Pilot project was a top recommendation from expert advisory group

Saskatchewan’s New Democrats want the government to pilot and evaluate a guaranteed basic income program and, if the results prove successful, they want the program introduced province-wide, as a key measure to tackle poverty and improve health, social and economic outcomes.

A basic income program, which can be delivered through a cash transfer model or a negative income tax, is a much simpler and more streamlined approach than current income security programs, and many experts argue it is also a much more effective approach at reducing poverty.

The Advisory Group on Poverty Reduction recently recommended that the provincial government implement a basic income pilot project. The Canadian Medical Association also recently passed a resolution in support of such an initiative.

“If we successfully tackle poverty in our province, we’ll reap the benefits of better health outcomes, better social outcomes and better economic outcomes. That means brighter futures and a stronger province for every one of us,” said NDP Social Services critic David Forbes. “Guaranteed basic income programs have shown promise elsewhere, and they’ve received support from across the political spectrum. So we think it makes good sense to implement a pilot project here.”

Forbes said the Opposition New Democrats think the advisory group’s other recommendations are also promising and he repeated the Opposition’s call for urgent action to implement a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy.

“We can’t afford to let the Sask. Party government drag their feet on implementing an anti-poverty plan,” said Forbes. “We want legislative changes made this fall, to implement a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy, and to entrench clear benchmarks and targets. Poverty costs our province a massive amount of money, so it’s time to get serious and smart about tackling it.”

The NDP says recommendations made Monday by an anti-poverty working group look promising – and it wants the government to start taking action now.

The Advisory Group on Poverty Reduction made its final recommendations in a report to the government Monday. Initially, their report was due out in May 2015, and the government has not provided a timeline to respond or move from recommendations to actions.

“Too often, this government announces that a report has been received, then puts the report on a shelf to collect dust and doesn’t take meaningful action on the recommendations,” said NDP Social Services critic David Forbes. “What we need now is action.”

Forbes said several of the advisory group’s recommendations could be put in motion immediately with a timeline laid out for action on others.

“In many cases, the Sask. Party is moving us further away from these recommendations,” said Forbes. “For example, we know the provincial government is selling off 300 affordable housing units, and cancelled the entire Affordable Housing program, leaving only the Social Housing program to handle all needs. That’s backwards. A stable home address is a foundation. Without that, you can’t get a job – in fact, you can’t even get a phone number to put down on a job application.”

Forbes also pointed to education as being moved in the wrong direction.

“Recommendations like creating more pre-Kindergarten programs, helping students prepare for post-secondary training and then making further education and training more affordable are very important. Yet, we see this government cut school division budgets. We see the supports in classrooms that help students finish Grade 12, like educational assistants, being stretched too thin. We see post-secondary education getting much more expensive. Neither today’s students nor tomorrow’s Saskatchewan economy can afford those decisions.”

Moving Saskatchewan in the wrong direction, programs to support families and employees transitioning into the workforce were cut in the 2015-16 budget. The Transition Employment Allowance was cut by $384,000. The Saskatchewan Employment Supplement was cut by $1 million. The Child Care Parent Subsidies budget was cut by $590,000. The Rental Housing Supplements budget was cut $1.7 million. Client support within Social Services was cut $2.3 million and the Sask. Party government cut the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation budget by $5.5 million, a whopping 78 per cent reduction.

CBC News, June 9th, 2015

Children being placed in hotel rooms as Social Services is out of capacity

The Opposition is asking where the Minister of Social Services is and what she’s doing about a further development in the crisis in Social Services’ foster care system. The New Democrats are calling for an urgent campaign to expand the child welfare capacity – including hiring more front-line case workers, actively recruiting foster families, and expanding family and parenting support programming.

In Regina, every foster home is full, every emergency space is full and since May 23, children that come into the care of Social Services are being put in hotel rooms. This according to an investigative media report released Friday afternoon.

“There has been a decade of record prosperity in Saskatchewan, but our foster system is a mess. Too many children are unsupported, and some have been in danger. We know this government doesn’t have enough front-line case workers and we know the over-stressed and under-resourced child protection program is mired in bad communication and poor record-keeping. We also suspect that disorganization and lack of front-line support is scaring off foster parents and potential foster parents,” said David Forbes, NDP critic for Social Services.

“The Sask. Party keeps making up excuses for the state of the child protection system. Enough is enough. The overhaul needs to start now.”

Forbes said the Sask. Party has been highly dismissive of significant concerns in child welfare, even making up untrue examples of progress to shut down questions. For example, in response to concerns repeatedly raised by the Advocate for Children and Youth about too-heavy front-line caseloads, government parrots that it hired 90 workers – never mentioning that they also cut 100 workers at about the same time. In another example, the advocate twice recommended in writing that an independent caseload study and plan be developed, and twice the government responded in writing that it had already contracted an independent body to do that when it actually hadn’t.

“We’re not looking for dismissive defenses – especially twisted fabrications,” said Forbes. “We’re looking for changes that better protect very vulnerable children.”

The Opposition has been calling for an overhaul of the child welfare system that includes licensing foster homes, using social workers licensed with the Saskatchewan Association of Social Work, a hard cap on the number of children in a foster home, more front-line care workers and more training that is more timely for foster families.

Better care for foster children will result in lower costs to the justice system, the adult welfare system and the health system, contends the NDP.

