ALIGN E.D. Update AGM 2018

Dear 2018/2019 ALIGN Association Members

Welcome to Fall 2018.  This has been an extremely busy year with the implementation of Bill 17 and Bill 30, violence prevention inspections in group care, tenders for campus based group care, the review of the child intervention program and now the PDD review, just to name a few things.  In this news I wanted to highlight a few things and then talk about the political tool kit and how you can get out and see action in the upcoming months before the predicted election in the spring 2019.

  • fair and family friendly workplaces the government passed Bill 17
    Bill 17 There have been some consequences as a result of this legislation. We have received official notice that the agencies who provide services for the Ministry of Community and Support Services will receive financial support for the minimum wage and statutory holiday costs. My understanding is that our contract managers will be asking you to fill in a template to help gather information. For Children Service’s there have been no official announcements but I believe they are working on gathering information relating to statutory holidays in an effort to compensate contracted agencies.  I do not know how this will affect Fee for Service providers.  You may want to make sure you have had conversations with the contract managers in the regions. See All ALIGN Engagement and Resources Bill 17
  • Roadmap to COR
    ALIGN received a grant to support the Roadmap to COR This course helps agencies develop their safety management system and customizes the requirements of the legislation to fit the unique needs of their agency and the sector.  We currently have 72 people from 42 agencies participating.   We have requested another grant to run the same program over again this time next year.   See All ALIGN Engagement and or Resources Roadmap to COR
  • New Grant Request
    ALIGN is also asking for 2 other grants offered by the Ministry of Labour. One to support the development of an electronic best practice guide for this sector based on the assignments and suggestions of the group currently in the Roadmap program; and the second is to offer some training on wellness in the workplace to support the mandatory training for the committees and also for anyone else who is interested.
  • Care Worker Violence Prevention Focused Inspection Program
    The Ministry of Labour is doing another focused inspection program for group care facilities. I sent out notification about this earlier this week.  Be aware that the program is from October 1, 2018 to January 31, 21019.  The goal is to change the culture of the workplace to ensure violence is not tolerated or at least mitigated appropriately for workers
    See Full Update Here
  • FSCD Action Plan – In response to the concerns raised by parents about the FSCD program the Ministry of Community and Support Services (CSS) have changed our Specialized Services policy, Family Centred Supports and Services policy, FSCD Program Outcomes Policy and Overarching Policies and Considerations Policy to confirm that direct services to children are supported and parent involvement is not required in the delivery of specialized services. Please find updated policies on our website.
  • Save The Date ALIGN 3rd Annual Symposium (Group Care): Global Research on Group Care Symposium Feb 7-8, 2019 at the Fantasyland Hotel in Edmonton.
    We currently have Martha Holden and James Anglin confirmed and are just working out the details on 2 other academics to support the conference.
    Please save the date as more will be forthcoming soon on the details.
  • ALIGN POLITICAL TOOL-KIT 2019
  • ALIGN Key Message Election 2019    ALIGN Political Toolkit Election 2019
  • I want to take a few minutes to outline why we have taken the strategy we have this year in hopes that you will understand the messages well and see your agency as well as ALIGN in them.  We hope you can use these messages as a foundation for your discussions with politicians in your constituencies.  Our Government Relations Committee (GRC) developed this approach after meeting with some political experts and Paul McLoughlin at our AGM confirmed some of their thinking.  At this point the polls show that the UCP has a high likelihood of wining an election in the spring 2019.  But polls are only good at the time that they are taken, there are still a number of months to go and any strategy should include both or all parties.  Having said that, there have been a few hints about the UCP we should pay close attention to:
  • If the UCP does become the leaders of the government we will be looking at a whole new legislature so we should not expect that they have a structure as they are very inexperienced in governing as the NDP were when they got in.
  • Currently the government is in the red zone so little to no spending is happening
  • There is little investor confidence in either party
  • The UCP will focus on competition; getting markets reactivated; and the private or outsourcing of delivery of services
  • The NDP like government services but so far have support the human services contracted sector.
  • UCP will shrink government, therefore a message of we are the best people to do the work should resonate
  • There is no new money for either party. We need to argue for incremental increases to support infrastructure and operation in order to sustain the sector.
  • Our agencies have established business practiced and can prove our services are professionally delivered and cost effective. We work for competitive prices and have good outcomes- we are well established.
  • We need to remind parties that there is no saving in diminishing the sector as we help Albertans to remain out of hospitals, in their homes, look after their families

Our action request is that nominees talk to their colleagues and make sure they understand the value of the sector and support it.  We must be sustained into future.

As nominees are announced, please invite them to visit your agencies or go out and see them, educate people on the work you do for the community.  The toolkit helps you with templates for letters.  ALIGN will be sending out a newsletter to all candidates soon to ensure they hear from us, we will also be going to some of the platform committees and meeting with high profile politicians.  Use the key messages as a foundation for discussion, you should see yourselves as part of a larger sector in there and can outline some examples of the good work you do in your community that the candidate will back and support.

Also encourage your staff to get out and vote!

If you have nay questions or need help please don’t hesitate to give me a call or email.

Rhonda Barraclough

Rhondab@alignab.ca

780.233.5459

ALIGN Requesting Members Input on Bill 17 Financial Impacts

July 19, 2018

Dear ALIGN Members:

RE:  Budget 2018/2019

Once again I am asking for information on your financial situation and how Bill 17 has impacted you. The Ministry of Children Services has been asking about the pressure points and where they may need to focus their allocation from the budget. In order to advocate on your behalf in the right direction I need help from you.

As you are all aware there was an allocation of money in the Children Services Budget for contracted agencies.  On budget day we were told the amount and the way it will be distributed would be announced later.

Now we have been asked by government for some information that will allow them to focus the allocation of money.    They are trying to determine the most impact for the dollars and wonder what is needed most at this time.  They are specifically interested in Bill 17 impacts.

I have been asked to survey you again.  I will do that with a reminder that “no information equals – no problem”.  So I really encourage you to answer the questions as silence also means things are all ok.  If you cannot answer or feel that you have negligible impacts please just send me a quick note saying that.

Questions:

  1. What sector do you provide most of your services in? Contract foster care; group care; EI; kinship care, family support, youth work
  2. Now that we are 6 months into this year can you tell us what impact the statutory holiday pay has had? What did you pay out in 2017 vs 2018?
  3. Can you tell the difference in your Overtime costs? 2017 vs. 2018?  What is it?
  4. Have you made different agreements with your staff to offset payout costs to staff for overtime? For example some agencies no longer allow taking time off, they  will only pay out overtime
  5. What other drivers are your financial pressures a result of?
  6. How are you managing the financial pressures? Have you closed services or deceased services?

Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions, if you have any questions, please send me an email

Please fill in the questions and send them back to me, Rhondab@alignab.ca.  I need to have them back by August. 1, 2018.

Sincerely

Rhonda Barraclough

Executive Director, ALIGN

See All ALIGN Correspondence Related to Bill 17

Public Action A Stronger, Safer Tomorrow Addresses the Ministerial Panel on Child Intervention’s Recommendations

Correspondence from CA Minister Danielle Larivee to ALIGN ED June 28, 2018

Today, our government released a public action plan that will help protect children and support families. You can read our news release online.

