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Ombudsman's report slams social assistance program

By: Larry Kusch

Posted: 05/27/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

THE province's goal of moving people off welfare and into the workforce is undermined by poorly communicated policies, overwhelming staff caseloads and a failure, in some instances, to provide such basic job-searching tools as a telephone.

Provincial ombudsman Irene Hamilton Wednesday released the first outside review of the province's social assistance programs since the early 1980s.

Her probe arose out of complaints from 12 community organizations, many of which have clients on Manitoba's Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) program.

According to Hamilton's report, very few caseworkers describe their workload as manageable, and many spoke of working in "crisis response mode."

Hamilton said there is "some uncertainty" about the role of case counsellors in a system evolving from one that writes cheques based on set criteria to one that helps participants find work.

In an interview, she said more needs to be done to determine the barriers to employment for individual clients and provide help to overcome them. She acknowledged the government has introduced a promising pilot program.

At times, EIA benefit rules mean recipients don't have the tools they need to find work, Hamilton said. So, "a person may not be able to have transportation to seek a job or a telephone to remain connected with job-seeking activity."

Hamilton said social assistance brochures should be written in plain language and Manitoba residents should not be denied the opportunity to apply for benefits because they lack addresses.

She was also troubled by inadequate definitions of what constitutes a common-law relationship, an issue that can affect assistance rates.

"I think what's important is that people in similar circumstances are treated the same way," she said. "Policies should be clear and they should be understandable."

Representatives of several social agencies whose complaints launched the ombudsman's study will comment on the report today at a 10 a.m. press conference.

Family and Consumer Affairs Minister Gord Mackintosh said the report shows the province needs to do a better job of communicating its initiatives and streamlining "some policies and administrative arrangements."

He said he would move swiftly to clarify rules defining common-law relationships, placing more emphasis on the length of cohabitation.

The EIA report is available at www.ombudsman.mb.ca.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 27, 2010 A4

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