The DTSSAB announces appointment of new CAO, Mark Stewart

On behalf of the DTSSAB Board of Directors, I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Stewart to the position of Chief Administrative Officer for the District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board effective March 21, 2022.

Mark’s appointment reflects the Board’s confidence in his ability to lead the organization in achieving success with current and future initiatives. Mark’s commitment to leadership, his perseverance to ensure the needs of individuals we serve are met, as well as his professionalism, open communication, and integrity are all essential qualities for this important role.

Mark is a familiar face to many, as he has been an integral part of the DTSSAB’s Senior Leadership team as Director of Client Services over the past fifteen years, supporting effective DTSSAB Board and Senior Leadership decisions. Mark has demonstrated progressive leadership skills throughout his 23-year career at DTSSAB, having worked within the human services sector for 25 years.

Our Board believes that Mark’s dedication to the organization, his experience and knowledge of our programs and services, his community partnerships, as well as his leadership qualities position him for working effectively with management and staff to deliver on plans which are in line with our Vision, Mission and Values.

As Mark prepares to begin his new responsibilities, the leadership role of Director of Client Services will be recruited promptly.

On behalf of the Board, I would like to congratulate Mark on his new role and extend our deepest gratitude to Kelly Black for her steadfast leadership as CAO since 2019.

We look forward to working with Mark in this new capacity and ask you to join me in welcoming Mark as your new Chief Administrative Officer.

Derek Mundle

Chair, DTSSAB Board of Directors

The DTSSAB announces funding for the launch of Community Paramedicine Long-Term Care

The DTSSAB is pleased to announce the district is receiving funding in the amount of $2.5 million dollars from the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care for the development and delivery of the Community Paramedicine Long-Term Care (CPLTC).

The DTSSAB has been delivering the Community Paramedicine High Intensity Program since March of 2021 which has had a positive impact in our communities for the health and well-being of our patients. The funding through the CPLTC is to be disbursed over 2.5 years ending in March 2024 and will be used for the creation of the delivery of Community Paramedicine program, specifically addressing the needs of long-term care patients building on the success of the High Intensity program.

The ability for DTSSAB EMS to provide care to long-term care patients within their home will benefit the district’s entire health care system through reduced 911 calls, emergency room visits, hospital admissions, and stabilization of long-term care waitlists. The increased integration between home, community, and primary care can also help bring peace of mind and a sense of stability to individuals, families and caregivers who are waiting for long-term care placement. The Community Paramedicine Long-Term Care Program’s intention is to work in collaboration with existing practitioners to enable management of chronic health conditions at home, hopefully minimizing instances of patients going into crisis. In the future, this program may also include the use of Remote Patient Monitoring, which will increase the capacity of patients the program can undertake.

The delivery of the CPLTC will reflect the collaboration and partnership between the DTSSAB EMS and Home and Community Care who will determine eligibility of individuals for the CPLTC making referrals to the DTSSAB EMS for receipt of services.

“The DTSSAB is grateful to the Province for the funding allocation for the delivery of the CPLTC within the district of Timiskaming” states DTSSAB Chair Derek Mundle. “The delivery of CPLTC will make a difference in the lives of many residents in our communities”.

The DTSSAB EMS is presently in the process of recruiting additional community paramedics to support the additional patient caseload. The DTSSAB anticipates having the CPLTC ready for roll out by April 2022. The program is being tailored to be maximally effective for the Timiskaming District to assist as many patients as possible.

2022 DTSSAB Budget Approved

The District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board (DTSSAB) passed its 2022 budget at its meeting on February 16, 2022. Board Chair Derek Mundle stated “in 2022, as in every year, the DTSSAB is cognizant of the impact of our budget on our municipal partners. The Pandemic continues to impact municipalities and we worked diligently on maximizing the financial contributions from the senior levels of government to minimize the impact on the municipal budget.”

The overall 2022 DTSSAB budget is $39,087,424 which is a 10.69% increase over 2021. The budget funds the following four programs in the district: Ontario Works ($11,803,507), Children Services ($10,312,427), Housing Services ($7,279,902) and Emergency Medical Services ($9,651,488). The increase in the overall budget is due to one-time Provincial funding provided to our Emergency Medical Services and Children’s Services Programs, an increase in our Homeless Prevention funding and a projected increase to our Ontario Works Caseload resulting in approximately $3,400,000 increase to the overall budget. Increases in our Housing Services and Emergency Medical Services programs have resulted in an increase to the municipal apportionment of 2.97% ($199,149). This year the Board chose to remove funds from our working fund reserve in the amount of $200,000 to reduce the billing impact to municipalities and the unincorporated townships.

