Serviceprovidercouncil meeting minutes nov2016

CRSPCC Called Meeting Wednesday, November 9, 2016 Location: Prospect Human Services

Minutes In attendance: Erin Waite, Darlene Murphy, Ann Sims, Pam McGladdery, Joanne Hart Sweazey, Maline Jenkinson, Jayne Myatt, Mylaine Tsaprailis, Alexi Davis, Manuel Rumbaoc, Bill Forman, Ann-Marie Latoski, Nicole Milton, Boy Pyle, Deanna Rachkewich, Neemi Kassum, Debbie Johnston, Ryan Geake, Denise Young, Helene deKlerk, Norma Wisbling, Aureo Centeno, Kevin Mann, Aaron Semkuley, Garth Reesor, Mickey Griener, Elaine Yost

1. Welcome and Approval of Agenda – Service Provider Council Chair, Erin Waite opened the meeting and welcomed everyone.

Motion by Alexi Davis and seconded by Jayne Myatt that the agenda be approved with the addition of item 5.6 – Housing. CARRIED. In-Definite Arts’ Announcement: In-Definite Arts Holiday Art Sale, Saturday November 19, 2016 – 10 am to 3 pm – art/craft tables, bake sale, café, silent auction, raffle, 50/50 draws – InDefinite Arts’ major fundraiser of the year. Everyone is welcome!

Action Hall Announcement: After many years of hard work on the part of The Disability Action Hall and the Calgary Sexual Health Centre’s collaborative Right to Love group, the Government of Alberta has finally agreed to make changes to marriage laws in Alberta through the new Vital Statistics and Life Events Modernization Act. Formally, anyone who has a guardian would require a note from a physician to marry (in addition to guardian support). Now the requirement for a doctor’s note has been eliminated. This is a very positive move in that the government recognised that this was a question of respecting individuals’ dignity and their rights to make choices.

Link to the Disability Action Hall blog on the announcement: http://www.actionhall.ca/2016/11/a-real-big-win-celebrating-all-life.html From the GOA press release “The Act is transformative legislation that responds to Albertans’ expectations for modern service delivery and an inclusive, compassionate approach to major life events, such as births, marriages, legal changes of name, and deaths.

Changes would include: respecting the dignity of represented adults by removing the requirement for a doctor’s letter to marry the person of one’s choice.

Link to press release: http://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=43790BB5FDFDF-A58B-FA338C35F7EFC9EB069C 2. Meeting Activity The meeting started with a small group activity “Structure of Service”.

3. Approval of Minutes: Motion by Garth Reesor and seconded by Helene deKlerk that the minutes of the September 2016 meeting be approved as circulated. CARRIED. 4. Storybank Communications Proposal – Ad Hoc Committee: Erin, Alexi, Ryan - have had many discussions in the past where we have talked about the importance of stories - Executive looked at how we could take this to the next level and asked for a quote from a communications firm to collect stories and how to distribute the stories for maximum impact by getting them to all the stakeholders we can identify - stories can be used both proactively and reactively - a proposal has been received and includes having four one-half day workshops (same content on all days) on how to collect and build stories, each agency could register two people in one of the workshops and they would receive tools and expertise to build stories for individual agencies which then become a part of the larger “story bank” - hoping that these workshops can be held in January and the stories would be written throughout the two months following - meanwhile the ad hoc committee (Alexi, Ryan and Erin) will work through the balance of the proposal and also check into potential funding sources (ie: Calgary Foundation) and bring the full proposal to the January Service Provider Council meeting - a project like this would benefit individual agencies as well as the entire sector.

5. Committee and Other Updates 5.1 ACDS – Clova Lehr - see report P. 4 - 6 - some agencies have received an email saying that Jim DesRoches has been contracted by ACDS to complete work on the Workforce Classification System. Other agencies have not seen the email. Encourage individual agencies who received the email and have questions about this project as it fits with workforce classification and ADWA initiatives to contact ACDS directly.

Elaine will forward the information provided with the email to be shared with the Minutes from this meeting.