 A Stronger, Safer Tomorrow highlights 39 actions – including 16 this fiscal year – the Alberta government is taking to improve services for Indigenous families, increase supports for children, youth and caregivers, and address the funding gap on reserve.

This public action plan was developed with Indigenous leaders and communities, as well as front-line partners who work directly with vulnerable or at-risk children and youth. I would like to thank all who participated for their passion and dedication to improving the safety and well-being of children, youth and families in this province.

Our government is taking immediate action. By March 31, 2019, we will have implemented 16 actions to address urgent needs and lay the foundation for important changes to follow. These include new funding for youth suicide prevention programs and Indigenous-led early intervention and prevention services. We will also fully implement Jordan’s Principle and pilot a new assessment tool for kinship caregivers.

Short-term actions, to be completed by 2020, target specific services and supports to improve the wellbeing of Indigenous communities and peoples. Long-term actions involve work with Indigenous partners to develop local solutions and more responsive, integrated services by 2022. This supports our work to hold the federal government accountable, which will be essential to creating significant, lasting change.

This public action plan addresses all the Ministerial Panel on Child Intervention’s final recommendations, and is a decisive step forward for Alberta.

It is our roadmap to a province where all children and youth are supported to reach their full potential, where all Indigenous families can access the supports they need in ways that are reflective and respectful of their culture, and where all Indigenous peoples can access the same levels of support, on- or off-reserve.

Our government will continue to work together with Indigenous leaders and communities, as well as other partners, to implement this public action plan. More information will be shared with you soon through your regular communications channels and updates will be posted at ChildrensServices.alberta.ca.

I am committed to reconciliation and to working with Indigenous partners and child intervention stakeholders to make meaningful, lasting changes to the child intervention system. I look forward to working with you to help create a stronger, safer tomorrow for children, youth and families across Alberta.

Sincerely, Danielle Larivee

See More ALIGN Communications/Initiative Regarding Child Review Panel

Caregiver Self Assessment/Employment Standards Exceptions June 12, 2018

E.D. Rhonda Barraclough
In May, Bruce and I attended a meeting  with the Deputy Minister Jeff Parr of Minister of Labour, DM Darlene Bowsema of Children Services , DM Shannon Marchand of Community and Support Services, and some of their senior staff.  At that  meeting we were told that the Caregivers Regulation will apply in all cases of residential care/24 hour operation and crisis support – like CSD workers or contract foster care agencies with emergent situations.   Below is a link to a flow chart that will help make those decisions as to when it is appropriate or not to use this regulation for your staffing models.

AM I A CAREGIVER ? is now available on Alberta Labour Standards Website: Caregivers – Employment Standards Exceptions
There are special provisions to the rules outlined in the Employment Standards Code for home care and residential care employees.

This tool reflects the standards for caregivers that have been in place for several years. These rules were not amended by the Fair and Family-friendly Workplaces Act and it is my hope that by sharing this tool we may be able to address any confusion going forward. To assist in clarifying their application for employers in your sector,  I encourage you to share with your association members and sector colleagues
Lenore Neudorf, Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategy and Policy Labour, Government of Alberta June 11, 2018Update Regarding Bill 17 – E.D. Rhonda Barraclough June 7, 2018

See All ALIGN  Bill 17 Communications
Bill 17 – Fair and Family-Friendly Workplaces Act

 

ALIGN Meetings – Feedback Session for CI Ministerial Panel Recommendation #7,9,11, Calgary May 7, 2018

We have been invited to provide feedback to the Child intervention Ministerial Panel Recommendations #7,#9,#11. Several types of opportunities are being presented to organizations across the province to have input into the action plan for these recommendations. We recognize the short notice of these meetings however it is unavoidable if we want to have the opportunity to provide feedback prior to the action plan completion deadline of June 2018. Take the opportunity to have a say;These session are gather feedback for the following recommendations; 

CI Ministerial Panel Recommendation #7,9,11.
Calgary May 7, 2018
1:00 pm-3:00 pm
Mahmawi-Atoskiwin
2323-32 Ave NE,Calgary
Registration Link

CI Ministerial Panel Recommendation #7,9,11.
Edmonton May 8,2018
1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Ellerslie Rugby Park
11004 Ellerslie Road, Edmonton
Registration Link  

#7. Work with Indigenous communities historic trauma healing services, which include access to ceremony and cultural healing.

#9. Mental health and addiction services culturally appropriate, accessible services for children, youth and families in the child intervention system, with a focus on expanding access (including for Albertans living in remote communities, rural areas, on- and off-reserve) to preventative mental health and addictions services and treatment, including secure services. The Government of Alberta should prioritize implementation of recommendations of the Valuing Mental Health report to improve services for children and families before, during and after their involvement in the child intervention system.

#11.Improve transitional supports for youth in care to adult supports,ans post secondary opportunities that will help them succeed in life. this would expand supports already in place.

Prevention and Early Intervention Framework

Nicole McFadyen ALIGN –Nicolem@alignab.ca

View All Correspondence Regarding ALIGN & Child Review Panel

Letter from ALIGN E.D. Regarding Bill 17 Update April 16, 2018

Hi all,

We have not provided an update since March and feel it necessary to do so.  We were fairly optimistic that we had an agreement with the Ministry of Labour as to how to provide some flexibility for the 24/7 operations and the crisis driven intervention work.  Under Bill 17 if the agencies are to work as defined in the legislation it would decrease the ability for staff to flex their time and the agencies would have to put restrictions on work schedules due to the overtime costs, and that is not in the best interest of the families those agencies are contracted to serve. At this time our optimism is waning.

We have been waiting for a response from the Ministry of Labour (since March) and to date we have not received one.  The staff has been changed there as well so it is frustrating to figure out who is doing what.  Our partners in the Ministry of Children Services are just as frustrated.

We recognize that this delay is likely increasing your overtime costs or alternatively decreasing service.  We also remind you that there have been no variances or regulation changes made therefore by the letter of the law you should be complying with what it says.  If this is creating a hardship to your agency or your families, we encourage you to speak with your contract managers and us.  Send us a note as we are sending the example to the Ministry of CS and Labour so they are aware of the challenges.

Bruce and I are I meeting with the Deputy Minister to speak with her about this issue.

I terms of funding.  We are trying to figure out what the budget has to offer agencies and for what.  This will take some time.

In order to assess and advocate accurately we will be sending out a request for further information with respect to the impacts of Bill 17.  WE STRONGLY URGE YOU TO RESPOND. We will be asking – what is your cost of statutory pay this year over last year for the first quarter of the year?  What is your actual cost of overtime last year and this year for the first quarter?  Did you have any increases in your contract?  Did you discuss the added costs of Bill 17 with your contract manager?  If so, what was the outcome of that discussion?

It is really important that you send us the information we are asking for.  It is difficult to discuss these issues without real information and numbers, as we are constantly asked for them.

