realizing our potential ontario’s poverty reduction strategy (2014-2019) and the local poverty...

Realizing Our Potential

Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (2014-2019) and the Local Poverty Reduction Fund

Realizing Our Potential: Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy

Ontario’s Response to Poverty• There are three interrelated components to the government’s response to poverty

in Ontario:1. A strategy that is guided by the vision of a province where every person has the

opportunity to achieve his or her full potential, and contribute to and participate in a prosperous and healthy Ontario.

2. Legislation that enshrines a long-term commitment to poverty reduction in Ontario. The Poverty Reduction Act, 2009 requires:

– Ontario to develop a new strategy at least every five years;– The government to consult widely before developing these strategies, including

consultation with those living in poverty;– The government to set a specific poverty reduction target at least every five

years; and– The government to report annually on their initiatives to reduce poverty and

on key indicators of opportunity such as income levels, education, health and housing.

3. Poverty Reduction Office a dedicated team with Treasury Board Secretariat responsible for working with ministries to implement the strategy.

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Ontario’s First Poverty Reduction Strategy• Breaking the Cycle: Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy was released on December

4, 2008 and focused on children and their families. • Investments made in the first strategy helped lower the number of children living in

poverty from 412,000 in 2008 to 365,000 in 2011. This equates to:

– Lifting 47,000 children out of poverty in three years.

– Lowering the child poverty rate from 15.2 per cent in 2008 to 13.6 per cent in 2011.

• Without the Poverty Reduction Strategy, an estimated 15.9 per cent of Ontario’s children would have been living in poverty in 2011. Source: Ontario Ministry of Finance based on Statistics Canada’s Survey of Labour

and Income Dynamics.


The New Poverty Reduction Strategy• Realizing Our Potential: Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (2014-2019)

was released on September 3, 2014 • The strategy was informed by:

– Consultations were held across the province in summer 2013 to review the first strategy and shape a new five-year strategy, consisting of:

– Regional consultations across the province;– Focused provincial discussions on key topics with key

stakeholders/sectors; and– Online public engagement through a web site, e-mail and social media.

• Various types of research were conducted to better understand: – Public perceptions about poverty;– Effective practices and innovations in other key jurisdictions to reduce

poverty; and – Technical implications of various policy and program options.

• The 2014 Budget announced a number of new investments that would support a new Poverty Reduction Strategy.

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Realizing Our Potential: Strategy OverviewContinuing to

Break the Cycle for Children and Youth

Continuing to Break the Cycle for Children and Youth

Moving Towards Employment & Income

Security

Moving Towards Employment & Income

Security

A Long-Term Goal to End Homelessness

in Ontario

A Long-Term Goal to End Homelessness

in Ontario

Using Evidence-Based Social Policy and

Measuring Success

Using Evidence-Based Social Policy and

Measuring Success

Objectives

•Building on the foundation of the first PRS, we are recommitting to meet the original target of reducing child poverty by 25 per cent.

Initiatives*

•Ontario Child Benefit Indexation•Student Nutrition Program Expansion•Health Benefits for Low-Income Children and Youth•Full-Day Kindergarten•Achieving Excellence/ Closing the Educational Achievement Gap

Goal/Outcome

Reducing child poverty and improving all kids’ chances at a

better future.

Objectives

•Building on the foundation of the first PRS, we are recommitting to meet the original target of reducing child poverty by 25 per cent.

Initiatives*

•Ontario Child Benefit Indexation•Student Nutrition Program Expansion•Health Benefits for Low-Income Children and Youth•Full-Day Kindergarten•Achieving Excellence/ Closing the Educational Achievement Gap

Goal/Outcome

Reducing child poverty and improving all kids’ chances at a

better future.

Objectives

•Helping young people transition to employment and removing barriers that prevent vulnerable Ontarians from securing employment.

Initiatives*

•Youth Jobs Strategy•Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program•Employment & Training Services Integration•Employment for Persons with Disabilities•Social Assistance Reform•Leveraging Future Investments to Target Vulnerable Groups

Goal/Outcome

Helping Ontarians secure employment or rebound from

unemployment.

Objectives

•Helping young people transition to employment and removing barriers that prevent vulnerable Ontarians from securing employment.