“The 2022 budget is a good budget for our municipal partners. The DTSSAB delivers these services on behalf of the district municipalities, and we strive to ensure that our operational costs do not exceed the expectations of the municipalities. This year we were able to deliver a 2.62% increase despite much higher increases to costs to operate our programs and especially with increased costs due to the pandemic.” commented Chair Derek Mundle

The municipal share of the overall budget is $6,902,043 (17.7%), the Territories Without Municipal Representation (TWOMO) contributes $1,830,911 (4.7%), federal/provincial share is $30,075,170 (76.9%) and contributions from reserves of $279,300 (0.7%) comprise our revenue sources.

“Over the years the Board has kept the municipal apportionment as close to 0% as possible despite increases in salary and benefits and operating costs such as hydro and fuel, by using contributions of our reserves. Since 2008 we have used $2,324,100 from our working fund reserves.” noted Mr. Mundle. The Board, which consists of seven appointed municipal representatives and two elected representatives from the territories without municipal representation, bring the viewpoint of the local taxpayer and their municipality to the table and ensures that the budget is fair and responsible in delivering the services that the DTSSAB has been mandated to deliver. Our focus is always maintaining or increasing our services without having a negative impact on our municipalities.

For further information on the budget, please contact Kelly Black at 705-567-9366 ext. 3253 or 705-568-7791.

Timiskaming Community Safety and Well-being Plan

Community Safety and Well-being Plan

The District of Timiskaming is creating a Community Safety and Well-being Plan. Community Safety and Well-being Plans combine the strengths of partners in the community with the unique needs of the area to work towards being a safer, happier and more cohesive community.

Community Input

The community will help to shape the plan and focus on key issues. The survey includes questions about your day-to-day life, health, education, employment, safety, leisure, and recreation experiences, as well as what you think about living, working and playing in your community. By sharing your experiences and what matters to you, you help to shape life in your community, determine key priorities, and indicate where you think change is needed most.

Please only complete this survey if you live in of the District of Timiskaming or Temagami region. The Timiskaming District includes all residents who live in Matachewan in the west to Kearns in the east, and Sesekinika in the north to Temagami in the south, and all areas in between.

This survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. The survey responses are being confidentially collected and only overall results will be shared. There are no questions that ask for individual identifying information.

There are no mandatory questions. If you wish to participate you are free to fill out only the questions you are comfortable answering.

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Survey Link (English)

Survey Link (French)

Public Access to the DTSSAB Offices continues

Please be advised that in accordance with the announcement made January 3rd, 2022, by Premier Doug Ford, the District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board (DTSSAB) is taking further measures to protect our residents, employees and community.

These measures include keeping our offices in Kirkland Lake and Temiskaming Shores open with compliance to health and safety protocols.

All individuals seeking services of the DTSSAB are advised to call the office at one of the numbers listed below. There is a phone located outside the door of each office that will allow people to call our reception desk directly. In addition there are drop boxes at each office location and each of the community housing buildings that can be used (by our tenants).

Kirkland Lake 705-567-9366 OR 888-544-5555

Temiskaming Shores 705-647-7447 OR 800-627-2944

In-office visits are restricted to emergencies only, and people will be required to pass the COVID-19 screening and wear a mask when accessing the premises.

People receiving social assistance payments are strongly urged to set up Direct Bank Deposit if they haven’t already done so to avoid any complications with receiving their benefits. Anyone can call the number listed above if they need assistance with this.

All client emergency assistance needs, including health and safety issues, will continue to be addressed. Tenants will be advised of alternative ways to pay their rent where necessary.

Community Paramedicine supports continue to be provided to eligible patients with strict adherence to health and safety protocols. Our 911 service is operating to respond to medical emergencies.

Targeted School-Aged Emergency Child Care in Timiskaming

The District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board, in collaboration with our Licensed Child Care Centres and Licensed Home Child Care Providers, will be implementing emergency childcare during Ontario's temporary move to shift schools to virtual learning, in response to concerns surrounding the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The Emergency Child Care has a tentative start date of January 10th, 2022, pending further direction from the Ministry of Education.

