HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1998-07-15, Page 44 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR, JULY 15, 1998
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Wednesday, July 15, 1998
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Workfare proposal
is worth a look
There aren't enough details yet to be sure a
proposal to expand workfare into the private
sector is a good move for businesses.
But at a first glance, from the perspective of
welfare recipients, it could be of great benefit:
One of the goals of workfare was to see
that welfare recipients receive training and.
skills to help them get jobs. Right now, those
placements have' been limited to working for
municipalities and non-profit organizations.
However, there just aren't enough
meaningful positions of benefit to go around.
Many of the jobs in Huron County have
involved painting park benches and cleaning
up municipally owned properties.
Occasionally, secretarial -type positions are
available. These are jobs that
wouldn't get done without ,the helpof the
workfare participants but it's not enough.
There are many skilled people who, for
whatever circumstances, have found
themselves in the welfare trap and aren't
able to improve, upgrade or learn the skills
they need to find permanent employment and
leave social assistance behind.
Opening workfare to the private sector
could open a lot more by giving welfare
recipients access to .a wider variety of work
situations.
Those with skills going stale could put them
to use and others could find training that
would help.
The opportunity for a workfare recipient to
find a permanent position within : a
municipality is virtually nil after the past few
years of downsizing.
Area towns have reduced staff and
tightened their belts .internally as much as
possible to prevent passing on Targe tax
hikes to regenerate money lost from the
'provincial and federal governments.
But in the private sector, there would at
least be a handful whose placements would
directly lead to a permanent job with the
participant receiving a pay cheque and not a
welfare cheque. "
Welfare in the private sector could be worth
a look.
STH
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Children's Aid Society hiring
staff to fit risk assessment model
To The Editor:
On June 24, the Board of
Directors of the Children's
Aid Society of Huron. County
approved the hiring of an
additional 4.4 staff in order to
successfully implement the
newly developedrisk
•assessment model, now
required by the 'Ministry of
Community and Social
Services in" all CASs across
the province to begin to
address the workload issues
with social work staff..
The additional .funding
required for this new staffing
is not included.in the Huron
County. Children's Aid
Society's 1998/99 annual base
hudget. It is expected that the
hiring and housing.of this
new staff will cost- the
,province- an; additional
$200,01)0 on an annual basis.
Board Presidcnt, Mary
Moffatt. indicated ,there is
little choice facing the society
in this matter. "Given the
current caseloads carried by
front line staff and - the
implications on workload
attached to the introduction of
the new risk assessment
model for Ontario. the hoard
had no choice"
The hoard has decided to
take- a financial risk rather
than risk not being able to
provide essential child
protection and prevention
services or c 11 ' ren in the
county.
Currently, the society's
front-line child protection
staff are carrying .caseload's
well above the 30 level. With
the mandatory introduction of.
the Ontario Risk Assessment
Tool, prior to September,
1998, - the =already
overburdened staff will now
be required to spend many
additional hours formally
documenting risk levels for
children in families.. 1 see the
introduction of this new risk
assessment tool as an
important development in the
field of child welfare, "The
field of -child welfare in the
- province of Ontario has long
recognized the need for a
consistent, comprehensive.
risk assessment tool. The
Ontario Risk Assessment
Tool will provide front line.
staff across the province with
a consistent method of
assessment of risk -to children
in families referred for CAS
service. In order to implement
this labor-intensive tool.
staffing levels must . he
increased. Unfortunately the
ministry did not feel they
could assist CASs in the
implementation process, and
it has fallen to the agencies to
ensure that. adequate staffing
and resources are available to
effectively implement the
System fully by September 1.
1998." •
The issue of workload, as
well as the implementation of
the risk_ assessment tool,- has
been a significant concern
with the agency sincc 1995.
During the 1995 year the
agency averaged 181.3 open
case files at any point through
the 1998 year. These figures
arc well in excess of the
Ministry of Community and
Social Services interim
workload/caseload levelsand
far beyond the Child Welfare
League of America standard
levels as -recommended
through the various inquests
into the deaths of children in
the province or by the Child
Mortality Task Force.
