Wondering what’s happening with #socialassistance reform in Ontario?

Here’s a new report from @maytree_canada on Service Transformation in Ontario Works.

It's lengthy, so I’ve tried to capture the threads with, well, this thread🧵. #onpoli

maytree.com/publications/s…

Though the gov repealed some of its early decisions on income support, there are significant changes underway on the service delivery side, in particular changes to the employment and skills training offered to #OntarioWorks recipients that we need to pay attention to.

The paper explores what these changes are, whether they address the root causes leading people living in #poverty to need support from OW, how other countries fared when undertaking similar reforms (spoiler alert: not great), & things that @ONgov will need to consider.

Context: OW was established in 1997, & its main prerogative is to get people back to work quickly. Economists & #policy folks debate the relationship between the amount of support provided and caseloads. But, despite rates being so low, the caseload is not⬇️. I have some ideas.

OW was antiquated even when it was first established. The #labourmarket changed a lot even before OW was created, and today, a quarter of new jobs in ON are considered non-standard. It’s challenging to simply “get a job” when the work available can be #precarious.

When OW was created, avg rents were too high even for max OW amounts. The skyrocketing costs of housing make the rates even more inadequate today. See example in chart 👇🏽. Further, as #publichealth research shows, people with #lowincomes are likely to have poor health outcomes.

So do the gov’s reforms address these root causes? Not really. It’s integrating employment supports provided to people receiving social assistance through 47 municipal/district service managers with #EmploymentOntario.

This will lead to the creation of 15 regional Service System Managers that deliver employment programming. SSMs will be picked through a competitive process, and can include municipalities, #nonprofits, and for-profits (including intl service delivery orgs). That's significant.

The gov is also introducing life stabilization (wrap-around supports) programming for those who have concerns outside of skills training that impede employment. This is sorely needed, and the best part of the plan👍🏽. There are few details on how the gov is going to do this👎🏽.

This sounds like bureaucratese. Why does this matter? Because the changes don’t respond to the overarching context that often lead people to needing support from #OntarioWorks, and its unclear if these changes will help people get “back to work.”

In #Australia and the #UK, where similar reforms have been taking place for several decades, the outcomes of participants in similar programming don’t really improve, especially in the long-run. (You’ll need to read the report for a discussion on why this is the case).

The ON gov is establishing three pilots in @regionofpeel, @DistrictMuskoka-@kawarthalakes, and @cityofhamilton-@NiagaraFalls to test out its plan. Hopefully the pilots will provide the gov with enough info to change course/decisions as needed.

These are significant changes, and little attention is being paid to how this will affect local governments and social assistance recipients. Here are some things the gov will need to think about as it proceeds:

▪️Implementation of wrap-around supports will require innovation in service funding💰 (e.g flexible funding envelopes, as used in #healthcare), integration & joint accountability across sectors. A gov focused on innovation & accountability can do this - it will require courage.

▪️Clarify the #fiscal impacts – how does this affect the gov’s plan to cut $1B from #socialassistance? How will the changes affect #municipalities?

▪️How will this reduce administrative burden? By creating SSMs, the gov is creating a layer of admin that doesn’t currently exist. Do we need this? What will be the outcomes?

Thanks for reading through this long-ish thread. There’s much more in the report - read the Exec Summary if you don’t have much time, and the full report if you really want to dig in! Here's the link again:

maytree.com/publications/s…