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BC needs a real plan for a better future

Social policy framework would set out shared goals, lays groundwork for coordinated, strategic approach

BY CAROL MATUSICKY

Everyone knows you need goals and a plan if you hope to accomplish anything significant.

But in British Columbia, we’ve failed to take the basic steps to decide what kind of society we want and how we’re going to reach our goals.

In contrast, Alberta’s government approved a new, comprehensive Social Policy Framework this year. Other provinces, like Nova Scotia, Quebec and Newfoundland have launched similar policy initiatives.

A social policy plan makes obvious sense. Alberta’s sets out goals — what the province hopes to achieve with the billions that will be spent over the next decade. It includes priorities, targets and strategies for linking the efforts of government, community-based agencies, individuals and the private sector.

It’s simply sensible to decide what we hope to achieve — for a business, a non-profit or a family — and how we will get there. Without a plan, there is a great risk of wasted time, effort and money and no real way to measure success.

Nova Scotia’s Social Policy Framework Weaving the Threads is a useful example, which outlines how social prosperity, economic prosperity and environmental sustainability are all linked to provide a foundation for all of the province’s future social programming.

This process starts by acknowledging problems with the status quo: Policies that tend to address whatever issue seems most urgent at the moment; uncoordinated actions as different government departments and other players operate in “silos”; short-term thinking, while big issues, like child poverty, continue to go unaddressed.

A policy framework can change that by setting out shared goals and laying the groundwork for a coordinated, strategic approach involving all stakeholders.

That’s vital. Consider one example. Everyone wants children to do well in school. But by Grade 4, 30 per cent of B.C. students aren’t reading at the expected level and 32 per cent are falling short in math.

The typical response, based on the silo approach, would call on the Education Ministry to come up with a solution.

But we know that 30 per cent of children start kindergarten “not ready to learn.” Perhaps the best way to help children learn is to support at-risk families with infants and toddlers, address family poverty or increase access to quality childcare.

Or, most likely, a combination of all the above. That can only happen with a coordinated policy framework.

Social policy planning is — or should be — closely linked with economic planning, recognizing that social policy both responds to and helps bring prosperity. If, for example, Kitimat and Prince Rupert experience rapid economic growth, there will be large social impacts. It’s smart to anticipate and plan for a response.

Proper social policy planning also targets the big issues that don’t lend themselves to a short-term approach based on one budget or the election cycle.

The Alberta plan, for example, makes the growing gap between the rich and poor a priority. “Rising income disparity diminishes social cohesion and challenges the idea that all Albertans have an equal opportunity to be successful,” the framework says.

Addressing that requires a broad, long-term approach, involving tax policy, income assistance rates, economic growth, education and community services.

There is a natural fear that this becomes yet another long process with no guarantee of action.

The Alberta framework began as a 2012 election commitment. Work started in June. The process included broad consultation. There was a website, with resources and opportunities for interactive participation. Small grants were available to community groups for local workshops and consultation. Some 31,000 people and organizations participated.

And in less than nine months, the framework was complete and implementation began.

A long-term integrated framework with specific actions, targets and outcomes will not be a panacea, but at least citizens can look at the plan and judge government’s effectiveness in working with partners to achieve its goals.

While Alberta’s process might not have been perfect, it did engage the public in defining the kind of society citizens wanted, the strategies and actions needed to make that a reality and the ways in which success can be measured. It is certainly better than vague campaign commitments.

Voters should press all B.C. parties to promise a similar process to set out a clear, specific social policy framework over the next 24 months.

Dr. Carol Matusicky is the chair of the Board Voice Society of B.C. and is writing on behalf of the Roundtable of Provincial Social Service Organizations.

An easy way to let your candidates know community services matter

One week to go until election day.

Have you done anything to help ensure support for the community social services sector after the election?

It’s not too late. The Tyee has an excellent resource here, with links to the email addresses and Facebook pages of candidates in ridings across the province.

Take a minute to send your local candidates a message about the importance of community social services and the need for stable, adequate funding and a long-term partnership with the sector.

Tell them about your experiences. Remind them that preventive services - help  that allows a senior to stay in her home, support for a family in crisis - change lives and save money. 

Are you a participant in this election, or a passive bystander?

Two weeks to make your voice heard - act today

Two weeks until election day. Have you done anything to tell the candidates that community social services are important, and deserve stable, long-term commitments from government?

It’s easy. The Take Action! section at the top of this page provides everything you need to know to write a letter to the editor or send an email to the party leaders or your local candidates. It takes, literally, less than 30 minutes.

The best letters are based on your experiences. But the blog has a lot of background and information that might be useful.

For example, consider this:

“We’re experts at delivering essential services in the most cost-effective way.  The 64,000 people who work in the sector, and their agencies, are focused on meeting clients’ needs and maximizing the benefits of every dollar.  We are recognized leaders in innovation and have worked hard to ensure that we seize every chance to be more efficient and cost-effective.

“We’ve had to, as budgets have shrunk and needs increased.  But the sector is at a critical point.  Investment is badly needed to meet urgent needs of our fellow citizens.”

It’s not enough to say you support the sector, and the help it provides children, families, people with disabilities, seniors - thousands of British Columbians every day.

Are you a bystander in this election, or a participant?

Majority of British Columbians willing to pay higher taxes to strengthen community services

A majority of British Columbians not only want improved community social services, but are prepared to pay higher taxes to provide them.

