The Federation’s second member survey report is out now!

Earlier this year, The Federation released a report analyzing the data from the 2015 Federation Member Survey and a study done in partnership with the University of Victoria.

That report, the first in a series of four, looked at the health and sustainability of B.C.’s community social service sector. Today, I am pleased to share with you the second in this series of reports.

This new report sifts through the data to find insights about demographics of people served by the sector, the range of services offered, key program areas, and the benefits that well-funded social services provide to other sectors.

Our goal is to use the information contained in these reports in conjunction with things like the Select Standing Committee report and our analyses of provincial budgets to paint an accurate picture of B.C.’s social service landscape. It is important to have current and detailed information about the sector and our members so that we can continue to advocate on your behalf with politicians, funders, and decision makers.

This information also enables us to address some assumptions about the makeup of our Federation. For example, nearly half of our members provide services to older adults; perhaps we don’t talk about these services as much as we should.

We know providing us with this information is a lot of work—that time that could be spent doing other important tasks at your agencies. But these reports only exist because you took the time to complete such surveys. For that, you have my thanks. You also have the reassurance that these surveys provide the facts required to back up our statements about the value of the sector and our calls for increased funding.

Please take a moment to look through this latest report. This information has been pulled together in a way that we (and you) can use to educate people about our sector—what we do, who we serve, and the impact that these services have on other, more widely known and understood systems of care: health and education.

If you have any questions about this work, don’t hesitate to contact me.