2002/03 Annual Service Plan Report Ministry of Human Resources

Year-at-a-Glance Highlights

Key Accomplishments

The 2002/03 fiscal year was a year of significant change for the Ministry of Human Resources. It was the first full fiscal year of the ministry in its current structure and included the enactment of new legislation and programs in core areas of ministry activity. Key accomplishments are listed below for each of the ministry's four goals, as identified in the 2002/03 service plan.

Goal 1: BC Employment and Assistance clients achieve independence through sustained employment.

The ministry provided employment and pre-employment programs and services to BC Employment and Assistance clients to assist them in finding and sustaining employment, thereby achieving independence and self-reliance. As the list below indicates, programs and services were developed and provided to clients based on their ability and readiness to work. These included appropriate pre-employment and employment supports, targeted to their needs.

The following diagram depicts the continuum of ministry programs and services.

Highlights of employment programs and services the ministry established during 2002/03 include:

• Employment Plans. Employment plans were introduced as the foundation for ongoing dialogue and planning between ministry staff and clients. Clients with employment obligations were expected to have an employment plan, ensuring their access to tools and supports to find a job and become independent from income assistance.
• Job Placement Program. This program assisted clients who were the most job-ready to obtain employment quickly. The program provides support, for up to 24 months, for clients to remain employed. The Job Placement Program was designed and fully implemented during 2002/03, based on the results of the Jobs Partnership Program Pilot.
• Training for Jobs Program Pilot. This program pilot was initiated in 2002/03 to provide short-term integrated training and job placement services to clients facing barriers to employment. It was designed to assist them in finding or returning to work as quickly as possible.
• Direct Purchase Services. Services and support were provided to clients to meet unique employment or pre-employment needs, thereby ensuring that clients in all regions of the province had access to programs and services. For example, the costs for transportation to an employment program could be provided under this initiative.
• Confirmed Job Supplement Program. This program was initiated in 2002/03 to assist clients who had a confirmed job offer to overcome financial barriers in areas such as transportation, safety supplies or work clothing.

Goal 2: BC Employment and Assistance services support self-reliance.

The ministry introduced a range of significant legislative, policy and program changes designed to encourage and support self-reliance:

• BC Employment and Assistance. New legislation (Employment and Assistance Act) and regulations were enacted to establish this program and provide a focus on employment and self-reliance.
• Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities. New legislation (Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Act) and regulations were enacted to enable and support greater independence for persons with disabilities.
• Persons with Disabilities Definition. The definition of persons with disabilities was revised to focus on functional limitations, bringing it in line with Human Rights case law.
• Persons with Persistent Multiple Barriers. A new category of assistance was introduced for clients with barriers to employment who may require additional supports.

The Employment Strategy for Persons with Disabilities (ESPD) was announced in April 2002 as an overarching, integrated approach to employment for persons with disabilities. When fully implemented, the strategy will provide integrated assessment, pre-employment services, employment planning, job training, and employment services and supports to enable persons with disabilities to gain or enhance employment to the greatest degree possible.

During 2002/03, the following components of the strategy were implemented:

• Pre-Employment Services. Pre-employment services were introduced to build the confidence and motivation of persons with disabilities by improving their basic work-related skills, and assisting them to become engaged in voluntary employment or employment-related activities. Intake and pre-employment planning, job readiness, employability skills training, work placement, and follow-up or follow-along services were developed.
• The Minister's Council on Employment for Persons with Disabilities. The inaugural meeting of the council was held in January 2003, with representatives from business, community, government and the education/training sector. The council fostered discussion with employers on opportunities for employment for persons with disabilities.
• Disability Support for Employment Fund. Through a $20 million endowment from the ministry to the Vancouver Foundation, a $1 million per year Disability Support for Employment Fund was created to assist persons with disabilities to obtain disability supports they need in order to find or sustain employment. The fund will exist in perpetuity.
• Increased earnings exemptions. The amount clients could earn without affecting their assistance level was increased to $300 a month for persons with disabilities and persons with persistent multiple barriers to employment.

Goal 3: BC Employment and Assistance clients' basic health needs are met.

The ministry provided a range of programs to assist clients' with their basic health needs. These were in addition to programs and services provided to all residents by health authorities province-wide. Ministry initiatives included:

• Emergency shelter. Shelter was provided for homeless individuals in communities throughout the province. The ministry provided funding for 718 beds all year round and increased that number by 252 through its cold weather strategy.
• Bus passes. Approximately 54,000 bus passes were provided to seniors and persons with disabilities. This was an increase of approximately 4,000 over the previous fiscal year.
• Transportation supplements. The ministry provided supplements to clients to help meet their transportation needs.

Goal 4: The ministry is an accountable organization.

