Doug Ford Wants to Monitor the Performance of Social Assistance Programs. He does not track poverty. | Daily News Byte

Documents show Doug Ford’s government told agencies looking to take over social work programs that future funding would depend on “key performance indicators” – even though none of those KPIs were related to work or poverty.

Count PressProgress previously reported, the Ford government has spent nearly two years working to privatize Employment Service programs for Ontario Works (OW) and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) recipients. These employment services assist with job search activities that are mandated for most low-income Ontario Works recipients and strongly advised for ODSP recipients.

The Ford government’s Tender Notice is looking for new “Service System Managers” to take over the program – to “better support employers” and “reduce reliance on income support.”

A notice from the City of Toronto’s employment and social services manager further confirms that in “three Employment Service System Manager prototype sites provincial program delivery funding is initially being reduced by 20%.” 20% of this budget is now held for “performance-based funding” paid to providers to incentivize clients’ achievements and retention in their work.

According to a document, which was indexed in a database of the ministry and reviewed by PressProgress, the scheme will “build on” the funding scheme laid out in CFP Tender #11855. That document suggests that the portion of funding that depends on the listed indicators could be expanded to 25%.

It states:

“In the fourth year of the transfer payment agreement for all Catchment Areas, the proportion of Performance-based Funding, in relation to Operational Funding and Funding for EmploymentRelated Financial Supports will increase from twenty percent (20%) to minimum twenty-five percent (25%) of the total available funding envelope.”

According to an April 2022 document, while SSMs (and thus agencies) expect status quo funding for this year, going forward they are expected to develop “transition phase results” to receive their full funding. According to the attached key performance indicator, the funding standard requires that all recipients – including OW/ODSP recipients – work at least 20 hours per week for agencies to receive their full block of funding.

None of the metrics determine what type of job they will move to, their earnings, training opportunities or other workplace details.

There is also no accounting for the multiple interventions that are often needed to move OW/ODSP recipients and other jobseekers who face barriers to employment.

said an employment services manager, who asked to remain anonymous PressProgress the outcomes are likely to be bad.

“The last few years have been very difficult for people – not to mention job scarring and the cyclical effect of mental health on unemployment,” the manager said. PressProgress. “To create an individual who is committed to sustainability means considering all the surrounding needs that a person has,” from transportation, to food security and more.

However, that does not come with more funding in the system, rather the PBF could further undermine funding.

They added that the Performance-based Funding (PbF) for the program – about 20% of the budgets – does not take into account the effects of the pandemic on the people who make up our labor market

“To get to a retention point, people will need a lot of services, especially after the pandemic,” said the manager. “There is a recession coming and there are unemployed people who have just been out of work and people who have not yet recovered from layoffs or life changes and they will be left behind. This means that more people will have to rely on this work support system.”

Putting the fund at risk with such a view, they say, “is not a recipe for economic success.”

Trevor Manson, secretary co-chair of the ODSP Action Coalition, said this proposal is unlikely to help those who rely on the system.

“None of this addresses the fact that ODSP rates have remained frozen for four years while costs for everyone continue to rise,” Manson said. PressProgress. “It’s clear that most ODSP clients are unable to work or follow a strict schedule that comes with work. Schedules are predictable. Disability is often unpredictable.”

“How work-ready is someone trying to survive on $733/month? Clients are often at risk, malnourished, sleep-deprived, unable to afford a cell phone and/or internet,” Manson said.

According to provincial government budget estimates, it plans to see total OW Financial Aid go from $2,672,835,300 last year to $2,664,927,600 this year. It will also see OW Employment Assistance increase below inflation from $167,921,800 last year to $173,957,000.

ODSP Financial Assistance will decrease from $5,502,521,700 in 2021 to $5,492,975,900 and work assistance will decrease from $42,077,300 to $28,424,000.

Neither the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services nor the Ministry of Labor responded to requests for comment from PressProgress.