5.2 Contracts – Todd Rich – see report P. 7 - Service Provider Council Executive will put together an information session on the new contract for mid-December and will have a Holiday Social Event following the information session - Dr. Alex Hillyard will like to come to the January meeting to talk about the new contract 5.3 Workforce Council – see report on P. 8 5.4 ADWA Update – Denise Young – see report on P. 8 5.5 Other Provincial Updates – none 5.6 Housing – Ryan Geake - still some concerns at Municipal Affairs in regards to the safety standards - Scope is still meeting with the City of Calgary - inspections were done when safety standards first came out but now not sure what to do with the recommendations made over and above normal building code infringements - Ryan will keep everyone updated, if you receive an inspection notice through AHS or the City of Calgary, please let Ryan know about it - final recommendations were supposed to come out by December but nobody seems to be meeting in regards to it - initially 300 PDD client names from across the province were released for inspections to be

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coordinated, a large number of these in Calgary - names should never have been released by PDD as it was an inappropriate breach of confidentiality - want to really encourage the Minister to address this as there doesn’t seem to be any consequences for this happening - City Hall hoped for a process to deal with this - want to consider all homes to be “C” Residential, the same as any regular housing unit. If needed, units need to be brought up to code but not needed to be more “above code” than other typical residences in Calgary.

- report says philosophically people with disabilities shouldn’t be treated any differently than any other average citizen - there are agencies who have been given letters of “non-compliance” from AHS but it’s not clear now if these letters need to be followed as Standards 1-7 which were under AHS have now been removed and AHS is not involved. Problem comes in with the contract which says if there are outstanding violations then contract dollars can be impacted - City still considers this to be a big issue as they haven’t received any guidelines for going forward - there were two meetings last week (Tuesday & Friday), a Human Services meeting tomorrow and a meeting with the chair of the Safety Council on Monday. After those meetings Ryan will develop a document with Key Messages for agencies meeting with their MLAs. 6. Adjournment - the meeting was adjourned at 11:25 am.

7. Next Meeting: Wednesday, January 11, 2017 – 9:30 am – Prospect December Social Event – Date, Time, Location TBA

NOTE: All Service Provider Council documents are available at the website: calgaryserviceprovidercouncil.org

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ACDS REPORT – November 9, 2016 Final Report of the PDD Consultation Team Released online to the world the morning of October 26th, and to the media in the rotunda of the Legislature, the Consultation Team’s final report is available.

Supporting Safe and Inclusive Lives Plain language version Media release Quotes from the Consultation Team From the first days after this government was elected, ACDS, member organizations, self-advocates and families began the push that made this consultation a reality. Through unified key messaging, events, traditional and social media, and MLA meetings, we all made this a reality - The consultation, the repeal of the PDD Safety Regulations, and now a final report that makes public so much of what the Committee heard over the past year.

Among the suggestions in the report is for a collaborative review of the PDD system as a starting point for rebuilding lost trust, and a recommendation that government explore the creation of an Independent advocate office for people with disabilities.

Please read through the report, take the time to thank the Minister and this government for its release and the process that created it, and be prepared to support its recommendations with your MLA. Competitive Procurement This, along with the contract template, has consumed significant resources from ACDS, our staff and volunteers over the past year as we worked to bring concerns and alternatives forward to influence government. We’ve tabled a report from the B.C. Social Planning Council laying out the after effects of that province’s move to competitive procurement in Human Services, and saw the same report tabled in the Alberta Legislature. Members have been provided with key messages to aid in meeting MLAs on the issue, and strongly presenting to government the importance of investing in community, rather than simply becoming a purchaser of services. We brought a representative of the B.C. Planning Council to speak at our 2016 conference, and have helped to drive this issue, and others, into the discussion in the media and Legislature.

Watch the Umbrella, social media and the news/members-only section of ACDS.ca for more information as it becomes available.

Provincial Workforce Council The Provincial Workforce Council will be meeting on November 16th in Leduc. In September, ACDS was able to meet the Hon. Marlin Schmidt (Minister of Advanced Education), to discuss post-secondary education for our sector. As a follow-up, joining us for the PWFC meeting will be Robert Rock, manager of the Ministry’s Post-Secondary Program Branch.

