Niagara’s social assistance caseload ‘stabilizing’

After nearly a decade of rising Ontario Works caseloads in Niagara, the numbers are stabilizing.

Lori Watson, Niagara’s director of social assistance and employment opportunities, told Niagara Region’s public health and social services committee that when recessionary forces hammered Niagara’s economy between 2008 and 2014, local caseworkers struggled to deal with a 47 per cent surge in applications, which saw the number of cases increase to more than 10,000.

The latest period for which statistics have just become available, between 2014 and 2016, shows that the rate has fallen to about three per cent, Watson said.

“What we see now is that the numbers are staying consistent, and there is a direct correlation with Niagara’s employment rate,” Watson said in an interview before the meeting.

“Year over year, we have been projecting caseload increases; for the first time, we aren’t realizing those increases,” Watson said. “The caseload is never stagnant. In 2016, we saw the numbers coming on go down — and the number going off, go up. We are chipping away.

“When the caseload size increased in 2008, the focus was on reacting to the sheer volume of new requests and case management. We are now able to be more proactive in the way we are delivering service.”

Ontario Works helps people who are in financial need with two types of assistance. One is income support to help with basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter. The other is employment assistance to help clients find, prepare for and keep a job.

In most cases, a client must agree to participate in employment assistance activities in order to receive financial assistance.

In 2016, Niagara’s Ontario Works caseload average was 10,826, which represents about 18,000 people, or about two per cent of the region’s population, Watson said.

A couple with two children receives $1,205 a month. A couple without children gets $1,095 a month. A single parent with one child receives $966 while a single person gets $706.

A family with two children on Ontario Works receives $14,460 a year. The province sets the benefit rates based on family size and shelter cost.

As a comparison, the average annual income for a Niagara family with two children is $64,686.

In 2016, the goal of OW staff was 1,350 new job starts. The final total of 1,911 easily surpassed it, though the jobs tend to be parttime and seasonal, she told the committee. Some of the jobs don’t pay enough to move someone completely off OW.

The average length of time on the program is 30 months.

About 48 per cent of clients come from the St. Catharines office (which includes Thorold and Niagara-on-the-Lake) with 23 per cent from Niagara Falls and 17 per cent from Welland. Fort Erie represents seven per cent of the caseload. Port Colborne is responsible for four per cent. Those numbers roughly mirror Niagara’s population distribution.

Single people make up 63 per cent of the caseload. Sole support parents make up 26 per cent, while couples with dependents and couples make up seven per cent and four per cent.

“There are many reasons people come on social assistance,” Watson said. “It’s important that we provide the right supports and understand how to align our services and supports to where that person is on the path to finding a job.”

Niagara’s unemployment rate has been consistently higher than the provincial average. For 2016, it was 7.4 per cent while the provincial average was 6.6 per cent.

Watson highlighted new technology developed for Niagara that staff have named BENN — Building Employment Networks Niagara. BENN will match clients with jobs and training opportunities. The work used to be done manually.

“It’s computer software, and it is a different way of doing business, and we are sent to launch in the third quarter of this year.”

“With BENN, we will collect data regarding employment outcomes the client wants as well as employer information. It will be used to inform program decision making.”

There are many reasons people come on social assistance. It’s important that we provide the right supports and understand how to align our services and supports to where that person is on the path to finding a job.” Lori Watson, Niagara’s director of social assistance and employment opportunities