Reflecting on a year like no other…

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This has been a challenging and scary year for all of us. And as we head into, quite literally, the last and darkest days of 2020, it would be easy to focus on all of the negatives. Indeed, the news this week about the delay in Temporary Pandemic Pay may have been one more reason to send us down that road.

However, I want to instead challenge myself—and all of you—to look forward to the brighter days that are just around the corner and to remember the inspiring and remarkable things we have accomplished together in spite of what the past 12 months have thrown at us.

I think back to February and how excited we were to have the community social services sector recognized by BC’s Finance Minister in the budget speech. I remember the reaction I received when The Federation was named to the Premier’s Economic Recovery Taskforce. And I recall the many conversations I had back in March after BC’s Provincial Health Officer explicitly called on our sector to keep doing what we have been doing for years—showing up and caring for our clients, supporting those in need, and ensuring that vulnerable people were not made even more vulnerable.

This week was also the first meeting of the Social Services Sector Roundtable since before the provincial election and I have been re-energized by the potential of that initiative and the opportunity for that group of committed advocates to make the kind of lasting, meaningful change that we have been working toward for a long time.

And that is what I find truly remarkable about this organization. During the most chaotic, unprecedented period of time, this Federation has come together and accomplished more than I could have imagined. Last week, we had dozens of members come together for a marathon Zoom session to discuss and design changes to residential programs so that they might better support young people in care who are using substances. Members have self-organized to provide peer support around virtual accreditation visits and hosted online training and learning events facilitated by The Federation.

We also completed the Social Service Labour Market Research Project (the final report is waiting in the queue with government communications), helped to create the Social Services Health and Safety Council with our sector partners, and launched a new reconciliation-focused leadership program with a cohort of 30 participants from across the country. (It is exceptionally uplifting to see organizations commit their time, money, and energy to this important work in the midst of an ongoing crisis!)

This truly was a year like no other. Not just because of the pandemic or because of the social upheaval but because of the way this group of committed and compassionate people came together to build a stronger, more sustainable, more caring place for all of us to live. I cannot thank you enough and I wish you all the warmest and restful holiday break that is possible.

Rick FitzZaland
Federation Executive Director

MS Teams Resources for the Social Sector

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The Information Services Division (ISD) in the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction has been responsible for rolling out MS Teams within the social sector and supporting the use of online collaboration tools. They have hosted a number of helpful and informative calls and webinars for Federation members and have also provided additional support and resources which we have collected below.

If you have additional questions, comments, or requests related to the content below, you can contact Sherry Sinclair, The Federation’s Programs and Services Director at sherry@fcssbc.ca.

CFSCA Online Tools Update

1: Microsoft Teams

  • MS Teams is currently approved for uses including CFSCA
  • ISD will be setting up sessions to provide training to Federation staff to help those who have access and/or those who are joining meetings set up by the ministry or other staff.
  • ISD has security and privacy guidelines to assist Techsoup or other parties to purchase licenses that comply with government restrictions (e.g., requirements that data be hosted in Canada). These documents can be found below. The ISD team is happy to support anyone needing assistance during the license purchasing process.
  • ISD is also exploring the option of providing government MS Teams licenses to contractors and back-charging back for them.

2: Zoom

  • Approval: Government security and privacy teams are working hard to get this approved in order to allow service delivery. Zoom has been approved for some basic team meeting type uses, but not for CFCSA (including the delivery of services to clients). This work is still in progress and the ISD team is very hopeful but there are no timelines for approval given the complexity of these approvals. Updates will be provided as soon as they are available.
  • Licences: Subject to approval, ISD would be able to support the purchasing of licenses if/when this option becomes available.

Resource Documents

These are the Security and Privacy guidelines for MS Teams that were developed for MCFD that apply to both FOIPAA and CFCSA legislation. While this was developed for MCFD specifically, there is a lot of generally helpful information contained within.

This document was created to help clients learn and understand how to join an MS Teams meeting. It is also useful for employees who have little experience in joining MS Teams meetings.

There is also an MS Teams Records and Management Guide that, while created for the Government Records Service, may also have some helpful information for Federation members about recordkeeping, access and privacy, managing information, and online security.

MCFD-Created MS Teams Videos

Below are three videos that MCFD made themselves for their workers to familiarize their teams with using MS Teams software.

MS Teams Overview Q&A

Q: Can the names be listed first name first?
A: When you use the Search function at the top of the Teams window, you can search first name first. However, searching by last name will narrow down the results faster.

Q: Is the transcription feature that runs through the United States part of Stream?
A: According to the Microsoft website here, if you are within Canada, Stream data centers are within Canada so there is no issues with data flowing to the US.

