Knowledge Exchange Blog
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Preventing Displacement and Homelessness Through Municipal Anti-Renoviction Bylaws
The rise and sheer volume of no-fault evictions are symptomatic of an increasingly financialized housing market. While there are instances when landlords might legitimately need to repossess their rental property to sell it, move in, or undertake necessary renovations, no-fault evictions are often profit-driven, particularly in Ontario, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia.
Urban Indigenous Homeward Bound: Connecting for the Dream
Seven years ago, Ashley Pitawanakwat moved 700 kilometers across the province from Wikwemikong First Nation to Niagara Region with her three children to escape an abusive partner.
Pitawanakwat describes herself as lost in her trauma at the time. She hadn’t lived in her hometown of Fort Erie for 20 years and was nervous about reconnecting with the local urban Indigenous community. Gradually, though, she began to attend women’s drumming circles at the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre (FENFC).
At one of these events, a Friendship Centre board member asked if she would consider participating in a new pilot program, Urban Indigenous Homeward Bound (UIHB). “I didn’t know what UIHB was, what the goals were, or even what being a pilot participant meant, but I said yes and jumped right into it,” she recalls.
To learn more about the Urban Indigenous Homeward Bound Program, please attend the session Urban Indigenous Homeward Bound: Connecting for the Dream at the 2024 OMSSA Exchange Conference on May 8th at 10:30 a.m.
OMSSA Report on the 2024 Ontario Budget
On March 27, Ontario’s Minister of Finance, Peter Bethlenfalvy, delivered the 2024 Ontario Budget titled Building a Better Ontario.
Learn more about some of the highlights relevant to OMSSA Members and the municipal human services sector.
Build Belonging Through Inclusive EarlyON Programming
OMSSA is featuring several 2023 Local Municipal Champion award recipients and their work in the Knowledge Exchange Blog. Please read this entry from the City of Brantford.
Build Belonging is a collaboration between the Brantford Immigration Partnership, Community Living Brant, Child and Family Services of Grand Erie, YMCA Immigrant Services, the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board, and the City of Brantford.
The goal of Build Belonging is to increase EarlyON attendance from diverse families, by offering culturally-informed programming, art, books, and toys, culturally-based storytelling, open houses, translation of promotional material and program calendars, community/parent consultation, and identification of champions within various cultural communities.
Build Belonging represents a key project supporting both the Inclusive Community Plan and Building the Community from the Kids Up Plan.
OMSSA Report on the 2024 Federal Budget
On April 16, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland delivered the 2024 Federal Budget. The budget focused on three themes: Solving the Housing Crisis, Fairness for Younger Generations, and Economic Growth and Productivity. Learn more about some of the highlights relevant to OMSSA Members and the human services sectors.
An Interview with Stella Danos-Papaconstantinou
Stella Danos-Papaconstantinou has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the human services sector. As Commissioner of Durham Region’s Social Services Department, Stella oversees programs and services across six divisions that include; early learning and childcare, social assistance, emergency social services, housing and homelessness, individual & family counselling along with four Long-term care homes.
Stella is currently the Vice-President of OMSSA and she is also Chair of the Housing and Homelessness Network.
Stella holds a strong vision for helping individuals and families in the community through integrated service delivery of innovative modernized approaches. This interview explores her priorities in human services delivery for Durham Region, her passion and value for keeping Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at the core of her work, and her overall experience and contributions to the human services sector.
Service Delivery Approach with the Catherine Street Community Service Hub
In August 2022, the Catherine Street Community Service Hub (CSCS Hub) was created. The CSCS Hub is an innovative way of providing integrated person-centred services through collocation. Caring and knowledgeable staff and partners work together to create a safe resting space where everyone is welcome to drop in and access coordinated wrap around municipal and community services and supports in one location.
This service delivery approach aims to streamline the client experience, increase the capacity to deliver responsive services and support, and reinforce accountability to clients, staff, and community.
Highlights from OMSSA’s 2023 Policy Conference
OMSSA’s 2023 Policy Conference successfully took place on November 30 and December 1. This year’s conference, once again, contained a mix of sessions. There were several plenary sessions designed to be of interest to all OMSSA Members, as well as a comprehensive slate of sector-specific break-out sessions.
We’ve learned that there continue to be profound challenges to the social services sector. But knowing the energy and enthusiasm through which OMSSA Members approach their work, it’s assured that throughout 2024 we will hear stories of amazing successes that have been achieved.
Global Events Have Local Impacts
OMSSA is featuring several 2023 Local Municipal Champion award recipients and their work in the Knowledge Exchange Blog. Please read this entry from the County of Simcoe below.
Working in community-based planning is rewarding. It is gratifying to foster partnerships that create local solutions for people arriving in Simcoe County. Community stakeholders did not disappoint, working collaboratively to help Ukrainians find a temporary new place to call home.
In May 2022, the Simcoe County Local Immigration Partnership (LIP) hosted two online community information sessions to coordinate local system planning, identify gaps, and brainstorm potential solutions. Securing temporary and permanent housing, transportation, and childcare were some of Ukrainian’s greatest challenges. The Simcoe County LIP engaged in solution-focused planning with local systems to bridge gaps.
An Interview with Douglas Bartholomew-Saunders
Douglas Bartholomew-Saunders has 45 years of managerial and executive expertise in health and human services operated and funded by the government. Throughout his career, he has devoted himself to providing strategic guidance to government, not-for-profit and for-profit organizations.
Douglas’ experience covers service system management, multi-system integration, strategy and policy development, systems expansion, and oversight design and implementation within human services and includes considerable understanding and expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion.
His recent advisory work includes: developing a 10-year Early Learning and Child Care Service plan in collaboration with an Ontario social services organization; advising an Ontario temporary shelter on external pressure management; advising two Ontario-based social service organizations on fiscal viability amid declining funding; leading an Ontario municipality in introducing integrated service access and delivery to improve client service and reduce multiple intakes; and leading an Ontario immigration settlement community in settling and offering services to 1,800 immigrants on an emergency basis within a year.
He is also the recipient of the 2023 OMSSA Lifetime Achievement Award. OMSSA sat down with Douglas for an interview to discuss human services, his career, and his involvement with OMSSA.
An Interview with David Thomas
David Thomas has been involved in policy development and training for over 30 years. Many of you know David from past years employed by OMSSA as a Lead Trainer in their Social Assistance Training, commencing from 1994, and more recent years as a Lead Trainer for the SAIL Curriculum and currently with OW Directive Training and Life Stabilization. David is involved with various Leadership Initiatives providing skills and competencies designed to improve service quality, build organizational capacity, enhance service system management, and further service integration. David’s role in supporting Integration includes managing multiple projects related to implementation and delivery of streamlined services for clients and staff alike. He is also one of the recipient of the 2023 OMSSA Champion of Human Services Award. OMSSA sat down with David for an interview to discuss his work as a facilitator and his thoughts on social assistance in Ontario.