Expanding Access to Essential Services in Peel Region

By: Jabari Lindsay

May 2025

OMSSA is featuring several 2024 Local Municipal Champion award recipients and their work in the Knowledge Exchange Blog. Please read this entry from the Region of Peel below. 

Who are we?

In the Peel Region, our Human Services Department is comprised of five individual divisions each with dedicated mandates and services. The Income and Social Supports (ISS) and the Social Development, Planning and Partnership divisions are two of the distinct services available to support Peel residents.

Income and Social Supports (ISS) delivers the Ontario Works Program in Peel and is the single point of access for a range of Human Services programs, and community-based agencies to help residents cope with life challenges or events.

The Social Development, Planning and Partnerships (SDPP) division in Peel works collaboratively with community partners and divisions within Human Services to enhance effective service delivery, identify gaps in services and efficiencies, and plan, influence and create solutions that positively impact the residents of Peel.

Working Together to Address Client Needs

As a part of ISS’ stability support service delivery, a review of Ontario Works client needs, barriers and goals was completed to identify key priority areas to be addressed.

The demand for mental health and addiction services and digital access has surged, driven by a growing awareness of these issues and an increasing need for support. However, funding shortfalls and limited agency capacity has hindered timely access to these essential services.

In response to the identified need in Peel, the ISS team collaborated with the SDPP team to partner with over 30 community agencies. ISS and SDPP worked together to better serve clients and get them the resources and supports they need.

Together, we co-designed and launched two impactful program funds: the Wellness Response and Assistance Program (WRAP) and Digital Literacy Programs.

These programs aim to:

• enhance community capacity
• alleviate long waitlists for services

Services are accessible in various formats, offered in different languages, target different age groups and are culturally focused.

Wellness Response and Assistance Program (WRAP)

Over 12,000 Peel residents have accessed supports through WRAP, including counselling, harm reduction, and health education. Clients were referred to the partner agencies through established referral processes and participating clients were eligible to receive transportation and childcare supports.    

Digital Literacy

More than 900 Peel residents have benefitted from Digital Literacy programming, gaining skills in:

• computer use
• the use of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• internet safety and privacy
• online searching
• online communication through social media, emails, direct messaging, and video conferencing tools

This collaborative partnership and approach to delivering much needed services to clients in receipt of social assistance, not only addresses immediate needs but also empowers the community through enhanced access to vital resources.

This partnership was successful as it enabled both ISS and SDPP to leverage their existing relationships and client groups, thereby expanding the program’s reach through strategic promotion and information sharing.

About the Author

Jabari Lindsay has been working at the municipal level for over 15 years. As a leader in Human Services program delivery, Jabari has had an opportunity to work in complex legislative and unionized environments which allowed him to develop and enhance his skills around change managing complex assignments and policy and program development from inception through to implementation while balancing political, community and other stakeholder interests.

He has provided strategic leadership in large public and non-profit organizations with a focus on creating strong, safe and engaged communities and neighbourhoods, while empowering those most vulnerable. Jabari has a high level of understanding of current issues and best practices in diversity, equity, human rights, inclusion, accessibility, reconciliation, and cultural competence.

Jabari has led various strategic initiatives to provide policy and direction to the City of Toronto in the areas of working with youth, at-risk communities, health and social services. He has been a co-lead for committees such as Indigenous Affairs Divisional Committee and development of a support system for Black staff that contributed towards the creation of the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Action Plan. And, he chaired an inter-governmental committee that worked on addressing specific employment and support needs of multi-barriered youth within the City.