Q: Can you chat with only one participant, like you can in Zoom?
A: Unfortunately, the side chat function does not exist within MS Teams. You can however continue to have a conversation in the Chat tab while in a Meeting or have a popped-out chat as well.

Q: Does that mean that the Teams meeting link is not unique?
A: Microsoft indicates that each MS Teams meeting link is unique. The caveat there is that if you have 2 meetings back to back that have similar names, you may end up with combined chat sessions and permissions. We suggest you ensure that you’re meeting titles are unique.

Q: I’m not able to go in to “large gallery” view or “together mode” – what would be missing?
A: This is a feature that is available when using a licensed version of Microsoft Teams.

Q: What if you can only see the speaker – where do I find the different views?
A: While in a Teams meeting, select the 3 dots icon (more actions), then select the different view.

Q: Can you talk more about the number of people that you can have in a meeting, and if a PowerPoint presentation can be used via the screen sharing feature.
A: The current limit on MS Teams meetings is 350 participants. A PowerPoint can be shared 2 days, either by screen sharing with Power Point open, or by sharing the Power Point directly from the share tab and select PowerPoint.

Q: Can clients join a meeting without having to download the MS Teams app?
A: Yes. They do however need an up to date browser in order to ensure the best user experience.

Federation Projects & Issues Update

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Since the spring, The Federation team has been focusing a lot of our time and attention on supporting you and your organizations through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But there remain many other very important issues and projects that we are also working on.

We understand that many of the issues Federation members were facing before the pandemic continue to have a significant impact. And we know that some of these systemic, underlying issues have contributed to the stress and difficulty of the past several months.

I want to assure you that your Board of Directors and the entire Federation staff team are working on both sides of the equation—the immediate pandemic-related issues like the roll-out of pandemic pay and COVID testing as well as long-term, ongoing advocacy efforts around supports for children with special needs, Police Act reform, and recruitment and retention.

As always, I encourage you to reach out if you have questions, comments, or ideas about the projects and issues detailed below (or any other Federation work). Your expertise, time, and creativity are the most valuable resources we have when it comes to building the kind of strong, sustainable community social services sector we all want.

Thank you for being a part of this Federation and for supporting these very important pieces of work.

Children and Youth with Special Needs

The Federation was involved in the research and writing of the report released last week by BC’s Representative for Children and Youth, Left out: children and youth with special needs in the pandemic. It does an excellent job of capturing the many challenges that families of kids with special needs have been facing during this pandemic (and before).

We are fully supportive of the recommendations within the report, but we also believe that there are some structural issues that may make implementing those changes and solving those problems especially challenging.

We at The Federation are increasingly curious about whether the CYSN portfolio belongs in the same ministry as child protection. With childcare moving from MCFD to the Ministry of Education, we find ourselves questioning whether or not a similar move (perhaps to a ministry dedicated to mental health) is necessary in order to see real change for children with special needs and their families.

Community Social Services Training Fund

Work is currently underway to launch the first call for applications to access the training funds that were allocated last summer. The first round of applications will open in January. To receive updates about this project and future application windows, sign up to join the distribution list on The Federation website.

Federation response to BC’s Police Act reform

Last month, we sent a survey out to the membership seeking feedback and guidance for our response to the province’s reform of the Police Act. We received over 30 responses from 25 different organizations.

The information gave us a clear picture of the different roles that the police play in relation to the work you do in community—what is working well (collaboration, relationship-building) and what needs to be changed (more education and training for officers, police responses to social issues).

Like many of the issues that our sector deals with, the complexity of this situation is striking. Our working group of staff and board members discussed how, in many cases, police are brought in to deal with what is essentially a breakdown or gap in the social care system—but without having the proper tools or skills. So, while substantial changes to police activity and oversight are certainly needed, the issues at hand are not exclusively policing issues and they cannot be solved simply by reforming the Police Act.

We are hoping that the weeks ahead will offer more information about the next steps regarding the provincial government’s Police Act reform process. We will keep members updated and informed as we design and deliver our response.

Social Service Labour Market Research

The final report of this extensive and deep dive into the recruitment and retention landscape of BC’s community social services sector was completed in the fall of 2020. The Social Service Labour Market Research Project Final Report is currently working its way through the required government processes before it can be released and shared publicly.

Ongoing Work With Government

There are also a number of other issues, working groups, committees, and initiatives in which The Federation and the provincial government are actively engaged. These include the System of Care (formerly known as Residential Redesign), the Collaborative Contract Reference Group, Childcare Resource and Referral Planning, Reimagining Community Inclusion, and the Social Services Sector Roundtable.