The Board of Directors'
decision to hire additional
staffing will take effect as of
August 1. 1998. The
additional staffing will -allow
the Huron CAS to reduce
child protection service
caseloads to the high 20s and
will greatly .assist staff and
their managers in
implementing the new risk
rating tool and in providing
mandated protection and
prevention , services to
children and their families in
the community of. Huron
County.
.. The experience of Huron
CAS is very similar to that
facing other CASs across the
province. To our knowledge a
significant, number of CASs
in the province have taken
similar action in response to
rising service demands in
their communities and the
mandatory introduction of the
new . provincial risk
assessment system.
The society plans to request
immediate financial support
for their decision from the
arca office of the Ministry of
Community , and . Social
Services. The -hoard's
decision to hire additional
staffing could not wait until
the result of the provincial
child welfare funding review
expected this fall.
The agency will begin to
recruit for thc new service
positions immediately and
hopes to have alt staff in place
by early September.
For more information
please contact Mary Moffatt.
Board President or myself at
524-7356. -
- Tom Knight
Executive Director
Huron County Children's Aid
Society
A mistake,. distinguishing mark of a civil servant
After spending most of my life in the
halls of government I have come to
believe that the distinguishing mark of
the active. solution seeking civil
servant...is the mistake.
Not um big, ond not too many. But if
you haven't made some mistakes you arc
either damn goodor doing very little that
is meaningful.-
These two paragraphs were taken from
a talk I gave to the annual meeting of the
Canadian Institute of Public
Administration in Toronto 14 years ago.
h mention this now for I believe it to be
true...and there is not doubt that in the
many years 1 spent in and around Queens
Park. i indeed made my share. - -
A dandy that I made in 1968 is one
that I am reminded .about on a regular
basis by the victim...even after I'm long
gone from the place.
My boss at the time was William
Davis. who, was the minister of
education and minstcr of university
affairs. He was invited to be the guest
speaker at Edinboro College
Convocation in Edinboro. Pennsylvania.
A university town not for from Erie.,
He was asked to speak• about progress
in education in Canada and Ontario since
the end 'of the war in 1945. I sent a
request to Dr: Robert Jackson' to put a
draft speech together. Bob Jackson was
the director of the Ontario Institute for•
-Studies in Education and one of the top
academics in the country. i loved Bob
for he had a marvelous sense of humor.
He spent a lot of time on it and produced
an excellent speech which Mr. Davis
liked and approved.
Although Edinboro is' not farther from
Toronto than Goderich, near the south
shore of Lake Eric, it is in thc United
States. A • more comprehensive
introduction of the minister had to be put
together. to explain a hit about our
parliamentary system of government and
setting •out the role and :the
responsibilities of a minister of the
crown. -
It is too had we have to do this. but
Americans. even though they live only a
few miles away, know about as much
about us and our system as they know
about Upper Volta.
The convocation was on a Sunday
afternoon and Mr. Davis and 1 and Dr.
Jackson took off from Mallon in a single
engine Beaver aircraft. Before we were
as far as Hamilton. a bad storm forced us
• to return to get a larger pressurized plane
that would get us above the weather.
We landed in Eric, Pennsylvania 45
minutes, late and a car rushed us the 20
or so miles to Edinboro. We were met by
the president and because we were late,
Mr. Davis was rushed into an office to
put on his cap and gown to get ready to
join in the formal processional. As he
left. i quickly handed him his :speech in a.
file folder:. -
Dr. Jackson and I hustled off to about
the 30 yard line in the big, open stadium
and sat down in what appeared to be a
crowd of about 12,000 people.
It seemed like half the young -people in
.Pennsylvania got a degree and a
handshake that day. It was the longest
parade of graduating students I had -even
seen. •
Finally, Mr. Davis was suitably
introduced...and he spoke. Although -I
have to say Dr. -Jackson and'I were not
paying close attention. in fact we were
not paying any attention to the great
speech he prepared. Listening to the
names being called out and the endless
line of graduates parading up to the
platform drove us to the faculty lounge.
