wish to volunteer or mentor others
• Reducing social isolation
• Linking those in the community who self-identify as struggling with a wider range of services such as income, employment, education, housing, health, etc.
• Considering connections and sponsorships with the private sector
In addition to building community supports and strategies and improving linkages to local produce providers, the Department plans to develop a community garden. It is possible that we can cultivate some County-owned land and have this ready for the spring of 2015. Several other key initiatives scheduled for 2015 are:
• Begin to develop educational programs for adults that teach them how to plant, grow, cook and preserve food products
• Linking fresh garden produce with the local food banks and community members who can create portable programs that support this philosophy
• Include a variety of groups—children, seniors, youth, schools, local advocates,
sponsors—in the community garden who can mentor and provide a sense of community • Consider funding opportunities such as Ontario Trillium Fund, the Eastern Ontario
Development Fund, the Rural Economic Development fund, the Local Food Fund, and the J. W. McConnell Family Foundation to hire a coordinator to examine sustainability, develop community action and supervise and direct the activities related to the garden
Seniors Health and Engagement Strategies
There is an ongoing demographic shift in industrial economies, including Canada, as baby boomers age, people have fewer children and live longer due to better health care and improved living conditions. This will continue to create a strain on health and social systems, yet at the same time, opportunities are created when the numbers of active and relatively healthy retired persons is growing.
The Department’s Community Outreach Workers support low income seniors with connections to resources and financial supports. This is not well known in the community and further integration and connections can be made to promote community awareness and active ageing. There can be further optimizing of opportunities for health, social inclusion, mentorships and security that enhance seniors’ quality of life. This commitment to enhance awareness and policies, services and structures to better support and enable older people to age actively can also benefit others in the community in terms of volunteerism, sharing of knowledge and engagement. This initiative could also potentially link to the Food Security Strategies by offering mentorships with youth and knowledge transfers as well as providing food and alternative food options to lower-income seniors.
2015 planned activities include:
• Enhanced connections to and awareness of other community agencies specializing in assisting seniors
• Enhanced COP specialization with seniors-specific issues and communication strategies to community service partners
• Consideration of opportunities for integrating internal services related to seniors • Examine possible connections with Paramedics to potentially reduce hospital visits
through joint outreach activities
• Offer COP services to the Golden Plough Lodge (GPL) to assist seniors at risk and their families in developing connections to resources
• Promotional activities for Seniors; possibility of holding seniors’ fairs
Community Development
In 2014 the Department has been hosting four working sessions aimed at local leaders and decision-makers. These sessions were on the subject of Building Capacity to Effectively Collaborate and were facilitated by independent consultant Heather Graham. The purpose of these workshops is to discuss community-wide effectively collaboration, explore innovative ideas and achieve greater collective impact for the clients and community we serve. The session topics are as follows:
1. Building a Shared Understanding
Conversation and dialogue around the concepts related to collaboration
2. Mapping Community Assets
Discussion and dialogue around what individual and organizational assets are in the room and completing an inventory of these assets
3. Identifying Collaborative Opportunities
Completing an examination of successful local examples of collaboration and an analysis of why they are effective
4. Exploring a Community Hub
Creating a local definition of a Hub and what shared issues or opportunities could be addressed using a hub model. The focus will then be placed on open discussion around shared vision and principles that would assist in building momentum for a hub and the next steps
Participants have been attending the full series of all-day workshops to: learn from evidence- informed practice; network with other local organizations; share their perspectives and experiences; and negotiate shared issues and opportunities that can be addressed by working in collaboration to meet the needs of local clients and communities. As a community, these sessions have provided us with the opportunity to face head-on many of our current issues that cut across traditional service silos and require high degrees of systems navigation and service coordination. The sessions have also assisted us to openly discuss the opportunities to achieve greater collective impact.
Although this initiative was not the Department’s first investment in Community Capacity Building or creating common vision and service principles within the community, this 2014 project represents a shift in terms of a more coordinated approach with designated discussion points building to the possible development of a community hub. It has been about the assessment process and measuring the community’s willingness and interest in working through the necessary steps to have some foundational commitments. At the end of the four sessions, Ms. Graham will be making some recommendations to the participants which may involve further action. This means that, if there is consensus among the group, 2015 will be a period of planning and follow up.
With conclusions from this project yet to be determined, it is difficult to project any financial commitment from the Department. However, it is anticipated that following this community- wide assessment period and agreement to move forward, 2015 will largely be focused on planning activities. Actions that should occur assuming there is some general agreement to move forward into a collaborative are:
• Considering the details of any suggested projects
• Assessing the level of commitment and capacity by individual agencies • Objectively studying the data and Best Practice examples
• Developing a working group to lead the project
• Considering broader implications and potential scope for the project
• Assessing whether all necessary agencies have participated in the community discussions and, if not, speak to them about their level of interest
• Developing a strategic work plan for 2016 and beyond assuming possible implementation of ideas
• Setting concrete targets, desired outcomes, and ensure they are aligned with intent of group
• Bringing the information forward to County Council at various intervals to ensure there is support for the direction and strategic plans of the group
Development of an approved healthy community strategy
The commitment of time and resources to develop a local poverty reduction strategy that formalizes the municipality’s commitment to building a healthy and accessible community for all is a priority for 2015. The announced Poverty Reduction funding from the Province creates