Southwest Regional Meeting

Minutes

On: Friday, November 2nd, 2007

Time: 10:00 – 1:00

Location: 171 Queens Ave, London, ON N6A 3G3

Phone: (519) 660-6888

Attendees:Deb Armstrong, Stan Drobnich, Andrea Vandenberg, Mike Bauer, Bill Mc Dougall, Art Gibson, Sharon Rodobokski, Deanna D’Elia, Claire Masswohl, Robert Collins, Michelle Smith, Maggie McDonald, Krystyna Lucas, Noeleen Tyczynski, Michael Ropp, Carolyn Warkentin, Tom Crouch, Nancy McQuillan, Paul Hubert, Lisa Wells

ONESTEP Staff: Bernadette Beaupre

  1. Chair: Vicki Mayer: Welcome and Introductions

Employment Ontario - Art Gibson:

  • Things are progressing, but there is nothing new to share at this point
  • Discussed new private career colleges act and how it affects the not-for-profit sector- (applies to “fee for course” only –there are exemptions) -one of the exemptions is in apprenticeship, but may need to follow up on this –there are specific guidelines i.e. if the course is more than 40 hours and $1,000.00 for the course -the registration process takes 6 to 10 months – the not-for-profit sector was notified too late to respond to the time-line –unpaid placements are also affected-if there are different locations offering training, each location must be registered separately at the cost of approx. $3,500.00 each- there is an annual fee on top of this
  • Art specified that each area may have its’ own interpretation of the rules/guidelines and that the information he is presenting is specific to the London area
  • Committee has been formed by “headquarters” in Toronto- headed by Sue Forester –there are four functional areas:
  • There will be a meeting in Toronto on December 4th and 5th (Holiday Inn on King St. W)–this meeting was formerly for Job Connect, but now will include all the programs that were transferred. The deputy minister will be there. For more information, please refer to the latest ONESTEP e-bulletin
  • Robert mentioned that there are about 400 on the wait list for this meeting
  • Art stated that he did not have any additional information on the ten month extension process, but is hoping that something will be in place in the next two weeks-there will be an ADM conference call to discuss final decisions
  • The extensions will likely be a continuation of targets based on a time focus, but could be projections-currently there isn’t any information on adjustments for cost of living, etc. increases – it’s unknown if negotiation will be possible -two projects in London asked for amendments to agreements and were turned down
  • London is still doing job creation i.e. JCP’s, but other areas are not –some clients have come from other areas to access JCP’s-there has been some concern with this
  • With regard to training, sponsors have been asked to ensure RTW plans are appropriate and accurate due to: - 1. There has been an increase in prices from the private sector (may be related to public educational institutions not offering same courses anymore) 2. LICO-low income individuals are getting more than normal insurance rates (Goodwill’s Career Centre has been asked not to use LICO or “Low Income Cut Off”)
  • Statistics Canada uses the LICO number as an economic tool in different communities –it is the basic amount of money and individual needs to have a reasonable life style
  • Robert asked if there was a formula between the Federal and Provincial government for adjusting specific changes in rates
  • Art replied “Not that I know of”
  • Art went on to express that he understands the concern that exists around renewal agreements and that he hopes it will be sorted out in the near future, but that a reasonable amount of time is needed for this process-the Deputy Minister will make some final decisions in the next two weeks-Marilyn Doyle (was EDS with the Fed’s and now with the Province) has briefed the invested parties and there are documents in place but given the magnitude of this process, certain communication challenges exist in the movement to integrate this process
  • Sherree Mahood has been out touring agencies that have asked and she has tried to be as accessible as possible-she would like to witness how networks are working i.e. ESCLM-would like the funders to be involved in the dialogue and network process
  • Bernadette spoke on SDAG (started in 2006 by MTCU, just after the LMDA/LMPA) the Service Delivery Advisory Group-this group consists of providers and government- they give input into process for transitions for now and beyond-made up of public, private and not-for-profit sectors
  • This group has had 6 or 7 meetings so far-mostly they have reported on what has been done in the process so far-it has now been eleven months since the transfer –July 19th 2007 was the last meeting with a tentative one scheduled for November 15th –not-for-profits got together and listed 40-42 transition projects
  • -There are 7 areas of focus within the SDAG group and it has been suggested that they work toward a more “common language” approach in their reports- the external committee on program design, which includes Deb Hotchkiss, has had 2 meetings- the info for this committee is on the EOPG site
  • The Province is still in the questioning stage-Sue Forester has said that she hopes to have the program design done by March 31, 2008
  • Patti Redmond (programs branch) is still gathering information and looking at ways to integrate EAS and Job Connect
  • Robert asked if SDAG can focus on the 4 main priorities
  • Vicki said that the ONESTEP board had identified the same 4 priorities and would like to be involved in consultation
  • Bill expressed concern that he has had to hunt to find out what committees have been formed, who’s on them and what their purpose is-feels we are not hearing from our colleagues on committees and should do a better job so that we can improve feedback and provide a broader base of input-felt we could also increase the opportunities for communication
  • Deanna felt that people need to also take responsibility for themselves-the Fed’s in Niagara who have moved to the Province need information from the projects – we should be calling the project offices and requesting meetings to educate them on all the differences/needs meet by existing services