Actually. we sort of snuck
away...accepting an invitation from an
equally bored professor from the college
who sat next to us.
We arrived hack to our 30 yard line
scats just in time to hear Mr. Davis say
his last few words and take his seat --and
to hear the president thank him for his
excellent speech.
After the ceremony. a reception was
held on the spacious college lawn and
Mr. Davis was kept busy by the
president being introduced to faculty
members. Finally, it was over and Mr.
Davis went back to the president's
nearby residence to remove his cap and
.gown and get ready for the trip home.
They were driven to the Erie airport in
one car and Dr. Jackson and I in another.
Neither of us had an opportunity to
speak to the minister since arriving at the
CONTINUED on Page 12
Soccer isn't a foreign sport if you're from here
Some say soccer is a defeated , championship.
"foreign" sport. Chicago "The game
But,it ain't so. 1 a s 1 Scuttlebutt of football
Before either of Sunday's month." byCampbell originated
World Cup finalists. France reported' the Gregor with the high
and Brazil. had football clubs Toronto school pupils
the game was well established Globe after `= s' here in 1880,
here. Seaforth's and in 1888
Scaforth won thc Canadian 3-1 win in the 'Scaforth
championship 107 years ago. Saturday's l Collegiate
They called themselves•the first match. Institute
Hurons. and were as good as "For the % F o o t b a 1 1
squads got back then. visitors ' r Team' was
The Scaforth Hurons hosted every man originated."
one of England's finest soccer of the that June 4.
teams, the Corinthians 'to a forwards 1892 feature
draw and also tied thc United did great noted.
States champion Fall River work, and it "In 1890 the
Rovers from Massachusetts. would be _ team assumed
They clinched their national invidious to - more the
title on.Dominion Day in' 1891 p a r t i c - character of a
in front of 1,500 fans at the ularize. The town club, and
old Recreation Grounds on c, o m - , having
Main Street South in Seaforth . b i n a t i o n adopted the
by blanking the defending play of the - title of the
champion Toronto Scots 2-0. team was much admired." 'Hurons;' went forth
This gave them a 5-1 win'on It was revenge for the 'conquering and to conquer.'
aggregate in thc home -and- Hurons, who had been edged Last year the team carried
home set, bat had begun thc 4-3 on aggregate for the everything before it."
four days be ore in Toronto. Canadian crown by the same The paper then described
The total "is thc best score Scots thc season previous, by various attributes of different
ever recorded by any club," virtue of a 3-2 loss and 1-1 tie. players.
reported The Huron Expositor. "TO CONQUER" "It is worthy of remark that
We weren't being homers. The Toronto Mail was all of the forgoing learned the
"It is said that the game was likewise lavish in its praise of game in Seaforth, with the
one of the best ever seen in our local lads in a full front single exception of Mr.
Canada and much superior to page article on Seaforth the Crawford," it continued.
that in which Seaforth summer after they won the The Hurons were one of the
top three local stories in
almost every edition of The
Expositor from the end of
April until their glorious
Wednesday in July of 1891.
They played on a pitch also
used as cricket grounds (16
lots bought from the Carters.
comprising three acres bought
for $700 paid for by public
shares at $10 each, with
another $1,000 invested in
improvements) that opened on
July 2 I , 1885.
There were no nets hack
then.
The Dominion association
was first organized in 1878,
15 years after modern rules
were formalized in England
for th'c "riot with a pig's
bladder in the middle of it."
The Western Association in
Ontario was set up in 1880.
with 19 clubs. Berlin
(Kitchener) was a perennial
Powerhouse and the oldest
football team in the province.
In 1891 the Hurons beat them
3-1 here on May 16, and then
drew with them at Berlin a
week later. On May 25
Scaforth was at Detroit where
they won 2-1.
TOO AMBITIOUS?
Then Chicago came calling.
ORITINUE12 on Page 5