If you have any questions please email me Rhondab@alignab.ca or call 780 233.5459

See Previous Related Correspondence

ALIGN Members Staffing Model Survey Deadline April 30, 2018

Good afternoon Everyone,

Thank you very much to those who responded , we appreciate your quick respond, Those who has not responded yet, please do so. ALIGN needs the information ASAP. ALIGN’s responsibility is to advocate for our membership. In order to be able to speak on your behalf we need the complete picture and have specific information from you.  We are asking member agencies who have group care contracts with Children Services questions regarding their staffing models. Surveying our membership for the information will be the quickest and most accurate means of getting the information we need in preparation for Bill 30. Please take a moment to complete an email with your answers and send back to Cathy Mitchell at cathym@alignab.ca by April 13, 2017 who will then complete a summary roll for ALIGN to use in their discussions. If you have any questions please call Cathy at 780 915 7156.

What type of agency and population served?

How many group care facilities does your agency have contracted with Children Services?

If your agency is a large facility, how many units have differing staffing models. Please describe.

Of your facilities, how many have a single staffing model for any portion of the day?

For those that have a single staffing model, is it overnight only or other shifts as well?

If more, please describe. In your assessment; how many of these single staffing models provide services to youth that could potentially pose a risk to staff?

Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions as in as much detail and as accurately as you can so we can advocate on your behalf with a clear picture of the situation.

Sincerely, Rhonda Barraclough Executive Director

See More on ALIGN and Bill 30

Important: Child Review Panel Community Engagement Invitation April 11, 2018

Invitation from Darlene Bouwsema Deputy Minister Children’s Services  to Community Engagement Meetings on Public Action Plan Regarding the Ministerial Panel on Child Intervention Recommendations

In March 2018, the Ministerial Panel on Child Intervention (MPCI) delivered 26 strong, consensus-based recommendations to strengthen the child intervention system. Government is taking action on the Panel recommendations to improve supports for vulnerable children and families. The panel recommended that Children’s Services engage with Indigenous people and other stakeholders as a part of co-creating a public action plan and reviewing the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act (CYFEA). This is one of many steps to implement the recommendations alongside Indigenous families, communities and leaders, and other vested partners. Engagement will produce a detailed, measurable public action plan by June 30, 2018.

I would like to invite you, or a representative from your organization, to participate in the Community Engagement Meetings. Four sessions will be held across the province:

Calgary April 25, 2018 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Coast Plaza Hotel and Conference Centre 1316 – 33 Street NE

Lethbridge April 26, 2018 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Sandman Hotel Lethbridge 421 Mayor Magrath Drive S

Edmonton April 30, 2018 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Coast Edmonton Plaza 10155 – 105 Street

Grande Prairie May 8, 2018 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Pomeroy Hotel 11633 – 100 Street

Each session will have discussion tables focusing on the following themes:

  1. Reconciliation
    Recommendations 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 23
  2. Support Families and Communities
    Recommendations 8, 9 and 10
  3. Sustain Cultural Connections
    Recommendations 11, 12 and 13
  4. Utilize the Strengths of Family Systems and Kinship Care Recommendations 14, 15, 16 and 17
  5. Support a Strong, Stable Workforce
    Recommendations 18, 19 and 22
  6. Combatting Discriminatory Mindsets
    Recommendation 20
  7. The Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act Review
    Recommendation 21
  8. Knowledge Mobilization – Research and Data
    Recommendations 24, 25 and 26

Please register online and select your preferred location and theme. If you have any questions, please email Aimee Caster, Engagement Specialist at CS.actionplan@gov.ab.ca.

Sincerely, Darlene Bouwsema Deputy Minister
Children’s Services, Government of Alberta T. 780-918-0079. aimee.caster@gov.ab.ca

View All Correspondence, News & Updates for ALIGN & Child Review Panel

Letter from Danielle Larivee Minister Re: Child Review Panel March 2018

Letter from Danielle Larivee Minister March 2018

Dear Ms. Barraclough:

The Ministerial Panel on Child Intervention has delivered its final recommendations to help strengthen our Child Intervention system and improve the lives of children, youth and families across Alberta.
Over the past year, the Panel engaged in an unprecedented open, transparent engagement with stakeholders, families, communities, and Indigenous peoples.

Thank you for presenting to the Panel on behalf of ALIGN on June 14 and 15, 2017. Your input helped shape the Panel’s final recommendations, including those focused on reconciliation, sustaining cultural connections and better supporting families and communities. In doing so, you have helped create a brighter future for children and youth receiving Child Intervention services.

I look forward to reviewing these strong, consensus-based recommendations, which are available online at http://www.alberta.ca/child-intervention-panel.aspx

Our government will continue working with families and communities, valued partners like ALIGN, and most importantly with First Nations and other Indigenous peoples to co-create a public action plan that puts these recommendations into practice. This plan will be released in June.
Thank you again for presenting to the Panel and helping support vulnerable children and families across Alberta.

Sincerely,
Danielle Larivee
Minister

See More on ALIGN & Child Review Panel

Bill 30 Occupational Health and Safety Act: Help shape Alberta’s New Workplace Rules

The Occupational Health and Safety Act (the act) establishes the minimum standards for healthy and safe workplaces in Alberta. These laws are supported through the internal responsibility system and enforced through compliance activities. An Act to Protect the Health and Well-being of Working Albertans updates the act to better protect Albertans at work. Most of the changes come into effect June 1, 2018.The new Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act takes steps to protect workers from harassment and violence in all its forms. It also requires joint work site health and safety committees or a worker health and safety representative, depending on workforce size. The input will help shape specific rules around these new requirements to ensure the legislation is fair and balanced.

ALIGN  will be completing the survey – if member agencies have any questions please email cathym@alignab.ca
Albertans can provide written submissions until April 9, 2018. Specific rules regarding harassment and violence, as well as training and operation of the joint work site health and safety committees, will be added to OHS regulations on June 1.

Correspondence to ALIGN E.D. from Alberta Labour re Bill 30 March 2018

Dear Rhonda Barraclough,

Last year the Government of Albertatook an important step in improvingthe health and safety of workingAlbertans by modernizing the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Act) and aligning Alberta’s approach to workplace safety with that of other Canadian jurisdictions.  With valuable input from a wide range of industry and labour stakeholders, as well as ordinary Albertans, the new Act comes into force on June 1, 2018.

The new Act contains provisions on harassment and violence, and requires that many Albertan work sites have a joint work site health andsafety committee or a health andsafety representative.  Thesechanges better reflect the way that Albertans work, as well as the hazards that they face on the job.  They also bring to our province the best practices and requirements for health and safety from the rest of Canada; however, regulatory changes are needed to give full effect to these new provisions.

You/your organization is invited to provide written feedback on proposed regulation (see attachment) for workplace harassment and violence, as well as for the establishment, functions, and training for joint work site health and safety committees and health and safety representatives.

This Discussion Guide with proposed content is available here.  You may also view the Discussion Guide at Labour website.  Please fill out the questions in the attached guide and email to lbr.review@gov.ab.ca by April 9, 2018.