Our work with the Roundtable was paused during the election but we are very eager to resume working with our government colleagues on the important issues at that table. (The Roundtable will resume meeting as of next week.)

As you may have read in our letters to the Premier and the new social care ministers last week, we are very keen to build upon the momentum of the past two years. There is a great deal of promise and potential in the collaborative nature of this group and I believe that the priorities that have been collectively identified will be pivotal to the future strength and sustainability of our sector.

Rick FitzZaland
Federation Executive Director

Cabinet Ministers and their Mandates

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Last week, Premier Horgan announced his new cabinet and released the mandate letters for each minister. The Federation board and staff team had been eagerly awaiting this information and, in the days since the announcement, have been in high gear. We have been reviewing the mandates for each social care ministry through our strategic lens and setting up meetings with ministers, deputies, ministers of state, and parliamentary secretaries.

You can review a copy of the letter we sent to each social care minister here and our letter to Premier Horgan here. We are already taking steps to make sure the issues that are most important to Federation members are on the desks of decision-makers and discussed in some of their earliest briefings. You can view a list of the full cabinet here. A collection of the mandate letters and minister bios can be found here.

The diversity of The Federation’s membership means that our advocacy and engagement efforts span nine different ministries. Your board members and I are preparing for many, many meetings with new ministers and deputies and we are preparing to discuss both broad issues (e.g., recruitment and retention, reconciliation) and service-specific considerations (e.g., children in care, supports for older adults). What follows is an overview of what stood out in the mandate letters and the priorities that we will bring forward over the coming weeks. This is by no means an exhaustive list; if you would like to discuss any of the ministry’s mandate’s in more detail, feel free to contact me.

Our priorities

At the core of our approach to working with government remains our commitment to (1) reconciliation and resurgence and (2) building a strong and sustainable community social services sector. These are our foundational priorities and they are fundamentally interrelated. I do not believe that it is possible to create the truly strong and sustainable community social services sector that we desire without also fully committing to social justice and equity and decolonizing the structures and systems we work within.

The highlights

As we reviewed the mandate letters of each social care ministry, we looked for—and found—a commitment to action that lives into reconciliation, including a dedicated secretariat that will coordinate the government’s efforts and the expansion of support to Friendship Centres. This was the first thing that stood out to us.

We were also excited and motivated by the fact that several new ministers have a long-standing familiarity with the social services sector (e.g., Minister Dean of MCFD and Minister Simons of MSDPR). We are encouraged by the focus on children and youth with special needs within the MCFD mandate letter as well as the attention to family supports and the consideration of individual needs when determining placements for young people in care. The mandate letter for Minister Malcolmson (Mental Health and Addictions) also suggests that there will be a more active and operational approach to things like increasing treatment options for youth and implementing Pathways to Hope.

However, there are also issues and areas of concern where we will need to remain somewhat cautious. Supports for seniors are limited (somewhat understandably, given our current context) to long-term care facilities. The commitment to move responsibility for childcare from MCFD to the Ministry of Education is something that has been long been advocated for by childcare advocates; however, it will need to be managed and transitioned in a way that does not hinder early learning and family support principles of care. And while involuntary care (or secure or stabilization care) was not mentioned explicitly in any mandate letter, there is still public demand for such legislation in spite of its many problems.

Opportunities

Ultimately, we are heartened and hopeful by the ministers that were named and the mandate letters that they were handed. Our new government colleagues have been tasked with building intentional and sustainable relationships through public and stakeholder engagement plans that incorporate the perspectives of organizations like ours early on in the policy development process. Active dialogue, measurable outcomes, and ongoing outreach are no longer things we have to demand of our government partners; they are now built into each social care ministry’s priorities.

As you can read in my letter to Premier Horgan, I feel like the current relationship between the social services sector and the government is stronger and more collaborative than it has ever been before. And now, at this moment, we have before us an opportunity for the community social services sector to work for, design, and create some of the biggest and most substantial changes we have been working towards for a long time.

Yes, the pandemic and the added stressors that resulted have put extra pressure on our organizations, our staff teams, and our partners in the provincial government. But I have no doubt that we will rise to the occasion. It will not be easy work, but we are well prepared for it and we are more than ready.

Get in touch

As always, if you have any questions about our approach to advocacy or engagement with the government, the issues we are raising, or anything else, don’t hesitate to reach out. You can find contact information for The Federation staff team here and for your Board of Directors on the member’s page of our website.

Rick FitzZaland
Federation Executive Director