  • Art confirmed that Sherree is interested in service mapping and would like us to make those presentations to the staff at MTCU- there may exist the feeling that London has duplication, given the number of services/programs-Art finds her to be logical and thinks we need to create the service map ourselves to present to MTCU-better to be proactive than reactive
  • Vicki explained that ONESTEP had set up a small committee to do this, but found it to be a huge undertaking. ESC-LM has invested almost a year in this process and perhaps would share some of their information.
  • Bernadette discussed the government’s priority of “change management”- led by Kevin French-we need support for how we need to change-feels MTCU is not hearing us on this issue-we seem to have limited input in certain areas and need to put everything in writing
  • It was discussed that it would be a good idea to go and meet the new Minister John Malloy-perhaps form a small contingent to go meet him with a bulleted briefing on who these different organizations are, i.e.: ONESTEP, OYEC, etc. –explain that we are the community partners
  • Need to make MTCU aware that many of our clients need pre-employment first and that we have huge success with this as well as the other end of the scenario (employment)
  • It was suggested that Chris Bentley could provide the introduction to the new Minister
  • Bernadette discussed the money that was to flow from the feds to the Province-discussed the CFR (consolidated review fund)-500 million for provinces and territories with 190 million to the CRF fund – this raises the question of who determines the allocation of the funds
  • Art mentioned a return to an older model where individuals were hired first and the employer is reimbursed for training costs-unsure if there will be funds available before the promise of a job or if all the funds will flow after and individual has secured employment
  • Some of the changes could include more money toward human resource planning, some community development, apprenticeship linkages (drop down into high school system), perhaps new immigrants (although there appears to be lots of funds in settlement right now), Aboriginals and youth
  • There is some uncertainty around the Opportunities fund
  • Philosophically, there seems to be a move away from social issues with the federal government and if employment is considered a social issue then perhaps within the LMPA framework, the Opportunities fund, older workers and youth will be transferred
  • Paths to Financial Vibrancy Project-they have been given funding to do a regional workshop-Paul felt their meeting was a good professional development event-lots of learning from other colleagues-this project is funded by Trillium (2 years) and MTCU- Planning for a day long workshop sometime in June 2008
  • Focus will be on 9 different areas (i.e. sustainable planning, governance, human resources, use of technology, program innovation, financial reporting) and will attempt to get local experts to facilitate these areas and learn from each other –heard that there would be 60-75 participants allowed, some discussion ensued as to whether or not this would be a reasonable number – some suggested it would be adequate, while other thought 60-75 would be low for our area
  • Bernadette suggested using this day for service mapping for the area and perhaps for the region-funds would be needed for a venue, refreshments, facilitators, etc. –she asked us as a region to decide on a topic and a date
  • Vicki suggested perhaps ESCLM co-host
  • Robert suggested sending out an assessment that each area could fill out prior to attending and have at least 2 people from each organization attend
  • Paul agreed with Robert that preplanning was a good idea to help organizations identify needs/gaps/transparency (collaborative competitors was used)
  • Vicki suggested a committee be formed to put this together-a few dates were proposed for the spring –May 8th was decided as a tentative date-the committee will consist of Robert, Vicki, Stan, Maggie and Deb
  • Bernadette discussed the survey that was sent out to gather date to help create benchmarks for positions within the industry-i.e. “what is job development”, and to develop compensation packages that adequately reflect the type of work one does within this sector-hoping that this info will be available in February of 2008 as have an on-line component-hoping this information will be good for the next 4-5 years-looking for funding to build in additional steps i.e. how to incorporate increases, a section on how to grandmother in
  • Paul asked if the survey looked at non-monetary things such as benefits, time off in –lieu of, the opportunity to work for a fabulous ED-how do we communicate an overall compensation package
  • There is 3.1 million in the employment development fund and it is growing-possibility of 1 million to go toward network funding, perhaps ESCLM? -MTCU is looking to provide some funding for network projects
  • Reminder of the Opportunities conference in Niagara Falls on April 6-9-at the Sheraton Falls View
  • AOB-Robert-ESCLM has applied for funding to define and provide service delivery standards- some uniformity for employers and job seekers-a commitment to quality-3 people would be hired-2 pilots are planned-would like to revitalize standards that were developed in the past to self improve services
  • Paul-brought up the private career colleges issue-not-for-profits were not invited to the consultation-previously they were exempt, but now are part of the collective and have had to scramble to meet the new restrictions-may be because we were part of the federal government at the time of development - was first heard of in our sector on Oct 1st, but the deadline for applying was Sep 18th of the previous month-if the government pays for the program, there may be exemptions rather than If the individual spays themselves

NEXT MEETING – Friday January 25th at LUHC London

Sharee Mahood has been invited and has indicated her acceptance.