Your input will help to ensure that Alberta’s OHS legislation is clear, comprehensive, and meaningful.  Thank you in advance for participating and helping to make Alberta the best place to live and work in Canada.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Lenore Neudorf Assistant Deputy Minister Strategy and Policy Alberta Labour

Letter from ALIGN E.D. Regarding Bill 17 Update March 5, 2018

Letter from ALIGN E.D. Regarding Bill 17 Update March 5, 2018

Bill 17 – update

Hi all,

We met again with the Ministry of Labor folks and are on a slightly altered path.  For all the residential programs, they have agreed that everyone fits under the Caregivers regulation.  As many of you had pointed out this is what people were using prior to the legislation changes.  I have asked that the Ministry write that clearly within the employment standards fact sheets or in some other clear way.

For the outreach/crisis driven work the primary rationale for the changes would be to allow the sector to respond appropriately to emergency/crisis situations that fall outside of the predictable work day.  The following proposal is to amend the Employment Standards Regulation to:

  • define a category of employment in relation to the provision of “individual and family support services” as funded by the Ministries of Children Services and Community and Social Services in relation to fulfilling requirements of program –specific legislation (legislation to be identified e.g. Family Support for Children’s with Disabilities Act);
  • Establish a daily overtime threshold of 12 hours in a day;
  • Propose of 176 hours in a 4 week period before overtime entitlements are calculated;  and
  •  Provide an exemption from requirements of the Code around “notice of work times” including notification of schedule changes (section 17 of the Code)  to enable scheduling of work within parameters approved by the employer (this supports the ability for employers and employees to structure work schedules suited to the clients/families they are providing care to

Note that:

  • The employer will need to keep records of when staff do work
  • No special rules are proposed for general holidays.
  • No special rules are proposed for averaging agreements since the changes above will have the effect of allowing employers and employees to manage their hours of work within the month (in effect allowing averaging).

The proposal of a 176 hour threshold for determining overtime entitlements over a four week period better aligns with the 44 hour per week threshold in place for most employers in other industries

There are some expectations of who has to support this direction and we need to get those in writing.  Once that has been completed then there is a formal approval cycle that this request has to go through.

Again if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Rhonda Barraclough ALIGN Association E.D.
RhondaB@alignab.ca  

See Previous Correspondence Related to Bill 17

Letter From ALIGN E.D. To Members Re: Bill 17 Feb. 26, 2018

Feb. 26, 2018 Letter From ALIGN E.D. To Members Re: Bill 17

Executive Directors:

Bruce and I have been working away with the Ministry of Labor to address some of the urgent needs of the sector as a result of Bill 17.  Essentially there needs to be a variance or regulation change in order for the 24/7 operations and the crisis/ flexible family intervention driven services to be able to manage within legal work agreements.

We have come to a place now where we need to have a letter of support from the Association.  The Board of Directors have been briefed and are in support of a letter written on behalf of ALIGN to go forward to continue this work.  It essentially will support the following:

  • The variance or regulation will create a category of employees defined as those funded by the Ministries of Children’s Services or Community and Social Services to deliver individual and family support services in relation to the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act, Family Support for Children with Disabilities Act, and the Persons for Developmental Disabilities Act. ( this includes residential/group care; specialized services; family intervention and therapeutic crisis type workers);
  • Establish a daily overtime threshold of 12 hours per day and 184 hours in a four week (no weekly threshold) for this group and exempt those from the requirements of Section 17 of the ES Code (Notice of Work Times) The exemption from Section 17 will allow employees to schedule their own hours within the work month with employer approval. A work month means a calendar month or a period of time from a specific day in a month to the same day in the following month as established by the consistent practice of the employer. (This is inclusive of those job categories above.  It provides for flexible scheduling and for 24/7 day week operation.  Please note this replaces any other regulation you may have been working with prior like the caregivers regulation.  It is different but essentially makes similar hours of work possible)

Once support for these 2 areas is received from the Associations and the unions.  Then the Ministry of Labor will move forward to the Minister to ask for a variance or regulation for our sector.   Once that is agreed to there will need to be some work on employee engagement and agreement.  How that is to be done is still not determined.

If you have any questions or concerns about this please let us know as soon as possible.  The letter going forward will be written and sent by the end of this week.

Sincerely,

Rhonda Barraclough Executive Director  RhondaB@alignab.ca   780.233.5459 9 cell

See More Communications from ALIGN regarding Bill 17

ALIGN E.D. re: Bill 17 February 12, 2018 Correspondence with Premier

February 12, 2018 Correspondence Letter From ALIGN E.D. re: Bill 17

Dear members,

By now you are aware that we have been advocating in support of the impacts of Bill 17. I want to give just a quick update.
We have been working in 2 areas:

1. Financially- we have been advocating that there needs to be increases in contracts for, at the very least, the holiday/vacation pay increases that agencies have to incur as a result of the new legislation. We have shown both Ministries (CS & CSS) a sampling of the costs from those of you that sent them in. We have also shown the costs of overtime as they stood in December. Many of you have probably rearranged your staffing models and worked with your staff to manage the costs associated in this area. We have made it very clear that in those areas where overtime is not avoidable the costs are extremely high.

2. Variance or regulation changes to Bill 17 – In order to make changes we have to show that there is a business driver for change and then be able to make a case for that change along with some solutions about how to make it. The government made it clear that any variance/regulation would need to be sought out by the Association on behalf of the agencies or by agencies themselves. They preferred that we do it collectively. As a result ALIGN and ACDS are working together to achieve one or the other.

We have made a business case that we need a variance/regulation change that covers the crisis nature of the work and the 24/7 operations (group homes, crisis nursery, family support workers, specialized 1:1 workers as examples). We have made a suggestion that a regulation or variance similar to the section 9 caregiver regulation that health currently has would be helpful. In principle there is agreement. We are awaiting a draft.

We are also seeking a definition of scheduled work – as we have explained why having a schedule is not how many service delivery sites providing service to families/ individuals when and where they need it. You can then develop your work site agreements based on this.

The other area we still need direction on is the live-in 24-hour shifts. We are asking about them and if they can be accommodated in this regulation/variance.

Currently the Caregivers Regulation for overtime is hours over 12 in a day and 264 in a month. We are currently looking at overtime pay on hours over 12 in a day and between 184 and 200 (still to be determined) in a one month period, labor will not allow us to go to 264. Most group homes currently work on a 12 week schedule. Knowing the maximum hours your residential/group care staff work in a month would be helpful. Concurrently we need to know know
which agencies have a Union and in their collective agreement what are the hours where overtime is paid.

What comes next is figuring out how we get general consensus from the staff. We need to have majority support. Which means that you as executive directors will need to talk to your staff once we have something for you to view and think about, then quickly talk with them, and somehow ( yet to be determined) we need to have assurance that staff are in agreement.

As we work with the Ministry of Labor and Ministries of Children Services and Community & Support Services, we have also written to the Minister of Finance and the Premier outlining the concerns with the legislation and the need for funding to cover these costs
.

Also view  ALIGN Letter to Premier Re Bill 17 February 6, 2018
This is ongoing work. I will update you as we make progress and when we need you to take some action.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me RhondaB@alignab.ca or call 780 233 5459.