Initiatives*

•Youth Jobs Strategy•Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program•Employment & Training Services Integration•Employment for Persons with Disabilities•Social Assistance Reform•Leveraging Future Investments to Target Vulnerable Groups

Goal/Outcome

Helping Ontarians secure employment or rebound from

unemployment.

Objectives

•Signalling a bold long-term commitment to end homelessness.

Initiatives*

•Seek expert advice on homelessness-related target, definitions and data collection•Investment in Affordable Housing program•Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative •At Home/Chez-Soi•Supportive Housing for people with mental health and/or addictions issues

Goal/Outcome

No person in Ontario should have to live on the street.

Objectives

•Signalling a bold long-term commitment to end homelessness.

Initiatives*

•Seek expert advice on homelessness-related target, definitions and data collection•Investment in Affordable Housing program•Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative •At Home/Chez-Soi•Supportive Housing for people with mental health and/or addictions issues

Goal/Outcome

No person in Ontario should have to live on the street.

Objectives

•Shaping practices to understand where investments provide the most impact in order to make needed adjustments for better returns in the future.

Initiatives*•Social Innovation•Local Poverty Reduction Fund•Targets and indicators to track progress•Oversight•Annual Reporting

Goal/Outcome

Efficient spending, more effective programs, and better outcomes for

people.

Objectives

•Shaping practices to understand where investments provide the most impact in order to make needed adjustments for better returns in the future.

Initiatives*•Social Innovation•Local Poverty Reduction Fund•Targets and indicators to track progress•Oversight•Annual Reporting

Goal/Outcome

Efficient spending, more effective programs, and better outcomes for

people.

Child Poverty TargetBirth WeightsSchool Readiness (EDI)Depth of Poverty (LIM40)Educational Progress (EQAO)Low Income Measure (LIM50)

High School Graduation RatesNot in Education, Employment or Training (NEET)Adult Long-Term Unemployment

Ontario Housing MeasureNew Homelessness Indicator

Vulnerable Populations’ Poverty Rates

*Not intended to serve as an exhaustive list of initiatives included in the new PRS; for illustrative purposes only.See Appendix A for more information on indicators.

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Local Poverty Reduction Fund• The $50M fund was announced as part of the 2014 budget and was formally

launched on April 7, 2015.• The Expression of Interest phase is now open, and we want to build awareness

of the Fund amongst potential community partners.

Why?! • Poverty is a complex issue. There is a financial, and moral, imperative to use

limited government resources to fund programs and interventions that work.

• In the current economic and fiscal environment, governments are increasingly adopting evidence-based practices in their policy-making processes.

• Evidence-based programs are succeeding in cracking some tough societal challenges. These efforts are improving resource allocation and generating greater social returns.

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Criteria for Applying to the Local Poverty Reduction Fund• Local, innovative interventions that focus on preventing and transitioning people out

of poverty (with a focus on the Strategy’s key poverty objectives and target groups)• Target groups disproportionately affected by poverty include women, single parents,

people with disabilities, youth, newcomers, racialized communities, seniors, Aboriginal and First Nation people.

• Leverage a broad range of community partnerships and collaboration to improve services and delivery (e.g. wrap-around services, focus on clients)

• Demonstrated business case (e.g., current research, inter-jurisdictional examples)• Partnership with third-party evaluators to establish and implement an evaluation

framework (e.g., academia, practitioners)• Projects must demonstrate a clear project phase-out or sustainability plan• Agreement to have evaluation results and data be publicly available.


Impact of the Fund – building the evidence

• The objective of the Fund is to evaluate interventions to determine what works: how programs and services are impacting client outcomes.

• Fund recipients will be expected to share key findings and evaluation results, lessons learned, as well as the data used to inform the evaluation for the purpose of knowledge mobilization.

• There is much to learn from programs and services that work, as well as those that do not have a significant impact on client outcomes.

• The Fund’s evaluation results will support the Ministry’s efforts to mobilize knowledge about what works to help more citizens in more local communities benefit from successful approaches. • The information will be made available to community organizations,

municipal partners, and across governments.• The goal is to share the data where possible, as part of the Open Data

initiative that puts data online. • Moving forward, the lessons learned will help inform future social policy and

program development.


What is the Process for Applying and Who is Eligible?

Who Can Apply?The Local Poverty Reduction Fund is available to a wide range of groups: not-for-profit corporations, registered charities, broader public sector organizations, municipal governments, district social service administration boards, Aboriginal communities and organizations.

