Federation Projects & Issues Update

The past week and a half at The Federation office has been very focused on issues arising out of the government’s Sustainable Services Negotiating Mandate. On Monday, I shared with members a letter the Federation Board has sent to BC’s Minister of Finance Carole James.

This letter highlighted our growing concerns about the sustainability of BC’s community social services sector and the increasingly precarious position we have been put in as the result of government actions (such as the Employer Health Tax calculations and changes to the Master Insurance plan). We are also setting up a meeting with Minister James and I will be providing updates to members as our work on this important issue progresses.

In the meantime, there are also a number of other projects and issues that The Federation team continues to work on…

Labour Market Partnership Research

Thanks to funding provided by the Ministry of Advanced Education Skills and Training, we have been working with our partners at SparcBC and CSSEA to address critical information gaps about our broad sector. This research project is an important part of The Federation’s ongoing work to address the recruitment and retention challenges BC’s community social services sector faces.

With this research in hand, we will be able to work with the provincial government to design a well-informed labour market strategy to better attract people into the sector. Later this month some of you may be contacted by SparcBC to participate in some interviews. The Federation will also be circulating a survey for both managers and front line staff. I encourage you to take the time to help us collect this important information.

Social Sector Pensions 

The Federation staff team is also researching issues related to pensions in our sector and exploring what a sector-wide pension plan could look like. In order to aid this effort, we would like to hear from our members about your current pension plan (if any) and how retirement benefits affect (or might affect) recruitment and retention at your organization.

If you have not already completed this short survey, please consider doing so today.  All responses will remain confidential. If you have questions about this survey and/or this initiative, please contact The Federation’s Member Services Coordinator Kathy Powelson at kathy@fcssbc.ca.

Social Policy Forum Videos 

For those of you that were unable to attend last month’s Social Policy Forum (and those of you that were there that want to review the presentations), recordings from the event are now up on the Conferences page of The Federation website.

You can watch Tim Agg’s presentation on the Reimagining Community Inclusion initiative (as well as the Q&A session) and Allison Bond’s presentation on MCFD’s Strategic Plan and Priorities. We have also included a link to the webinar recording of Frances Rosner’s slides and review of recent changes to Indigenous child welfare legislation.

A New Leadership 2020 Cohort

Our next Leadership 2020 cohort launches at the beginning of May. (And there are still a few seats left if you and/or your staff want to take part!) We’ve been told the length of the residencies can pose a barrier to attending so this cohort will be prototyping a slightly shorter version of the program.

We are also thrilled to welcome Kelly Foxcroft-Poirier to the hosting team along with Chris Corrigan, Caitlin Frost, Annemarie Travers, and Rebecca Ataya Lang. You can learn more about the program and download the Application Form here.

Rick FitzZaland
Executive Director