Northumberland County Ontario Works Manager Jennifer Glover says this municipality's caseload is increasing at a small rate.
“Nothing dramatic - we are really approaching where we were pre-pandemic,” Glover told county council's Social Services Standing Committee at its May meeting.
Part of the growth is due to the end of Federal COVID benefits in late 2021. The result is an increase in cases to 517 in February of this year from 473 in February of last year – a 9.3% increase, compared to the provincial average of a 2.3% increase.
The county is averaging 90 new applications per month this year, compared with 53 per month last year, representing a 70% increase – compared to the provincial average of a 50.7% increase.
Northumberland is entering year two of the Employment Services Transformation prototype, with an increased focus on employment.
“Approximately 40% of our caseload has been referred to our Service System Manager, which really aligns to where we were prior to the transformation beginning,” Glover said.
“We are definitely in line with where we were before, and obviously looking for opportunities to refer more people to that service.”
This contracted service provides referred clients with such preparation-for-employment skills as resume writing and interview tips, as well as connecting them with upgrading and retraining opportunities.
They are also working on associated issues, such as the wait list for health services (including mental-health and addiction treatment), the limited availability of affordable housing and barriers to transportation – a big problem in such a large county. These barriers can be a make-or-break matter, even in the current strong labour market.
A last-minute addition to the report was Ukrainian migrants, which Glover termed an emerging issue they are keeping an eye on.
“We have received provincial direction that we are able to provide emergency assistance through the Ontario Works program to support the Ukrainian migrants in need for a short period of time,” she said, adding that this gives them an opportunity to try to connect them with other resources.
“We are very much in the early days of this, but in the last couple of weeks, we have seen a few families come through this channel.”