Community Services Statement of Operations - Quarter 2 Financial Update (2016)

Variance Analysis

Community Services is forecasting a total surplus for 2016 of $30,129, or 0.1% of the net budget of $30,564,515 and 0.01% of the gross budget of 270,286,007.

Administrative

The favourable year-to-date variance of $293,433 is driven mainly by the timing of consulting and other professional services, and mileage expenditures. The favourable forecasted variance of $168,419 is due to reduced postage expenditures in Social Assistance & Employment Opportunities (SAEO).

Operational & Supply

The unfavourable year-to-date and forecasted variances of $353,034 and $467,417 are a result of: higher than anticipated raw food costs in the long-term care homes; higher than anticipated expenditures for high-intensity needs claims in Seniors Services; the timing of expenditures in SAEO; as well as unbudgeted, fully-funded expenditures related to the Homelessness Point-in-Time (PIT) count.

Equipment, Vehicles, Technology

The unfavourable year-to-date and forecasted variances of $138,956 and $213,006 are related to higher than anticipated equipment repair and replacement costs in the long-term care homes.

Community Assistance

The favourable year-to-date and forecasted variances of $4,018,893 and $8,939,534 are related to the Ontario Works caseloads and changing demands for allowances and benefits based on case mix (i.e. single vs. families, with singles eligible for less financial support). Expenditures fluctuate based on client participation in employment programs and demands for specific benefits.

Federal & Provincial Grants

The unfavourable year-to-date and forecasted variances of $4,823,371 and $9,497,477 are a result of reduced Social Assistance funding due to reduced expenditures incurred, partially offset by unbudgeted Senior Services funding related to the new nursing graduate program, unbudgeted high intensity needs claims from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) and unbudgeted Homelessness funding related to the PIT count.

By-Law Charges & Sales

The favourable year-to-date and forecasted variances of $316,921 and $734,823 are driven by higher than estimated parent fee contributions for Children's Services.

Other Revenue

The favourable year-to-date and forecasted variances of $163,000 and $331,617 are a result of an increase to the long-term care home co-payment rate for accommodation fees set by the Province and union billings for long-term care employees' time spent on union business.

Community Impacts & Achievements

Children's Services

• Continue to enable parents to work, go to school or train while providing necessary child care fee subsidy without a waitlist.
• Nearly 1,000 donated books have been distributed to children from families applying for financial assistance, with a further commitment to support healthy child development, early literacy, parent engagement with children and positive experiences for families.

Seniors Services

• Registered Nurses Association of Ontario selected the long-term care homes as a Best Practice Spotlight Organization. The three year project started in May, focusing on enhancing staff practice and engagement, and resident's quality of care and life.
• The final phase of the scheduling improvement project was implemented with centralized scheduling to address process improvement issues. It was implemented within budget and existing staff complement.

Homelessness and Community Engagement

• Working in partnership with the emergency hostels providers, to have a shared common database to track clients so that supporting agencies can understand the client's path throughout the homelessness system and to ensure the client "tells their story once".
• The Region conducted their first PIT count of absolute homelessness in Niagara with the support of the Federal government.

Social Assistance and Employment Opportunities

• 1,109 new job starts were captured from January to June, representing 785 unique employers. Staff worked with local employers and service providers to market and recruit at over 20 job fairs.
• 34 clients graduated from the Learning, Earning and Parenting program; 73% of which plan to attend post-secondary.
• Provincial work continues on the improvement of the functionality of the Social Assistance Management System, with technical fixes and enhancements completed on a quarterly basis. This supports local efforts to update required business processes and/or training.