Rhonda Barraclough

See More Re: ALIGN and Bill 17

ALIGN Letter to Premier Re Bill 17 February 2018

Dear Premier Notley:

RE: Bill 17, Fair and Family-friendly Workplace Act and the human services sector

ALIGN Association of Community Services ( formerly AASCF) is a membership organization of agencies that contract to government through the Ministries of Children Services and Community and Support Services to provide services to vulnerable individuals, families and children involved within the human services sector. Bill 17 certainly is a renewed and revised standard for employers and for the most part truly is progressive.

We do want to draw to your attention that for agencies that provide contracted services (i.e. 24/7 services in residential care, 1:1 specialized services for high needs individuals; and for the family support workers who provide crisis work) this Legislation is prohibitive to their staff and we require variances to have staff available for those vulnerable Albertans. Hours of work averaging agreements are problematic as they require schedules that the employee must work and in the crisis driven nature of the work that is not feasible. We will be asking for variance in this to accommodate that time and to decrease the burden of overtime. We are currently working with the Ministry of Labour and the Ministries of Community Support Services and Children Services to see if we can get that variance. The reason this is important is because many people choose this line of work because it has been very flexible and fits with their family life, the restrictions in the legislation makes that more difficult for this helping profession as the agencies no longer can afford to accommodate staff in way they have before.

Unfortunately there was no consultation with the sector before the legislation was passed. As a result, it would be very helpful if there was a way to get an exemption to this part of the legislation now for 6 months while we work on the variances necessary so agencies are not outside of the law or having to pay huge amounts of funds in overtime to be compliant. As the legislation is written, the Ministries are not able to ask for the variances so it has been determined that the Associations (ALIGN and Alberta Council of Disabilities Services) must work towards these. This is not an easy task as we were not aware of these changes and challenges prior to January 1, 2018. We are only barely able to accommodate this work as there are many outstanding questions that the government needs to answer as we move forward. None of this is fast work and therefore the agencies are not in compliance. ALIGN Letter to Premier Re Bill 17 February 2018

See More On ALIGN and BILL 17 Here

ALIGN Updates on Bill 17

ALIGN E.D. Rhonda Barraclough – Communication With Rae-ann Lajeun January 16, 2018

ALIGN Impacts of Bill 17 Jan 2018 – revised-1 known and anticipated impacts for Child and Family Service agencies

.    As we discussed before most folks are in agreement that the Bill makes sense and is good for Albertans generally,  but there has been some unintended consequences for our sector.  There are some questions in this document that hopefully Labor can answer.  I have to say I keep hearing that people call one time and get and answer then call again for clarity and get a different answer so it has been extremely frustrating.  If they can provide answers to some of these questions it would be helpful.

To answer your earlier questions

  1. We have not heard issues with minimum wage – I have only heard from woods homes as its an issue for their driving program.  We will have compression issues down the road but hopefully by then contracts will have added compensation.  This is also not the case for disability services, they do have minimum wage concerns.
  2. The averaging agreements really don’t help with the overtime debt.  Because the agreements require a schedule and in Family Support there is no schedules or they cannot be open/broad enough and in a 24/7operation it will remain a need.  Therefore there  needs to be compensation in the contracts  some how, it is our hope that Children Services is figuring this into the budget and renewals of contracts:
  3. Compensation for holiday pay needs to be added to the contracts as there is no way to avoid those costs and the agencies don’t have it in their current contracts and that I will send examples separately.

Thanks for helping to make this a workable solution.  We look forward to our meeting on Thursday.

See More ALIGN Communications related to Bill 17

Bill 17 Update and Request for Member Input from ALIGN E.D. Rhonda Barraclough January 5, 2018

Bill 17 Update and Request for Member Input from ALIGN E.D. Rhonda Barraclough  January 5, 2018

Happy New Year.  As you can see by the note below Bruce and I will be meeting with the Ministry of Children Services and Ministry of ‘Labor on January 18th. I have been asked to capture any and all details that are at issue to forward them in advance to the Ministry of Labor.  As you can see by Rae- Ann’s note I have already made some suggestions early.  Can you please respond to me by the end of next week,
January 12 if you have any points to make about the following.  Please note this is relating to Children Services not FSCD.  If you are an FSCD agency please send your information along as well and I will send it on to that ministry as I have been talking to them as well. Especially the minimum wage issues.Thank you everyone for your patience.  We are trying to work diligently with the different Ministries to resolve some of the issues and possibly get some funding into the system to address the OT issues.  I need as clear information as possible and within this next week.  P{lease send your comments to my email at RhondaB@alignab.ca

As mentioned before the break, we have arranged for a meeting on January 18th from 11:00-12:00, 12th floor boardroom at Sterling Place; a couple of the staff from Alberta Labour who were involved in the drafting of Bill 17 will be at the meeting and our hope is that they will be able to answer any of the outstanding questions.  This meeting will also be an opportunity to highlight other potential solutions that may address some of the concerns raised by your agencies.

Before then, though, we are also trying to quantify the dollar impacts of recent government policy changes, and have 2 requests along those lines that I am hoping you might be able to provide us some clarifying info on, before the end of next week if possible (recognizing you are on holidays!):

1)      I am wondering if you are able to confirm the total OT impacts with new averaging provisions for your agencies.   I know you provided us with an analysis several weeks ago, but this was before the new provisions were known and I wasn’t sure if the document you provided me was the total for all of your agencies, or a sampling of them. Although you indicated that the new provisions don’t address some of the concerns you have, it wasn’t clear if they indeed give your agencies any relief from the OT impacts.

I am mindful that the full impact will not be known until there is a more in-depth conversation with Alberta Labour regarding the family support and outreach workers but we would appreciate any analysis you can do on this in the meantime.

2)      We would also appreciate confirmation that the minimum wage expectations set out in Bill 17 will not create additional pressure for your agencies. I know you said this was not a significant concern, but if there are anticipated impacts that you feel you want to clarify, this will be helpful for us.

Finally, in order for the staff from Alberta Labour to be prepared for this meeting, I will provide them with a recap of the impacts/suggestions previously identified by ALIGN – recap below.

  1. Currently for Health there is a coordinated homecare regulation that allows flexibility for staff who work in home and have to be available for their clients.  If this type of regulation could include Children Services so family support/ outreach workers could be considered like homecare workers then that would  alleviate the flexible schedule and what will become a decrease of services for families because under the Bill 17 rules, agencies will not be able to meet all family needs if they go over the allocated hours allowed to be worked.

One agency is doing the following: I’ve given my  CSD staff a daily window to work within and flex their time accordingly. For example they can work anywhere between 8 am and 8 pm (the schedule) but not exceed the labor standards of 12 hours a day, 6 days a week and 144 hours over a 4 week period.  This still limits the family when they may truly need the staff but it’s what the agency can do.  The risk is the family doesn’t get what they need.  The actual hours are set between the staff and the families/individual, they are not on a fixed schedule as we can’t dictate when the families are available. We work with many families/individuals who cannot meet during regular business hours.