Stage One: Expression of Interest – April to May 2015

•Community organizations are invited to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) that provides information about a sustainable program, initiative or intervention that they are interested in evaluating. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Office (PRSO) is available to provide feedback on proposed projects to help strengthen applications for the Call for Proposals.

•EOIs can be submitted until May 5, 2015.

•Organizations do not need to participate in the EOIs in order to be able to submit a proposal in stage two.

Stage Two: Formal Call for Proposals – May to June 2015

•Community organizations will be invited to respond to a formal Call for Proposals by providing in-depth responses to the Fund’s criteria. Where an organization has prepared an EOI submission, it will lay the foundation for the additional detail required for the formal application to the Call for Proposals.


Some Examples of What Works in OntarioExample Where Programs Evidence of Benefits & Outcomes

Families First Peel Region

• Recreation for children

• Employment services and supports

• Public Health Nurse supports

• Subsidized childcare

• Social, physical and mental health leading to greater self-reliance

• Increased exiting rates from social assistance

• Decreased admissions and days in hospital

Causeway Ottawa • Work opportunities and supports for at-risk persons (persons with disabilities, mental health issues, homeless)

• Economic status of marginalized people

• Average increased earnings of $338/month, reductions in debt levels and increased personal savings

At Home/ Chez soi

Toronto • Mental Health & addictions services

• Rent subsidies

• Wraparound care

• Can be adapted to local needs: urban / rural; diverse clients

• Maintain stable housing

• Reduction emergency visits and hospital inpatient days

• Cost savings of $21.72 for every $10 invested


What’s next?

• We’re looking to publicize this initiative as widely as possible as this is an important way to find out what works to tackle poverty.

• Should you or one of your community partners have any questions, please have them visit our website: www.Ontario.ca/povertyreduction or they can write to PRSO directly at: [email protected]

• Details on how to apply to the Fund can be found at: http://www.ontario.ca/government/local-poverty-reduction-fund


Appendix A- Indicators• Seven of the eight indicators* from the first strategy, will continue to be tracked

(where data continues to be readily available): 1. Birth Weights - Measures the percentage of newborns born at a healthy weight for their

gestational age. 2. School Readiness (Early Development Instrument) -Measure of children’s readiness to

learn at school implemented for children from across the province.3. Educational Progress (Combined Grade 3 & Grade 6) - Reflects the overall results on the

Grades 3 and 6 reading, writing and math assessments.4. High School Graduation Rates - Measures the percentage of students who graduated

within five years after starting Grade 9.5. Low Income Measure (LIM50) - Defined as the percentage of children under 18 living in a

family with an income less than 50 per cent of the median adjusted family income in 2008.

6. Depth of Poverty (LIM40) - The percentage of children under 18 living in a family with an income less than 40 per cent of the median adjusted family income in 2008.

7. Ontario Housing Measure - The percentage of families with children under 18 with incomes below 40 per cent of the median family income (LIM40) who pay more than 40 per cent of their income on housing.

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* Note: Due to changes at Statistics Canada, Ontario will no longer be able to use the Standard of Living Indicator (Ontario Deprivation Index) in future years.


Indicators (continued)• Four new indicators have been added to look more closely at youth

education, employment and training, long-term unemployment, and the poverty rates of vulnerable populations.

• The three new indicators are: – Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) – Tracks the percentage of

youth and young adults who are not in education, employment or training. They are at higher risk of persistent poverty and social exclusion.

– Long-Term Unemployment – Measures the percentage of working-age Ontarians (aged 25 to 64) experiencing long-term unemployment. They are getting less work experience and are becoming disconnected from the labour market.

– Poverty Rates of Vulnerable Populations – Tracks the poverty rates of several vulnerable populations. This will include Aboriginal people living off-reserve, newcomers, persons with disabilities, unattached individuals aged 45 to 64, and female lone parents. Tracking this indicator will give a clearer picture of how our interventions are impacting the most vulnerable in our province.

– Homelessness- in development by the Expert Panel on Homelessness.

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realizing our potential ontario’s poverty reduction strategy (2014-2019) and the local poverty...

Documents

new poverty reduction

poverty reduction office

poverty reduction act

new strategy

strategy overview

poverty effective practices

child poverty rate

new fiveyear strategy