Carl DeLine

The stage is set for a new social planning group

Published in Newspaper Articles. Tags: , .

Calgary needs a social planning council.

The case for such a body was made earlier this month in the successful response to concerns raised by the Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank about the way social assistance is handled in the city.

The Social Services Department, moving with what can only be viewed as amazing speed, announced it was hiring at least 20 more social workers in Calgary to cut down on the time it takes to handle new claims for welfare.

Michael Ozerkevich, the deputy minister of social services, also indicated the Calgary regional office would be asking its workers to start telling welfare recipients and new applicants what benefits are available to them above and beyond the basic monthly allowances–something they have apparently been forbidden to do for a decade.

As he vowed that no effort would be spared to communicate to those who are eligible for assistance but may not know they qualify that the department is positively anxious to help out.

Social Services doesn’t want any more reports like the ones last April which said that one-fifth of the people going to the Calgary and Edmonton food banks one month last winter had no money coming in at all.

To help spread the word about what Social Services can and will do for the poor and hungry, Ozerkevich has ordered the distribution of a booklet called The Other Welfare Manual. The booklet, which tells those considering seeking assistance a lot of things the department hasn’t been keep to volunteer, is the work of the Edmonton Social Planning Council.

That agency has at various times been a thorn in the side of governments. But it plays a vital role in identifying and speaking up for those who have been missed by the social care bodies in that community.

A lot of things went into the series of events which led Ozerkevich and his boss, Social Services Minister Connie Osterman, to order the reforms in the welfare system here.

But perhaps the most significant was the fact that the food bank wasn’t alone in making the case that changes needed to be made. When food bank manager Carl DeLine sat down with Ozerkevich and Calgary regional director David Payley, representatives of the city social service department planning section, and several other volunteer agencies were also at the table.

So powerful was the impression this coalition of concern made on the bureaucrats that Ozerkevich conceded in announcing his changes that Social Services now understand and even supports the determination of the food bank to act as an advocate for the poor and hungry. In the past, such a comment would have been like Attila the Hun offering his enemies a good price on his unused ammunition.

But times, not to mention power balances, have changed in Alberta. And all the necessary actors are now on stage in Calgary. All they need is to follow the script furnished by the food bank and we’ll have a body like the Edmonton council doing research and identifying needs in no time.

Ald. Barb Scott, who has labored long and hard to bring about exactly that, in recent months has been involved in a series of meetings with representatives of various community groups and agencies with an eye to setting up a new social planning agency.

So far, the process has been strictly informal, but some basics have been agreed upon.

The group doesn’t want its baby called a council, and it doesn’t want any one government or agency paying all the bills. That way, it will presumably be free to take on any and all issues without fear of losing its financial base, or its basic support in the community.

The city social services department has been involved in the discussions, as has the province.

Many of the ills which now plague the social care sector are the result of too much activity, not too little. It seems that wherever a need is seen, someone is sure to meet it.

But the proliferation of well-meaning helpers from governments and the community has resulted in a lot of overlap of activity. And there are too few people around outside government who not only see and understand the big picture but have the independence to speak up about it.

In the case of the welfare gaps, circumstances conspired to push the message, messengers and the reformers together.

Now that they are together, and basking in the glow of their recent success, they should consider tackling some other problems, and looking at ways to identify needs not yet perceived.

That way, the current win streak doesn’t need to end at one.


Originally published July 28, 1986 by the Calgary Herald (Calgary, AB), credited to Jim Cunningham.