The Ontario government has opted to move elementary and secondary schools to remote learning following the Christmas break. The move has been made as a preventative measure in response to the rapid increase of community transmission of COVID-19 cases, and the increasing risks posed to the public by the Omicron variant across the province.

Licensed childcare programs will continue for non-school aged children from ages 0-4. Childcare programs that are co-located within a school may continue as approved by individual school boards. Early ON programs will pause in-person programming.

The Targeted School-Aged Emergency Child-Care will provide childcare services for children aged 3.8 to 12 years old, at no cost for provincially identified essential workers who are not able to acquire alternative child care and/or are unable to accommodate care at home for their school-aged children. Eligibility will be determined according to the Province's Individuals Eligible for Emergency Child Care list available here: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/200263.

The DTSSAB will continue to work closely with the Timiskaming Health Unit, Licensed Child Care providers and local school boards to identify interest and prepare for the opening of emergency childcare locations for school-aged children. Applications can be completed using the following link:

Application

Inquiries can be directed to DTSSAB Children's Services at our toll-free number 1-888-544-555 or 1-800-627-2944.

The DTSSAB Launches By-Name List

The District of Timiskaming Social Services Board is launching the Timiskaming By-Name List in conjunction with National Housing Day on November 22, 2021. The By-Name list is an essential tool for ending homelessness in our communities. It can help connect people to services and can create a foundation for better service coordination. The list provides a more consistent approach for assessment and referral protocols to make sure clients are being matched to the services they need.

The intention behind the By-Name List is to use and share data and information more effectively to achieve the best outcomes for local individuals experiencing homelessness. The By-Name List will collect data on consenting individuals experiencing homelessness across the entire district of Timiskaming to help connect with local supports and community partners.

The need for the By-Name list was highlighted through the results of the Timiskaming Counts 2021 Homeless Enumeration. An infographic outlining the results of the Enumeration are attached.

The Ontario government believes that everyone deserves a place to call home and provides funding to support housing and homelessness programs in our district. The Province also believes that achieving alignment throughout the Province is the best path forward to establishing a comprehensive and effective approach for addressing homelessness. One method of achieving alignment is through the creation of a the provincially mandated By-Name List.

For more information contact:

Lyne Labelle - labellel@dtssab.com

Homelessness Count Underway Across the District of Timiskaming

The issue of homelessness has been gaining attention in the District of Timiskaming and across the Province of Ontario. The District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board (DTSSAB), in partnership with several service agencies in our communities, is conducting a count of individuals experiencing homelessness over one week, between September 12th and September 18th.

This count is part of a province-wide effort to gain a better understanding of homelessness in communities across the province. This count will allow not only the DTSSAB, but all service agencies across the district, to be able to learn more about, and respond to, the issue of homelessness in the District of Timiskaming. The requirements for the 2021 Homeless Enumeration introduce more consistency in methodology so that the data can be used to provide point-in-time snapshots of homelessness across the District of Timiskaming.

The method being used to collect the information is known as a Point in Time (PIT) Count that identifies the number of people experiencing homelessness on a specific night, for a single point in time. In addition to the PIT count, a registry week will be conducted surveying individuals experiencing homelessness throughout the Enumeration week of September 12th to September 18th.

Surveys will be available at agencies across the district where respondents will be offered a pre-survey asking, “Where are you sleeping tonight?”

Anyone not sleeping in their own house or apartment will have the opportunity to complete the survey, in addition to those whose current housing feels unsafe or are one unexpected bill away from homelessness. The survey is voluntary, confidential and respondents will receive a gift card to local stores, as well as a bag of personal care items.

The survey is designed not to be a simple headcount of homelessness, but to dig deeper in understanding patterns and reasons why. The results will help us plan services to meet the needs of the community. The homelessness count will take place province-wide every two years and results will be made publicly available in the months following the count. Individuals or families who are currently homeless or at risk of homelessness are encouraged to visit the DTSSAB at 290 Armstrong Street in New Liskeard or 29 Duncan Avenue N. in Kirkland Lake.

For further information please visit www.dtssab.com or by phone at (888)-544-5555 x 3247 to learn what supports may be available.