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Last year, through our 18 programs and services carried out from 12 different locations across Toronto we served over 41,000 people and provided 107,256 service hours. Read one client's story
Community Social Services Campaign
Agencies and Unions Speak Up for Community Social Services in Ontario
Three years ago, Family Service Toronto and Social Planning Toronto released On the Front Lines, a report that revealed a chronic funding shortage in Toronto’s community social services sector following major funding cuts to welfare, social housing, child care, health and education programs.
Laurel Rothman, FST’s Director of Social Reform, prophetically observed, “If we continue along this path of chronic under-funding and hit a downturn in the economy, community needs will escalate, yet the sector will not be in a strong position to respond.” Three years later, community agencies are unable to meet growing demands following the deepest recession the country has seen in decades.
In a rare move, unions and employers have united to form the Community Social Services Campaign, which calls for changes in the way the government deals with community organizations. “There is a critical link between an organization’s capacity to deliver service effectively and its ability to provide salaries and working conditions for its employees,” says John Campey, co-chair of the campaign and Executive Director of Social Planning Toronto. “Agency management and unions realized that the big challenge they faced was the people who ultimately pay the bills: the government funders who were not being held accountable.”
Today, more than 200 organizations and unions from across the province endorse the campaign, which is coordinated out of Toronto by a steering committee representing the key labour and community agency partners in the campaign.
One of the campaign goals is to communicate to the public and the Province about the importance of a strong and healthy community social services sector for everyone in Ontario. “The community sector is important, first because of the range of services we provide that are available to everyone needing support; and second because community agencies are able to be responsive to local and diverse community needs in a way that the government can’t,” notes John. “One of our concerns has been that government has downloaded services onto community agencies as a way of cutting government costs, not to be flexible and responsive to communities. That is what we’re trying to push back on.”
The campaign is lobbying for recognition from the government that its relationship with this sector cannot be like the one with private businesses. “This is a unique sector that everyone relies on,” says Margaret Hancock, Executive Director of Family Service Toronto and a member of the campaign steering committee. “It represents about $62 billion of the Canadian economy but the level of funding simply does not recognize its critical role in our economic and social well-being. We hope that by coming together as members of the sector and joining our resources we can help change attitudes at both the government level and in the broader public.”
The campaign has had to do some internal awareness-raising as well. “This sector doesn’t think of itself as a sector because there are so many diverse groups and interests represented. Unlike the automotive sector where, for example, manufacturers and people on the assembly line see themselves as having a shared interest with the sector as a whole, there is not that same sense within the community sector. So in a way we were starting at ground zero and it has almost been an internal education job as well,” says John.
Another challenge is the varied funding sources. “In some provinces there is a Voluntary Sector Minister but in Ontario it’s very diffuse. You might think the Ministry of Community and Social Services [serves this purpose] but most of the agencies around our tables get more of their money from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and from Citizenship and Immigration, so it’s a real challenge.”
The campaign is lobbying for new communications mechanisms between government and the sector and for greater consultation about how the relationship can best operate. And there has been some progress in terms of provincial investment in the sector. “We’re starting to get some understanding in some areas of government that it’s not just about more money, but about smarter money,” says John. “So rather than funding a program for only one year, funding cycles need to be longer so that organizations have some security and stability because that impacts ability to attract and retain staff, build relationships and improve effectiveness of programs. Ultimately it's about the quality of service and support.”
If the campaign is a success, the end result will be a much stronger two-way relationship, a clearer understanding on both sides about the challenges and opportunities and a platform for them to be addressed appropriately.