With the release of yet another special investigation into the death of a foster child in Saskatchewan, NDP Social Services critic David Forbes is again calling for concrete changes to protect children in the province’s care.

Wednesday, the Advocate for Children and Youth released No Time for Mark: The Gap Between Policy and Practice, an investigation into the death of a 20-month-old foster child who drowned in a bathtub just two months after entering foster care.

“Saskatchewan was deeply saddened by the death of this little boy. Our hearts go out to his parents and those who loved him,” said Forbes. “This is yet another special investigation by the Advocate for Children and Youth, and with each one the Sask. Party has patted itself on the back for any small steps it has taken, and has been dismissive of the need for major change.

“The fact is, the child protection system in Saskatchewan is far from good enough. It doesn’t need tweaks – it needs an overhaul.”

In his report, Children’s Advocate Bob Pringle says in the case of the 20-month-old boy, Social Services didn’t follow the standards it had in place, and failed to make good decisions.

Pringle reports that today, “systemic issues remain, pertaining to the lack of quality case management and supervision, lack of policy compliance generally, adherence to required contact standards when a child is placed into an out-of-home resource, the quality of investigations, and the continued need to place children in foster homes which are over their recommended capacity.”

Pringle makes nine recommendations to the government and its Ministry of Social Services, including that the ministry offer an immediate, formal apology to the parents of the child. The Opposition agrees with the recommendations, and is calling for specific and significant changes to the child protection and foster care system in addition.

• The Opposition wants foster homes to be licensed, with required training and initial inspections taking place before a license is awarded.
• All child protection workers should be required to be social workers licensed by the Saskatchewan Association of Social Workers. Licensing ensures the qualifications of social workers providing care to children; and it also gives the professionals who care for foster children a safe way to raise concerns and insist on professional standards of practice in their work.
• The number of font-line care workers must be increased to decrease workloads.
• Not only should the current cap of four foster children per home be followed; the number of other children living in the home must be taken into account. Under the current system, a foster parent could be responsible for not only four foster children; but also any number of children not in the foster system, including the foster parent’s own children, nieces and nephews or grandchildren.

From 2010 to 2014, 97 children in the care of Social Services died from unnatural causes including homicide, suicide and accidental death.

That number is significantly higher than in the five years prior. From 2005 to 2009, 54 children died from unnatural causes.

Joe Couture, The Starphoenix, April 2, 2014

Saskatchewan Social Services Minister June Draude came under fire Wednesday after it was revealed her expenses for an overseas trip last summer included more than $3,600 for a car service and over $200 for lunch with a friend.

“We think this shows a growing sense of entitlement,” Opposition social services critic David Forbes told reporters in Regina. “We think this amount for transportation is really high, excessively high.”

The Opposition NDP in question period raised concerns arising from detailed expense reports on a trip Draude, accompanied by cabinet secretary Rick Mantey, made to Ghana last summer. The trip also involved several days spent in England.

The London portion of the trip included the particularly concerning aspects, said Forbes. The pair was in that city between June 12 and June 16. During that time, Draude and Mantey spent more than $3,600 in public money on a car service, plus almost $1,900 each at a four-star luxury hotel. Mantey listed more than $200 for a lunch with Draude and her friend from Saskatchewan.

Defending the expenses after question period, Draude said she wasn’t aware the lunch was charged to taxpayers and said she would pay it back. Government spokesperson Kathy Young said later in the day that the lunch was inadvertently included in the expense report and that the cost of it would be paid back by Mantey.

The trip cost more than $18,000 in total. Draude revealed to reporters that the London leg of the journey was added to the trip to Ghana — where she spoke at a conference on fetal alcohol spectrum disorder — to save the cost of flying back to Saskatchewan only to travel to Prince Edward Island days later. The Sask. Party government minister said she scheduled five or six meetings while in London.

Mantey’s flights cost more than $4,300, while Draude’s cost over $2,600 — Young explained later in the day that Mantey chose to fly business class, an option available to ministers and officials travelling overseas, while Draude chose to fly economy class.

Draude also said she saved money by staying with a friend during most of her time in Ghana. Regarding the pricey car service, Draude said it wasn’t what she would consider a limousine and she was advised that such an arrangement was the typical way of getting around in a place like London — although she couldn’t say whether it was common for other government ministers to employ such services.

“Whenever I go out of the country or out of the province, I’m very aware that I’m spending taxpayers’ dollars. It’s really important to me to be conscious of the fact that these are hard-earned, taxpayers’ dollars,” the minister told reporters.

Forbes, however, said the Opposition requests, under freedom of information laws, all travel expenses for provincial government politicians going overseas — and the claims for the journey by Draude and Mantey are the most troubling.

“This really stuck out for us,” he said. “This one had red flags all over it.”

Draude said she had meetings during the trip about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, disabilities, housing and other issues relevant to her government work. There weren’t any reports produced as a result of the trip and Draude struggled to list any specific benefits for Saskatchewan resulting from the meetings she had.

BY THE NUMBERS

What was taxpayer money spent on during Draude’s overseas trip?

$3,634.33 — car service for Draude and Mantey while in London

$4,366.43 — Mantey’s flights to Ghana and England; chose business class

$2,696.80 — Draude’s flight’s to Ghana and England; chose economy class

$1,864.56 — Draude’s four-star hotel in London; Mantey’s similar

$206.06 — improperly claimed personal lunch with Draude’s friend