We hope to have a strong attendance at the meeting to take advantage of this opportunity to inform government of the sector, the work of the PWFC, and to get some direction on best next steps to professionalize our sector given the recommendations in the Report from the Safety Consultations.

Carbon Levy On the members-only section of ACDS.ca, you’ll find a new “Summary Notes for MLAs” key messages document. This document was discussed by the ACDS Membership Council and includes new messages

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on the Alberta Carbon Levy, coming into place this January. The levy will impact the cost of transportation and heating fuels.

There are no current exemptions planned for non-profits or service providers.

ACDS was invited to take part in a short consultation with several other stakeholders that included several organizations such as the Edmonton Food Bank, YMCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the Alberta Parks and Rec Association.

We provided the Alberta Climate Change Office with details on our sector, service delivery, community living and social enterprise, and took the lead in a presentation to the Energy Efficiency Panel. As organizations, you should be prepared to closely monitor the effect of the Carbon Levy on your costs, operations and the people you serve. This is information you can take to your MLA, and that can be compiled for a larger impact report from our sector.

ACDS Umbrella In addition to the members-only newsletter that carries information on political news, key messaging, ACDS department updates and more, we’ve launched a public newsletter to help spread information in the public realm and build awareness of our sector.

To subscribe to the newsletter, please visit this link: www.bit.ly/acdsumbrella To submit content for the monthly issues, please email jamie@acds.ca Also, take a look and subscribe to the ACDS Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/acdsonline We’re actively developing new content and webinars. Recent updates include info on Positive Behaviour Supports, and ACDS membership.

ACDS Open House Come and celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities at the new home of ACDS! We’ll be throwing open the doors of our new office and tossing out snacks for the event: WHEN: December 2nd, 2016, 1:00pm - 4:00pm WHERE: 160-3015 12 Street NE, Calgary MLAs are among the many we’ve invited to attend. To RSVP, please email alison@acds.ca New Reduced Cost Program for ACDS Members The Non-Profit HR Program from Salopek and Associations: Non-Profit HR Program The Non-Profit HR Program is a cost-effective option for organizations that require HR planning and support to continue growing and developing their people and organizational effectiveness. Offering reduced hourly rates exclusively to non-profits that are committed to developing their HR and people processes, the Non-Profit HR Program includes a complimentary initial HR Assessment and Action Plan, as well as periodic Touch Point Meetings free of charge to ensure organizations are achieving their target HR objectives at every stage of the Program.

For more info, visit ACDS.ca, go to the About ACDS menu and click on “Reduced-Cost Programs”.

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Upcoming ACDS Training Writing Winning Proposals WHERE: Best Western Plus Denham Inn & Suites -- Marquis Room 5207 - 50th Avenue, Leduc, AB T9E 6V3 WHEN: Start: Thursday, November 17, 2016 at 8:30 AM End: Thursday, November 17, 2016 at 3:30 PM Kara Thompson is the owner of Accountability Law Office in Edmonton, a boutique law firm specializing in providing legal and consulting advice on public procurement processes and contracting. Ms. Thompson also owns and facilitates training for Three E Training Inc., which trains provincial government employees on the management of contracts and procurement processes.

Her expertise builds on her 14 years of experience as a senior solicitor at Alberta Human Services specializing in public sector procurement and contract law. Her super-powers are her comprehensive knowledge of outcome-based and cost-effective public sector procurement practice, and familiarity with government business practices. Ms. Thompson is also an instructor for the Osgoode Advanced Course in Public Procurement in Toronto.

Positive Behaviour Supports - Train the Trainer Edmonton MirkaCare Services WHERE: 9779 54 Avenue NW, Edmonton, AB T6E 5J4 WHEN: Start: Tuesday, November 22, 2016 at 8:30 AM End: Wednesday, November 23, 2016 at 5:00 PM For more info, and to register: http://acds.ca/web/index.php/divisions/workforce/training-events/acdstraining-events#id=20109&cid=975&wid=601

