The global economy has experienced significant turmoil in recent years. Both the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have had a dramatic effect locally with inflation causing the price of groceries, fuel, and other consumer goods to rise. Interest rates have kept owning a home out of reach for many Ontarians, even though house prices have come down overall.

Meanwhile, the crisis in home ownership has only exacerbated the cost of renting a home, with Ontario cities being over-represented in lists of Canadian cities with the highest monthly rental costs.

And, we haven’t even mentioned the low unemployment rate!

What will these confusing economic circumstances mean for human services users who are already struggling? Likewise, what can OMSSA Service System Managers expect in 2023? Will there be a period of austerity in the human services, or should they feel buoyed by Ontario’s $2.1 billion budget surplus? Is a recession on the horizon that might see an increased demand for income and employment services, affordable housing?

On this panel we will hear from economists and public policy experts who will help untangle the difficult climate that we are in and what it will mean for human services delivery in the coming year and beyond. 

Resources:

• Five ideas for the Ontario government to consider for its Employment Services Transformation planning process for Toronto

• Welfare in Canada, 2021 Report

• More affordable housing for whom? Putting people first in Ontario’s housing policy decisions

Speakers:

• John Michael McGrath, Staff Writer, TVO (moderator)

• Lindsay Jones, Director of Policy and Government Relations, Association of Municipalities Ontario

• Garima Talwar Kapoor, Policy Director, Maytree Foundation

• Armine Yalnizyan, Fellow on the Future of Workers, Atkinson Foundation

Champion of Human Services Recipient: 

• Karly Church, Victim Services of Durham Region

The need for mental health supports overlaps significantly with all the human services that OMSSA Members provide. And while these connections are often acknowledged, partnerships with Ontario Health Teams have not been widely established.

This session will bring together OMSSA Service System Managers, an Ontario Health Team expert, and an expert from the Canadian Mental Health Association-Ontario Division who will discuss the work that they have done to establish connections between human services provision and mental health supports.  

Speakers:

• Laura LePine, Director of Community Services, County of Renfrew (moderator)

• Jai Mills, Director, System Strategy, Planning, Design & Implementation, Ontario Health East

• Terry Pariseau, Regional Housing Coordinator, Canadian Mental Health Association - Toronto Branch

• Lori Richer, Housing Stability Manager, County of Wellington

For the last decade housing in Canada has become increasingly unaffordable. Nowhere has this been more true than in BC and Ontario. To initiate a conversation around this challenge, in June of 2022, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released its 2030 housing affordability aspiration report.

This report analyzes Canada’s housing supply and what will be required to restore housing affordability. What is concluded is that Canada will require 3.5 million more housing units than the current projected pace of construction is expected to provide (2.3 million units), two-thirds of which will need to be built in BC and Ontario.

This panel will bring together experts, including from the CMHC, who will present their perspectives on how to address this challenge.  

Resources:

• Canada's Housing Supply Shortages: Estimating what is needed to solve Canada's housing affordability crisis by 2030

• Financialization and Housing: A social innovation approach to a better housing system

Speakers:

• Bill Bradica, Chief Administrative Officer, The District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board (moderator)

• Aled ab Iorwerth, Deputy Chief Economist, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

• Eden Grodzinski, Chief Executive Officer, Habitat for Humanity, Halton-Mississauga-Dufferin

• Jesse Helmer, Senior Research Associate, Smart Prosperity Institute

• Andrea Nemtin, Chief Executive Officer, Social Innovation Canada

In 2021, British Columbia announced a plan to become the first province in Canada to decriminalize possession of small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use. Likewise, the City of Toronto has submitted an application for a similar exemption to the Federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. With the worsening opioid overdose crisis, these polarizing plans look critically at the policing of people who use drugs, and what a non-judgemental, health-oriented approach would look like at the community level. Can a plan such as this be developed in Ontario? What health and social supports need to be in place? To what extent should CMSMs and DSSABs be factored into this work?  

The goal of this session is to encourage networking and to look critically at the barriers to harm reduction and treatment services as it relates to human services. In this working session, you will work in small groups and engage with harm-reduction and public health experts to discuss what it means to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs in Ontario. Participants will consider how decriminalization relates to broader discussions in human services around addictions support, the safer supply of opioids, as well as its impact on other areas of human services such as housing, stability supports, and emergency services.

These Think Tanks are designed to bring human services leaders into conversation with experts and stakeholders from other fields who are grappling with some of the key issues affecting vulnerable populations in Ontario. 