  1.  Under  Bill 17 there is a section 74 that allows for schedules and agreements.  Possibly ALIGN as an association could get a variance for group care/ 24 hour operations.  What is not clear is what if you are not a member of ALIGN, how does that actually work?
  2. The costs of the statutory holidays are also quite significant.  All wage employees, regardless if they work or normally would have worked on the Stat are eligible for a cash payment after each Stat holiday; the cash payment is 5% of their earnings in the four weeks prior to the Stat.   Many agencies have casual or part time employees who did not receive this before and this is significant for some agencies.

If there are additional items that should brought to the attention of Alberta Labour prior to the meeting, please drop me a line and we will forward the information

See All Correspondence Regarding ALIGN and Bill 17

Bill 17 Update from ALIGN E.D. Rhonda Barraclough December 20, 2017

Bill 17 Update from ALIGN E.D. Rhonda Barraclough December 20, 2017

Dear ALIGN Members

Please review the information (see below) I received this morning (Dec 20, 2017) regarding Bill 17.

Please send me your comments regarding any implication you see so that I can provide that information directly to the Ministry.

Rhonda Barraclough, ALIGN Association E.D.
rhondab@alignab.ca

INFORMATION PERTAINING TO BILL 17 DECEMBER 20, 2017

As discussed, the Bill 17 draft regulations have been modified to include flexible work week provisions; hours of work can now be extended up to a maximum of two weeks.  Below is an example for your reference:

Example: Flexible Averaging Agreement – 10 hour daily overtime threshold, 2 week averaging period

In this example, the daily overtime threshold specified in the agreement is 10 hours per work day.

Scheduling Requirements:

ü  No more than 12 hours per day is scheduled and no more than an average of 44 hours per week is scheduled.

ü  All work days and the number of hours to be worked on each of those work days are identified in the schedule.

Overtime Requirements:|

ü  If the employee is asked or chooses to work longer daily hours, daily overtime could be payable where hours of work exceed 10 per work day.

ü  If the employee is asked or chooses to work more hours in the averaging period, averaging period overtime could be payable at the end of the averaging period for hours in excess of an average of 44 hours.

Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Weekly Hours Average/week over cycle
Week 1 0 10 10 10 10 8 0 48  
Week 2 0 6 6 8 8 8 0 36 44

 

I hope this info is useful for you to share with the agencies in order for them to recalculate the OT impacts with new averaging provisions.  We would appreciate receiving this information as soon as realistically possible as we hope that the new flexibility will address some of the earlier concerns.

I also wanted to confirm that the minimum wage expectations set out in Bill 17 will not create additional pressure for your agencies. Earlier conversations indicated that this was not a pinch point but wanted to double check.

Thank you for your patience Rhonda and I look forward to receiving an update on the OT implications as well as confirmation of the minimum wage impacts.   I hope you get to enjoy some quality time over the holidays with your family and friends.

See Previous Bill 17 ALIGN Correspondence

Changes to Child Intervention E.D. Positions

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:  To ALIGN On Behalf Of Rae-Ann Lajeunesse Alberta Government sent to ALIGN December 15, 2017

You may be aware that, as of December 11, Russ Pickford changed roles from Executive Director – Child Intervention North to become the Executive Director for Regional and Community Program Delivery, within our ministry’s Family and Community Resiliency (FCR) Division.  Fortunately, we’ll still be working with him in his new role within the FCR Division.

This change has created an opportunity to review and realign the leadership structure for Child Intervention regional delivery.  We will be moving  forward on some changes to our leadership structure.  Effective Monday, December 18,  Jon Reeves will be the Executive Director of Child Intervention Services, overseeing child intervention service delivery across the province.  Jon believes Alberta is on the leading edge of service delivery and is focused on continuing to improve child intervention practice in Alberta.  I know Jon is looking forward to continuing to work with you to improve the lives of children and families in Alberta.

With these changes, Jon will be filling the Regional Director positions in Edmonton and Calgary on an interim basis.  These positions should be filled by Friday, December 22.

Rae-Ann

ALIGN Members – Procurement Update November 20, 2017

Procurement Update November 20, 2017

Late last week there was an announcement that Campus Based Residential Care will be tendered shortly.  For those of you who provide that service please stay tuned as I am sure you will receive information soon.

I am told that there has been a procurement plan (5 year) placed before the Minister and at this point there is no permission to move forward with anything other than this one area.  I am aware that most of you have contracts that are set to expire on March 31, 2018.

The likelihood is that most of your contracts will be renewed at the same rates.  Some may be able to re-negotiate some terms but for the most part status quo may be the outcome.  I realize that this means no increases in any part of your operation for a long time.

Budget 2018 may not see any changes or increases.  We already have a hint of that with no increases to foster care rates.

As always we will continue to advocate for a plan and for hopeful injections to the wages if nothing else.  We need to have some clear information and in reality you need to be thinking about this already.  If you have NO increases to your contracts and you are aware of the Bill 17 impacts, what will you do in the new fiscal year- i.e.  Do you need to close beds, close programs, are you ok, decrease services and if so what?  It would be very helpful if you can let me know what you think you will need to do if there are no changes of any kind.

I would appreciate if you can let me know what you think will happen and if you have any other impacts starting to creep in, like increasing turnover rates, etc.   This information is very helpful as we strategize a plan to move forward.  If we can we will also make the information available to you so that you can go out and advocate on your or your sectors behalf as we suspect there will be a need for political action.  It is the politicians who are stopping things as treasury board.

Again we are trying to give concrete examples of the impacts of no procurement (negotiations or tenders) and Bill 17.  I need to have that picture from you to share at table with the Ministry officials and the politicians.

Thanks for sharing I look forward to your information and trying to see what we can do to move the financial pendulum.  If you could send me your story or information by November 30 I would appreciate it.

Rhonda Barraclough – ALIGN Executive Director

RhondaB@alignab.ca

Request for ALIGN Member Agencies to Submit Banked OT Hours and Average Salary

November 20, 2017
RE: Bill 17

Bill 17: Alberta’s Fair And Family Friendly Workplaces Act: the new labor code comes into effect January 1, 2018. There are many impacts on your agency and you need to be aware of those. The ALIGN Website has some information and the Ministry of Labor has more. One of largest effects for agencies and specifically anyone who works a 24 hour operation or flexible evening and on call hours will need to consider this:

• You will have to allow employees to take time off in lieu of receiving overtime pay at a rate of 1.5 hours for each hour of overtime worked, as opposed to the previous 1 hour for each hour of overtime.
• There are clear guidelines on how much someone can work in a specified period
• New types of unpaid leaves
• Changes to maternity leaves

There are many other changes your need to make sure you are aware for and are planning for.

Financially the biggest area will be the overtime. We are trying to advocate with the Ministries (CS & CSS) that banked time is a substantial cost and that the agencies cannot shoulder that cost. We have encouraged the Ministry to have a plan in place to compensate agencies for overtime and have explained how this is not just as simple as stopping overtime from happening especially in 24 hour operations and that due to contractual obligations they also can’t just increase the costs – therefore we believe there is a need for a compensation plan on the part of the Ministries.