Several significant initiatives were undertaken during the fiscal year to enhance the accountability of the ministry and its programs:

• BC Employment and Assistance appeal process. A one-step appeal process was implemented to produce timely decisions and increase accountability.
• Performance-based contracting. This form of contracting was successful in delivering employment programs. Contract payments to job placement service providers, for example, were based solely on achievement of client independence from income assistance.
• Deregulation. The ministry eliminated more than 600 regulations during 2002/03 (nearly a one-third reduction) to improve efficiency.
• Electronic Service Delivery. The ministry designed and implemented a range of information services that are available to the public 24-hours a day. Information is available using web-based eligibility estimators and orientation materials, and an automated telephone inquiry system provides details for specific clients as well as general ministry information.

Statistical Highlights

Many of the ministry's new programs and initiatives began achieving results during the fiscal year. The following are highlights:

• The number of people receiving income assistance in British Columbia declined by 26 per cent (a reduction of 60,484 clients). The most recent ministry exit survey found that 67 per cent of former income assistance clients, who had remained independent for at least six months, had found employment.
• The number of B.C. children in income assistance families declined by almost 34 per cent (a reduction of 23,775 children).
• The number of persons with disabilities who received assistance from the ministry increased by 2.4 per cent (1,118 individuals).
• Under the Jobs Partnership Program Pilot and Job Placement Program, 12,498 people were placed in employment during 2002/03. The average hourly rate for clients placed in employment was $10.24.
• Pre-employment Services, a component of the Employment Program for Persons with Disabilities (EPPD), launched in December 2002, assisted 558 BC Employment and Assistance Persons with Disabilities to move through intake and planning by the end of the fiscal year.
• Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS), a component of EPPD, had 4,405 active clients during 2002/03. Of the 3,055 clients whose files were closed during this period, 2,022 persons with disabilities successfully completed programs, and of these, 661 persons with disabilities obtained or were sustained in employment through VRS assistance.
• Since the introduction of the Employment and Assistance Appeal Tribunal in September 2002, only a single case failed to have a hearing not held within 15 business days. Under the new system, appeals can be adjudicated in as little as two weeks or, at the most, within six or seven weeks.

The following statistics describe the overall caseload decline during 2002/03. Initiatives are targeted to assist people who can work to find employment, and for those who cannot work, to provide the supports they need to participate in their communities.

BCEA Cases by Family Type (March 2002 – March 2003)

A case is one family unit receiving income assistance, which could be a single person, a couple, or a family with children. For example, a family of four people is counted as one case and four clients.

The total BC Employment and Assistance (BCEA) caseload declined by more than 21 per cent during 2002/03. In March 2003, the ministry served 32,598 fewer income assistance cases than in March 2002. Two-parent family cases saw the most significant percentage decrease, at over 37 per cent. This decrease is attributed to the fact that such a family can leave assistance if just one of the two parents finds employment.

BCEA Clients by Family Type (March 2002 – March 2003)

The number of BCEA clients declined by more than 25 per cent during 2002/03, with significant decreases in all categories of family type. This indicates that 60,484 fewer individuals were depending on income assistance in March 2003, as compared to the same month in 2002.

Paralleling the caseload change, two-parent families saw the most significant percentage decline, as more families achieved independence. The number of clients in single parent families also declined sharply, by almost 31 per cent.

The declining need for assistance by families is a particularly positive trend, as it means that fewer children are growing up in income assistance-dependent families. By the end of March 2003, the total number of children on the BCEA caseload had declined by 23,775 (almost 34 per cent) since March 2002. Research shows that children in working families are only about one-sixth as likely to need assistance as adults as those children in income assistance families.

BCEA Caseload by Type of Assistance (March 2002 – March 2003)

During the fiscal year, there was a shift in the ministry's caseload from temporary assistance to continuous assistance. This was partly due to a decline in temporary assistance as work-ready clients moved into employment, and partly a result of the reclassification of some clients who face multiple barriers to employment.

As a result of these trends, the overall level of short-term dependence on temporary income assistance declined by almost 39 per cent, indicating that 68,531 fewer individuals relied on income assistance. At the same time, the ministry provided continuous assistance to 8,267 more individuals who were not expected to achieve independence through employment.

The ministry expects this trend will continue. Through the Job Placement Program and Training for Jobs Program pilot, more temporary assistance clients will be leaving BCEA for employment. The number of continuous assistance clients is expected to increase, as the ministry fulfills government's objective of assisting those in need.

Job Placements (July 2002 – March 2003)¹

The Job Placement Program assisted clients to find sustainable employment quickly by connecting clients with potential employers. From the start of the program in June 2002 through the end of the fiscal year, more than 6,000 clients were placed into employment that paid an average of $10.24 per hour.

Employment Plans assist BCEA clients who are expected to work in finding the most effective employment strategy. At the end of the fiscal year, 51,814 clients had Employment Plans.