That’s one intriguing finding from a poll conducted by Strategic Communications (Stratcom) for the Roundtable of Provincial Social Services Organizations of BC.

The same poll found there is a broad public perception that access to needed services has declined significantly, despite growing demand.

“We know services supporting seniors and families and children are important, and a good investment,” said Roundtable member Tim Agg, executive director of PLEA Community Services Society. “It was heartening to learn that a majority of British Columbians agree, and are willing to pay a little more in taxes to provide needed help to people.” 

The poll found 53 per cent of British Columbians supported increased funding to community social services, even if it meant they would pay higher taxes.

Support for higher taxes to provide needed services for children, families and seniors has increased 12 per cent since a similar survey in 2000, Agg noted.

The poll also found that 57 per cent of British Columbians felt current funding for community services is too low, with only six per cent believing it is too high.

Agg said the Roundtable engaged Stratcom, an international research company, to survey British Columbians on issues relating to the community social services sector.

The survey found British Columbians are less confident that services are available to prevent problems or crises than they were 13 years ago.

In 2000, 45 per cent of the public believed access to support services in their communities was good or excellent. Today, only 36 per cent give high ratings for access to services.

The survey found 74 per cent of British Columbia residents had used community social services themselves, or knew someone who had. That’s down from 81 per cent in 2000.

“Our fear is that the need is still there, but budget cuts have made it impossible for families to get help,” Agg said. 

Agg called on all political parties and candidates to heed the poll and commit to a long-term funding plan to provide needed community social services.

More than 90 per cent of those surveyed said services for youth, women who have experienced violence, people with disabilities and special needs, seniors, people with mental health and addiction challenges and families and children are important.

“People are pragmatic, and compassionate,” said consultant Tim Beachy, another Roundtable member. “They know it is right to provide seniors with supports so they can live in their own homes. And they know it is far less expensive than a care home.”

"The public also understands that years of budget freezes - and cuts - have left community agencies in crisis,” he said. “Waiting lists for help, even for urgent assistance like support for vulnerable children and youth, people with developmental disabilities and victims of violence, have grown."

Almost 80 per cent of British Columbians believe community social services have a positive impact in their communities. 

“The public gets it,” Beachy said. “But we need to hear the candidates and parties make clear commitments to fund these vital services.”

The poll was conducted April 9 to 11 and used a representative sample of 802 adult British Columbians.  Margin of Error is not reported for online polling, as it is not derived from a probability sample.

Community social services are provided by agencies and organizations across the province - large and small, non-profit and private, in big cities and small communities.

Agencies and staff work with children and families in crisis, women and children struggling with few options to leave violent homes, help people find jobs, counsel families dealing with addiction, support new parents and help seniors stay in their homes.  

See a report on the poll results here.

See the detailed data here.

Politicians should walk streets to see need for services

JUDITH LAVOIE 

TIMES COLONIST 

Rev. Al Tysick believes that if the leaders of B.C.’s political parties looked into the eyes of homeless people awakening on the streets of Victoria, the province would have a comprehensive poverty-reduction strategy.

As politicians gear up for the May 14 election, Tysick has challenged Premier Christy Clark and NDP leader Adrian Dix to join him on his daily 5 a.m. walk, when he distributes coffee, muffins and blankets to street people.

“We don’t believe party leaders are ignorant to issues of homelessness,” said Tysick, founder of the Dandelion Society. “But you can learn a lot by looking at the faces of the street, by speaking to a homeless person about their day, by putting a blanket on someone or by trying to connect with a mentally ill person who is wandering aimlessly.”

Tysick wants to emphasize the harsh conditions that saw 30 members of the Victoria street community die within four months last year.

“I did funerals for two more people a couple of weeks ago. This is a crisis,” he said.

“How many more people have to die before B.C. gets a comprehensive poverty-reduction strategy?”

Victoria, as the seat of government, should not be the city with the highest death toll for homeless people, Tysick said.

“If this was any other demographic, our politicians would pay attention.”

Tysick wants to see more support for those in unsafe housing and more discussion about raising and restructuring assistance rates.

“I want to see jobs created, but jobs that pay enough so that moms don’t have to go to the food bank to eat,” he said.

Dix and Clark were not available to comment.

However, Victoria-Beacon Hill NDP candidate Carole James, who has previously gone out on Tysick’s early-morning rounds, said she believes that once the election is over, newly elected MLAs should either go out with Tysick or on the streets of their own communities.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen during the campaign, but I think it is a good idea,” she said.

“It’s an important invitation and it should be there for every elected politician.”

A poverty-reduction plan is part of the NDP platform, James said.

“It will have real targets and specific measurements and we will report out to the public,” said James, adding she’s a “huge supporter” of Tysick’s work.

“He’s one of the heroes of our community. It’s thankless work and he’s out there speaking to some of the most troubled and most challenged members of our community.”

A statement from Rich Coleman, minister responsible for housing and Liberal candidate in Fort Langley-Aldergrove, said the B.C. Liberals will continue to support initiatives that help reduce homelessness and poverty in Victoria.

Tysick said the morning rounds tell him who is in hospital, arrested or in crisis.

They also offer a hard look at the darker side of homelessness, he said.

“It makes you realize we’ve created some terrible conditions. Poverty becomes very real when you’ve seen its heart, its face.”