To help paint a picture for the Deputy Minister of Children Services – Darlene Bouwsema, I need as many folks as possible to let us know their current bank overtime hours in a year and what the average salary for those employees is. I am making a graphic to show the Deputy Ministers. Darlene and Shannon Marchand the Deputy Ministry for Community and Support Services are meeting with the Ministry of Labor Deputy Ministry soon. We have also offered to arrange for them to meet with some of the CFO’s from the agencies and the Ministry to discuss impacts further. At this point we do not know if or when there may be answers. We would like to be able to send a further sample of the overtime impacts at this time because we can at least quantify that number.

Please send a note to me RhondaB@alignab.ca with that information by the end of this week – November 24, 2017

See Related Info

Three New Children’s Service Divisions and Three New ADM’s

Correspondence form Darlene Bouwsema Deputy Minister Children’s Services to ALIGN ED Rhonda Barraclough October 2, 2017

As you may know, the creation of Children’s Services provided an opportunity to re-imagine the organization and its structure to achieve the renewed mandate and focus on continuously improving the services provided to children, youth and families.

As part of the evolution of Children’s Services, I am pleased to officially announce that we have identified three Children’s Services-specific divisions and the Assistant Deputy Ministers (ADMs) who will lead them. Each portfolio will be guided by a leader who has a great respect for the work happening in this ministry, and an unwavering commitment to public service.  I am confident that under their guidance, the Ministry of Children’s Services will be well-positioned for success. Effective October 2, 2017:

  • Gloria Iatridis, ADM will lead the Policy, Innovation and Indigenous Connections Division with responsibility for strategic policy and planning, initiative management (including the Ministerial Panel for Child Intervention), corporate quality assurance and Indigenous and community connections;
  • Mark Hattori, ADM will lead the Family and Community Resiliency Division with responsibility for early intervention and prevention programming, community programs and early childhood programs and the Early Learning and Child Care Centres initiative;
  • And Rae-Ann Lajeunesse, ADM will lead the Child Intervention Division with a singular focus on the child intervention system.

I would like to reiterate that no ongoing work will be interrupted. The Ministry of Children’s Services will continue to focus on priorities including the work happening across the province to serve families, the Ministerial Panel on Child Intervention and affordable, quality, accessible child care offered through Early Learning and Child Care Centres

There will be no lay-offs as a result of changes and our staff remain committed to serving Albertans. If you have any questions or concerns about this change, please do not hesitate to contact my office, otherwise Assistant Deputy Ministers and their staff will be in touch as part of their regular business with your organization.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment and partnership.

Darlene Bouwsema Deputy Minister Children’s Services

ALIGN Executive Director Report – September 2017

Thank-you to all of you who attended our AGM in Red Deer on September 29th. It looks like our timing with the weather was right! For those of you who weren’t able to attend – please see the following updates and for those of you who were there, you’ll see I’ve included some recent sector updates and training links not yet available at the AGM.  If you have any questions about these activities or anything else we do at ALIGN please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Rhonda Barraclough
rhondab@alignab.ca
780 233-5459

ALIGN Executive Director Report – September 2017

This is new info we just received! Children’s Services has officially announced that they have identified three Children’s Services-specific divisions and the Assistant Deputy Ministers (ADMs) Read More

ALIGN has had a very busy spring and fall for 2017.  The Child Intervention Panel began in February 2017 and has been a challenge to stay on top of.  ALIGN has made two presentation to the panel and has been a resource for the panel organizers to get other speakers that fit certain categories. We have also encouraged agencies to submit to the panel recommendations as per the guidelines outlined or just their thoughts in particular areas. All panel deliberations can be heard on the Child Intervention Panel Website, and all submissions made by members can be seen on our ALIGN Website.

Nicole McFadyen (Child Intervention)and  Cathy Mitchell (Occupational Health and Safety, ALIGN Journal and a Mental Health Projects) have settled nicely into their positions and are working well in their areas of interest.  I have recently contracted with a communications specialist to help us with some of our messages, fact sheets, and reports in an effort to get a consistent look and feel to our work.

The ALIGN Board has worked hard on the Strategic Plan and the revisions of the bylaws and board policies. We will be moving forward on the planned direction and approving these activities.

In January 2018, we will be holding our 10th Annual Conference and a 50-year celebration for ALIGN.  We will go down memory lane a bit and have a great celebration. Registration opening later this week.

As government has moved from the Ministry of Humans Services transitioning to 2 Ministries we have had to develop new relationships and understandings of who does what.  There is now the Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS) and the second is the Ministry of Children Services (MCS).  All child intervention services and the indigenous engagement were moved to the Ministry of Children Services.  The Ministry of Community and Social Services still holds disability services, services for family violence among other service areas and they jointly are responsible for contracting.  ALIGN has met with the Ministers and Deputy Ministers for both Ministries.  Disabilities services also have a new ADM – John Stinson and I will be meeting with him later in October.  In Children Services, the ADM for Child intervention has been Mark Hattori that will change in October to Rae Ann Lajeunesse.  Mark will have a new portfolio.  We have asked to meet with Rae Ann and Mark.

For Child Intervention Services, Jon Reeves and Russ Pickford were appointed as Directors of Child Intervention.  Their role is to align all child intervention services provincially and to get more consistency in how services are provided and received across the province.  Jon serves the area from Leduc south and Russ from Edmonton north.

Procurement, contracting and contracts continue to be a bit of a ambiguous.  We have met with the DM and Minister regarding the need to have contracts move forward.  We were told that in reality little will move until the Child Intervention Panel concludes and makes recommendations.  We continue to advocate that parts of the system still can be procured, or negotiated.
See P.A.T. Final Reports August 2017 and ALIGN updates.

Bill 17 – Fair and Family-Friendly Workplaces Act

Register Now!
ALIGN Presents Bill 17 Presentations – Register Now!
Bill 17 Presentation St. Albert October 5, 2017
Bill 17 Presentation Lethbridge October 20, 2017
Bill 17 Presentation Calgary October 31, 2017
Bill 17 Presentation Red Deer November 2, 2017

Preliminary-Review-of-Bill-17 (Neuman Thompson September 2017)
On May 24, 2017, the provincial government tabled Bill 17, titled the Fair and Family-Friendly Workplaces Act. Bill 17 includes a number of significant reforms to two of the most important workplace-related laws in Alberta, being the Alberta Employment Standards Code (the “ESC”), and the Labour Relations Code (the “LRC”). The following is meant to provide a summary of some of the most noteworthy reforms that have been tabled as part of this Bill…

Alberta Government –  Bill 17: The Fair and Family-friendly Workplaces Act,  changes will come into effect on January 1, 2018.

Alberta Employer Advisor Bill 17 – Proposed Changes to Alberta’s Employment Standards Code

Cathy Mitchell and Nicole McFadyen – Updates June 2017- September 2017

Submission Being Accept Now!
Leadership Bursary
We are excited to announce that we can once again offer agency and individual leadership bursaries.  We will not be able to fund academic 2-year bursaries but agency can apply for up to $5,000.00 and individual leaders/supervisors can apply for training, workshops, etc up to $5,000.00.  This is only for the remainder of this fiscal year.