Speakers:

• Geraldine Morrison, Policy Analyst, Business Affairs and Financial Management, Regional Municipality of Durham (moderator)

• Denise Baldwin, Community Engagement and Education Coordinator - Indigenous Focus for the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

• Sonya Bourgeois, Associate Director, Strategy and Preventive Health, Toronto Public Health

• Dr. Leslie Buckley, Chief of the Addictions Division, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)

• Jean-François Crépault, Senior Policy Analyst, Communications and Partnerships, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)

• Kris Guthrie, Health Promotion Specialist, Harm Reduction, The Works, Toronto Public Health

• Colin Johnson, Chair, Toronto Harm Reduction Alliance

• Katie Millan, Senior Policy & Strategic Issues Advisor, Toronto Public Health

• Dan Werb, Director, Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation

The ability to afford sufficient nutritious food is a key determinant of health. In the past year, unprecedented inflation in the price of food has grossly impacted lower-income households and individuals who depend on income supports, particularly those who are racialized or Indigenous. In this session we will examine how individuals in human services are uniquely positioned to support food-insecure service users. Experts will provide an overview of the current food-security landscape, speak about food sovereignty, and then you will work in small groups to discuss how to build relationships and reduce barriers for service users. The goal of this session is to encourage networking and open dialogue, exploring how we can facilitate better integration and develop more intentional pathways between human services and food organizations.  

These Think Tanks are designed to bring human services leaders into conversation with experts and stakeholders from other fields who are grappling with some of the key issues affecting vulnerable populations in Ontario. 

Resources:

• COVID-19 Resource: Guelph Emergency Food Access

• COVID-19 Resource: Wellington County Emergency Food Access

• The Seed - Fresh Food Rx

• Archives of Public Health: "I was eating more fruits and veggies than I have in years": a mixed methods evaluation of a fresh food prescription intervention

• American Journal of Health Promotion: Promoting Healthy Food Access and Nutrition in Primary Care: A Systematic Scoping Review of Food Prescription Programs

• The Conversation: Social prescriptions: Why some health-care practitioners are prescribing food to their patients

• Feed Ontario: Hunger Report 2022

Speakers:

• Stuart Beumer, Director of Ontario Works, County of Wellington and OMSSA Board Member (moderator)

• Dunja Lukic, Social Planning and Policy Analyst, Ontario Works Division, County of Wellington (moderator)

• Frankie Antone, Child and Youth Policy Analyst, Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres

• Amanda King, Director, Network & Government Relations, Feed Ontario

• Abby Richter, Fresh Food Prescription (Rx) Coordinator, The Seed Guelph

• Kathryn Scharf, Chief Program Officer, Community Food Centres Canada

Effective human services integration continues to be an important goal for OMSSA Service System Managers, provincial ministries, and stakeholders. And while some Service System Managers have had success integrating at a local level, this panel will focus on what municipal integration looks like and how this experience might inform integration with the provincial ministries.

Since the provincial election, OMSSA Members are looking forward to renewing their work with the province around integration. This panel will bring together key stakeholders to create a dialogue around the challenges and solutions to effective human services integration.

We will hear from OMSSA Service System Managers who will discuss the work they have successfully done within their CMSM and DSSAB, and we will hear from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services and the Ministry of Health about the work they are doing to continue to engage and collaborate with OMSSA members.

Finally, these panelists will also be joined by a community navigator who works with service users to navigate the municipal human services system.  

Speakers:

• Janet Menard, (former) Deputy Minister, Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services and Human Services Advisor (moderator)

• Kimberly Brathwaite, Acting Project Director, Human Services Integration, City of Toronto

• Cordelia Clarke Julien, Assistant Deputy Minister, Social Assistance Programs Division, MCCSS
  

• Fern Dominelli, Executive Director, NOSDA

• Katie Hill, Supervisor, Regional Municipality of Durham

• Mary Mannella, Director of Supportive Housing, Mental Health and Addiction Programs Branch, Ministry of Health

• Jocelyn Siciliano, Supervisor, Regional Municipality of Durham

A key challenge faced by OMSSA Service System Managers within Children’s Services involves the recruitment and retention of Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs). 

Recent data from the College of Early Childhood Educators has shed light on the stark reality that managers are faced with, indicating a declining likelihood of College members to take up employment in licensed childcare. This is particularly true for those who have at least a Bachelor’s degree. 

In the face of this challenge, this session will place OMSSA Members’ workforce planning front and center. This think tank is designed as an opportunity to share and discuss the strategies used in workforce planning, with the hope that some preliminary promising practices may emerge. 

Participants will be able to hear from their colleagues not only about what approaches to recruitment and retention have worked and what hasn’t, but also what steps should be taken as Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) moves forward. Some of the issues covered in this session will include: what are the components of effective and sustainable workforce strategy? what tools do you use for recruitment? what role should professional development play in your retention strategy? how was your funding for professional development used?

These Think Tanks are designed to bring human services leaders into conversation with experts and stakeholders from other fields who are grappling with some of the key issues affecting vulnerable populations in Ontario. 

Speakers:

• Michelle Schurter, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Millennial Strategist (moderator) 

Much has been written about Ontario’s need for more supportive housing. In particular, the low supply of culturally appropriate housing is of particular concern and is being acutely felt amongst Indigenous and racialized communities. But with the facts and data being clear, how do we move from words to action? The goal of this plenary session is to create a dialogue between supportive housing stakeholders that can help generate tangible results that positively affect communities in need. In this session, you will engage with Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services, Service System Managers, and other supportive housing experts who have seen and experienced the frustrations and successes of building affordable housing. The message they will share is that, while not without challenges, it is possible (and essential!) to move from words to action on supportive housing.  

