RETHINKING WORK AND LEARNING: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND POLICY CHALLENGES
	Presented by the Research Network on Work and Lifelong Learning (WALL). Link to Program and Registration Information.

Member News

Official Launch! Phase 1: HR Online Surveys Now Available

Posted to the ONESTEP homepage (onestep.on.ca) are the links to the online surveys. Please take some time to complete the corresponding survey, pass along to your co-workers and send to your board members.

We encourage everyone to fill out the survey ONLINE, but if you prefer to fill out the paper version:
1. Agency Board Survey
2. ED/ CEO Survey
3. Program Manager / Program Director Survey
4. Staff Survey

Additional Resources:
Facilitator's Guide
Glossary

New Rates for Youth Projects

The following flat rate percentage has been assigned for the Skills Link Program only:
1. 4% for Other Direct Project Costs (type 1C) = multiplied by the sum of cost 1A + 1B; and
2. 10% for Organizational Infrastructure Costs (type 2) = multiplied by the sum of cost types 1A + 1B + 1C

All of our Service Canada Centres (SCC) have been notified and this information should be posted on the Service Canada web site soon.

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News/Alerts

Sector Councils: Canada’s Competitive Advantage

Speaking notes for Alan Nymark, Deputy Minister Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

Click here for more information.

Government addresses accountability to charities in introduction of its Federal Accountability Act

Prime Minister Harper vowed to 'change the way business is done in Ottawa forever.' Ottawa Citizen reporter Kathryn May reported on April 12 that "the Harper government introduced its much-touted accountability act yesterday, promising a reorganization of power and an overhaul of behaviour that could forever reshape how bureaucrats and politicians work.

Click here for more information.

McGuinty Government Helping People With Disabilities Find Jobs And Increase Their Income

The McGuinty government is helping people with disabilities gain greater financial independence and increase their standard of living by improving the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Minister of Community and Social Services Sandra Pupatello announced today.

Click here for more information.

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Events

EARN Meeting (Hamilton)

The next EARN meeting will be Tuesday April 25th at the Dundas Municipal Services Centre, 9:00 am till 11:30 am. If you’d like to get on the Agenda, please let me know ASAP. If your organization has an update for the Newsletter please have it to me by Friday April 27th.

Click here for more information

Community Planning and Diversity (Toronto)

Partnerships for inclusiveness, social justice, and community well-being.
A first international meeting of community social planning leaders and practitioners
from throughout the United States and Canada.
TORONTO, CANADA, MAY 4-7, 2006

Click here for more information

Solution-focused training: positive psychology (Kingston)

The Solution Focused Interviewing (SFI) training program is designed for health care, helping, and human resource professionals.

This exclusive course is based on the program being offered at the University of Toronto. The training empowers clients with finding solutions to problems, rather than "solving problems."

Click here for more information

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Online Resources

The Resource Library is an online searchable database of information about community-based employment and training across Ontario and beyond. Visit the ONESTEP Resource Library: www.onestep.on.ca/resource/intro.cfm Below are some recent additions:

Towards an Action Plan for Canada 'Our Vision, Values and Actions'

In November of 2005, 144 of us – randomly selected youth between the ages of 18 and 25 – met in Ottawa for a three and a half day dialogue and summit organized by Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN). The challenge was to determine the kind of Canada we, the youth of Canada, want. Over the course of our dialogue we discussed in detail what we value about Canada and what we would like to change. This is our vision. We worked with CPRN, youth and older facilitators, decision makers and experts to turn our vision into an action plan that includes recommendations in five key areas: learning, work, health, environment and citizenship.

Click here to download action plan.

Click here for more information

Making Waves

Thousands of people today are finding ways to connect viable enterprise with community interests and values. They are making the workplace a vehicle for efficient production, but also good jobs, training, empowerment and dignity, affordable housing, and a clean environment. Four times a year, Making Waves magazine relays to you their reports: what works, what doesn’t, and why – and maybe a clue as to who needs a person with your training and experience.

Sound like you? Have a look. Go to www.cedworks.com for more details about Making Waves and many other resources for community economic development and social enterprise.

Click here for more information

Hotel Workers Rising

Hotel Workers Rising
Lifting one another above the poverty line

The UNITE HERE Hotel Workers Rising campaign represents an effort to empower thousands of hotel workers in hundreds of properties in cities across North America as they work to improve their jobs and secure better lives for themselves and their families.

In recent decades, the hotel industry has witnessed the rapid consolidation and expansion of international hotel corporations. The hotel industry used to be dominated by local players and local markets. But today the industry is dominated by multimillion dollar national and international corporations. Hotel companies such as Hilton and Marriott are present in most major cities, and employ thousands of workers.

Click here for more information

Equality in Practice Project: What the Stats Say Now

Here's an excerpt especially relevant to our area. The stats are taken from the 2001 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey.

* Regardless of age or gender, adults with disabilities are less likely to be employed than their non-disabled peers. * This holds true for the youngest in this age group (those aged 25 to 29 years) as well as the oldest (those aged 60 to 64 years). For males aged 25 to 29 years, 83.7% of the non-disabled population are employed while only 56.5% of young males with disabilities are employed. For females in this age group, the difference is less pronounced but exists nonetheless - 74% versus 61.8%. ). For males aged 60 to 64 years, 52.4% of the non-disabled population are employed while only 25.7% of young males with disabilities are employed. For females in this age group, the difference is even greater - 33.1% versus 13.5%.

Just over eight of every ten (84.2) non-disabled adults aged 25 to 64 years reported having employment income in 2000 compared to just over half (52.8%) of adults with disabilities. Among those who reported employment income, 14.4% of the population with disabilities reported employment income of less than $5,000 while only 7.7% of their non-disabled peers reported this level of employment income.

Adults with disabilities are slightly more than twice as likely to be part of a family whose total family income is classified by Statistics Canada as low income. For the youngest in this age group (those aged 25 to 29 years) and for the oldest (those aged 60 to 64 years), the ratio is 1.6. For all of the other five-year age groups, the ratio exceed 2.1 with the highest being 2.7 for the age groups 45 to 49 years and 50 to 54 years.

Click here for more information

Ontario Disability Support Program

Better Employment Services and Supports… How They Can Help You

In February 2006, the Ontario government made improvements to Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) supports and services to better help you and your family find jobs and keep more of what you earn.

If you are receiving ODSP and are currently working, or want to start working, these changes can benefit you and your family.

This brochure will give you a brief overview of the changes and what they mean to you.

Unless otherwise noted, these changes will come into effect on November 1, 2006.

For more information, or if you have questions, contact your local ODSP office.

Click here for more information

The Non-Profit Sector in a Place-based Policy World

The value of the non-profit sector has never been clearer. In addition to its age-old role of providing social goods and services that the market and public sectors have failed to deliver adequately, the sector is a key player in the new social policy era. So argues David Hay, Director of CPRN’s Family Network. Hay says that despite the challenges inherent in funding regimes, reporting requirements and regulations, the sector is still a major source of social innovation. Its committed workforce, experience, knowledge, flexibility and creativity, its entrepreneurial capacity and its holistic approach are its strengths. Hay suggests that non-profits are well placed to play an increasingly important part in place-based policies of the future.

Click here for more information

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