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CONTRACT REPORT – TODD RICH Since I last came to council I’ve also met twice with the sub group consisting of Ann Simms, Helen Cowie, Dyann Gould, Joan Lee and Jayne Myatt for their input and suggestions from the Calgary Region perspective. (volunteered at last Council meeting) At the provincial table we’ve met on average once every two weeks. While we have gone over most of the major outstanding issues very few are totally resolved (or probably more accurate to say resolved to our satisfaction). And there are some over-riding concerns that still exist and are taking up our time and efforts. Mainly the eligibility and ineligibility matrix (although that the actual table content seems to change frequently, both positively and negatively) and the apparent over-riding context of the template that seems to put us in the role of an Agent (not employee) of the GOA vs. that of an independent subcontractor. The GOA lawyer and the ACDS lawyer seem to be at odds about the Agent vs. independent contract from legal perspectives.

Human Services is still gearing up for a go-forward product in early December with plans to put a proposal to the Deputy Minister, leaving us one or two more sessions. The GOA people at the table are voicing a concern that we (the service providers reps) are not appearing to be moving issues off the table quicker. We have, and will continue to take the stance that our role is to bring the issues forward to inform the process. While we have in-depth discussions around the issues that Human Services cannot or will not change a clause (regardless of the reason…i.e. the Accountability Legislation/policy) does not mean from our perspective that the issue is resolved. We see those issues as discussed or tabled but not necessarily resolved.

While there has not been as much resolved as I think both sides would like I think there still exists a willingness to come up with a more livable agreement. The GOA have made positive suggestions / recommendations to address certain clauses/issues and that we (the service provider reps at the table) have agreed with/think reasonable, or at least in the right direction.

Whether the changes / recommendations adopted by the GOA in the upcoming template make a difference, particularly taken as a whole against the issues we could not change, will have to be determined ultimately by each organization.

As we get to the end of November the intent of the Service Provider Reps is to put out a position statement/paper outlining what we’ve done, what we think still needs to be done, and what we perceive as the opportunities and risk with the proposed template.

To that end, Council membership may want to see if there is a date in early to mid December that a special council meeting could be held to go over the position outline once it is out along with the proposed template.

Todd Rich, CLAS

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Workforce Council Update to Service Provider Council September – October 2016 1. Diversity Sub-Committee  The sub-committee has drafted a survey which will go out to service providers seeking information regarding the diversity issues that organizations are facing. The survey will inform the direction of the committee moving forward.

2. Succession Planning Sub-Committee  The sub-committee has created a flow chart of organizational positions, identified key positions for succession planning (CEO, Director and Manager level) and are working on the identification of key competencies within the positions.

3. Data Collection  The final report for the cross associational survey has not yet been released.

4. Competency Field Test  The competency field test which began in August 2015 has wrapped up. Participant organizations evaluated the core competencies, job specific competencies, and performance management tools. A report will be released by ACDS following the compilation of the information.

5. Provincial Workforce Council  The next meeting will be held on November 16, 2016 in Leduc

Update from ADWA – Denise Young We are pleased to report that the recommendations for certification found in the PDD Safety Standards Consultation report are well aligned with our current focus of our work. We are moving forward with our pilot project looking at certification of the entry-level position for community disability support workers.

Since we want certification of workers to be a positive and beneficial experience to all aspects of our community, we are bringing together an advisory committee for the pilot that includes service providers, ACDS, government, educators, families and people with experience with certification done elsewhere.

We are very excited to have our community come together to look over our plans for certification to ensure it will meet everyone’s needs.

Meanwhile, we have been able to fill our gap in the pilot sample with several staff from Edmonton. There is still room for anyone interested. You must be an ADWA member to participate, but it is a great opportunity, as after the pilot there will be a cost associated with certification separate from membership.

Additionally, we have been active in advocacy efforts with government related to the PDD Safety consultation process, with letters going to the Minister of Advanced Education about need for more education opportunities and the Minister of Human Services about wages in the sector.

We've continued to contribute to the safety app initiative led by ACDS. We put out an E-Bulletin on it in early October. There will be another E-Bulletin later that reviews some of the "panic button" apps out there that service providers may find of interest.

We will be speaking to staff at Columbia College this month and it is easy to arrange for us to come out to Calgary area agencies to speak about ADWA and answer questions. Contact disabilityworkers@gmail.com to set something up.

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