Speakers:

• Mike Nadeau, Chief Executive Officer, District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board (moderator)

• Craig Cooper, Director, Housing Stability Services, Social and Health Development, City of London

• Jaimee Gaunce, Director of Policy, Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services

• Sylvia Maracle, Knowledge Keeper and former Executive Director, Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres

• Sarah Stevenson, Director of Integrated Social Services, Kenora District Services Board

Intervening on anti-Indigenous racism that is embedded in policy and process is key to moving the needle on reconciliation. Learn the foundations of anti-Indigenous-specific racism education interventions and wise practices for transformational change with Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC) CEO, Gertie Mai Muise. This session will guide the audience through the reforms necessary to change the way we do business to support self-determining Indigenous communities and to achieve mutual socio-economic outcomes in our communities.

Speaker:

• Gertie Mai Muise, CEO of the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres

Patti Moore Human Services Integration Recipient: 

• Mellissa Morgan, City of Cornwall

We've now moved into phase two of employment services transformation in Ontario. And while some of the prototype regions have benefited from their Service System Manager bringing increased capacity and resources to help service users, new challenges have emerged as the transformation expands.
 
One of the key challenges has been making these employment services more person-centric. Service users have varying service needs and may face either or both mental health and substance use issues. In order to meet the diverse needs of their service users, case managers have had to find creative solutions to make up for a lack of broader system integration. 
 
Equally relevant to these questions of integration and the person-centric approach is the large number of service users who are not covered by this transformation or whose housing situation may shift from regions where they are covered to ones where they are not. This is particularly true for some segments of Ontario’s Indigenous population who sometimes move between urban and reserve contexts. 

On this panel, we will hear from prototype regions and the Ontario Native Welfare Administrators’ Association about their successes and challenges when it comes to developing a more holistic approach to working with service users. In particular, this panel will address how we can integrate EST in order to more effectively meet the diverse needs of service users.

Speakers:

• James Lapierre, Director, Employment and Social Services, City of Toronto and OMSSA Board Member (moderator)

• Julie Johnson, Training and Development Specialist, City of Peterborough

• Jessica Nadjiwon-Smith, Executive Director, Ontario Native Welfare Administrators' Association

• Lori Watson, Director, Social Assistance & Employment Opportunities, Niagara Region

Communities in Ontario continue to struggle with finding an effective and sustainable model to provide housing supports and services to people living in encampments. A common measure adopted by municipalities has been the shelter system. And while this system certainly addresses the desire to move the problem out of public spaces, legitimate questions are being asked about whether this approach is adequate for addressing the underlying issues of homelessness.

On this panel, we will look at encampment policies, how they’ve been implemented, and what their results have been. We will also look at successful alternatives prioritizing partnerships that build an integrated and lasting approach to addressing this challenge.  

Resources:

• A National Protocol for Homeless Encampments in Canada

• Homeless Encampments Through a Human Rights Lens - Municipal Policies and Recommendations (September 2022)

Speakers:

• Polly Smith, Director of Employment and Social Services, Municipality of Chatham-Kent and OMSSA Board Member (moderator) 

• Ellen Buck-McFadyen RN, PhD, Assistant Professor, Trent/Fleming School of Nursing

• Tyler Campbell, Director of Children and Social Services, City of Greater Sudbury

• Dr. Laura Pin, Assistant Professor, Political Science, Wilfred Laurier University

• Kelly-Anne Salerno, Assistant Director, Housing Operations Administration, Regional Municipality of Waterloo

The key to making decisions around workforce planning and to advocating for the work that OMSSA Children’s Services workers and managers do revolves around data collection and management. How do we collect the right data and how do we mobilize it to tell the story of the system we see on a day to day basis? 

This session will include short presentations from a panel of experts with experience carrying out data collection in Children’s Services, as well as from OMSSA Service System Managers who have been engaged in this work. 

Substantial time, however, will be used for dialogue between the panelists and the attendees around some of the following issues: why is data valuable? what data should be collected? how do you tell a story with the data and what story do you want to tell and to whom? how do we collect this data long-term? where should this data be kept so that it remains accessible to OMSSA Members?

These Think Tanks are designed to bring human services leaders into conversation with experts and stakeholders from other fields who are grappling with some of the key issues affecting vulnerable populations in Ontario. 

Resources:

• Canada's Children Need a Professional Early Childhood Education Workforce (April 2022)

• Knowing our Numbers: Measuring the Health of the CCEY Workforce, One Community as a Time!

• College of Early Childhood Educators Membership Data Report 2021-2022 Fiscal Year

Speakers:

• Michelle Schurter, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Millennial Strategist (moderator) 

• Cynthia Abel, Deputy Registrar and Director, Registration, College of Early Childhood Educators

• Dr. Emis Akbari, Senior Policy Fellow, Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development, Professor and Program Coordinator, School of Early Childhood, George Brown College

• Heather Elliott, Director, Programs, Children's Services, District of Muskoka

• Kelly Emery, Director, Child Care and Early Years, Municipality of Chatham-Kent

• Meighan Finlay, Executive Director, Municipal Benchmarking Network of Canada
  

• Miranda Mackie, Manager of Children Services, City of Greater Sudbury