We are now accepting submissions for the spring ALIGN Journal. Our fall Journal will be published and available this month

Mental Health First Aid Grant (MHFA):
Both ALIGN and the AFPA have had the Mental Health First Aid grants extended till March 2018 as there are still funds available. The planning committee met in June 6, 2017 to look at our learning’s from last year and begin planning for 2017-2018 year. We have made arrangements to have Kevin Campbell provide two full days of training to caregivers on the importance of “Family Finding” for the children in their care. One day will occur in Edmonton January 24th and Calgary January 23th. The committee has decided to charge a minimal fee to attend and subsidize child care this year.

A memo was sent out reminding agencies that this funding is only available till the end of March 2018 and to utilize the funds if they have staff that needs the training.

Submissions Being Accept Now!
ALIGN Research Journal:
The 2017 Fall ALIGN Journal is currently with the desk top publisher and will hopefully be on line by the end of September. A focused call for contributions is underway so that we can have an edition for the spring 2018

Register Now!
Health and Safety in the Child and Family Services Sector:
ALIGN continues to be a partner on the research team of the Healthy Workplaces for Helping Professions Project. Join us for the Healthy Workplace Conference Edmonton October 13, 2017  Graham Lowe author of “Creating Healthy Organizations” will be the key note speaker. A second voluntary survey is currently being completed by human services staff to allow for a comparison with the findings of the first survey results of 2 years ago.  The results of this research, surveys and training will be presented at the fall conference.

We met with a representative for the Ministry of Labor in the Partnership Unit in the spring who recommended ALIGN explore the possibility of a collaborative relationship with the Alberta Association for Safety Partnerships(AASP) as a Certifying Partner. Conversations with the ED of the AASP have occurred and the plan is to apply jointly for grant funding from the Ministry of Labor to provide interested agencies with a series of training sessions (referred to as “The Roadmap to COR”) to obtain a Certificate of Recognition. Concurrently we will meet with agencies who have successfully obtained their COR and see what we can learn from them to pass on to other agencies.

We have also begun researching information on the National Standard of Canada on Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.  We think there is other work that can be done and agencies can benefit from that is not to the extreme of COR yet may help with WCB rates.  That will be developed over the next 6 months.

Opioid Strategy:
ALIGN has continued to sit on a working group with the Children’s Services Opioid strategy as it pertains to all caregivers (agency and provincial). Information sheets and a training manual have been developed and is currently being reviewed by ministry staff. Once approved, this information will be provided to all agencies and caregivers.

Child Intervention Practice Framework (CIPF):
Child Intervention Practice committee is presently reviewing how to create consistencies and best practice provincially through the below initiatives. This committee consists of Regional managers. ALIGN and the AFPA.
Also See Child Intervention Review Panel

Collaborative Service Delivery (CSD):
Recently through many different discussions it has become clear that there is some confusion among organizations regarding the understanding of the term Collaborative Services Delivery (CSD).  CSD is intended to be an approach in delivering services to Alberta Children and Families under the umbrella of the Child Intervention Practice Framework (CIPF). This approach is being achieved but limited to initiatives such as; the Foundation of Caregiver Support, CSD lead sites, Family Finding and Signs of Safety. Collaborative Service Delivery Leads Table are meeting to discuss future direction of the table.

Foundation of Caregiver Support (FCS):
The Committee is in the process of reviewing the recently released Review of literature with the focus on Aboriginal Peoples and Communities – Trauma, Child Development, Healing and Resilience. The expectation is that organizations in Alberta serving child, youth and families must be Trauma Informed along with understanding Child Brain Development and stress. This is the foundational work for the 101 training that will come out this upcoming year.

The definition of Trauma Informed Care has 4 common elements; Trauma Awareness, Emphasis on Safety, Rebuild Control for person served and the approach is Strength Based. There are many ways for Organizations and their programs to make sure they are meeting these common elements in all the work they do.

Provincial Trauma Training Group
Presently, there is a small Provincial Trauma training working group-Sheldon Kennedy Advocacy Care Centre, ALIGN, Palix Foundation and Children Services are working on sharing approaches for knowledge immobilization and how to best support embedding it into practice across the Province.  There is an environmental scan of what types of Trauma Informed Training   are currently happening across sectors, and ministries in Alberta with hopes to develop a training navigation resource.

Save The Date!
Family Finding:
Children Services will be bringing Kevin Campbell the Family Finding trainer across the province in 2018, to provide a 4 day boot-camps again and mentoring to help build provincial capacity. We are currently discussing how to bring youth and lifelong networks to Alberta with Kevin. Kevin will also be facilitating 2 workshops at the ALIGN annual conference in January and  will also be be providing 2 – 1-day workshops for Caregivers in Edmonton January 24th and Calgary January 23th.  Family Finding is an excellent approach to bringing Trauma Informed knowledge into practice, aligning with the Signs of Safety and building resiliency in children through building lifelong networks.

Signs of Safety Working Group:
Signs of Safety working group.  Children Services has implemented Signs of Safety 2-day Provincial Delegation training. The working group is looking at how to implement a plan that insures all current CS staff also receive the 2-day Provincial training, whether or not they have had previous training in the past. This is to ensure everyone has received the same provincial specific training.  A 1-day training has been developed for agency partners and caregivers. The committee is in the process of developing a plan to offer the training provincially

Early Intervention – Prevention and Early Intervention Framework:
ALIGN has recently had discussions with the Ministry about agency input in to the refresh of the Prevention and Early Intervention Prevention Framework.

ALIGN Indigenous Advisory Group:
The ALIGN Indigenous Advisory Group reconvened in the Fall of 2016 in order to gain some guidance in planning for the upcoming year. Some of the current recommendations that we are working on are:

  • It was suggested that we convene a circle of government decision makers and others to share what is being done in the research and community sectors.
  • To bring together a group who has a strong understanding of Trauma and Inter-Generational Trauma to help guide the next step process.
  • A lot of Agencies have found ways that work for families and we should help highlight these approaches.

Register Now!

Indigenous Thought Leader Symposium
ALIGN has been busy  coordinating an Indigenous Thought Leader Symposium  that will be held for Children and Family Serving organizations Leadership on October 23, 2017 at the Fantasyland Hotel in Edmonton. The day will highlight Alberta Indigenous Thought leaders and Knowledge Keepers and how to move knowledge into policy and service delivery. The Indigenous Thought Leader Symposium is intended to enhance indigenous innovations and relationships in child intervention service delivery. Starting in Ceremony, selected Elders, advisors, and service providers will share Indigenous teachings and current practices in work with Indigenous children, families, and individuals. The presentations will showcase specific culturally-based approaches to practice and ceremony with indigenous service users. The day will include teachings from highly respected elders and knowledge keepers in Alberta. Various Alberta-based programs providing culturally appropriate and effective services will be highlighted. The outcome will be that participants will have an opportunity to explore how they can utilize the guidelines and principles in policy development and service delivery. This full day event will be held in ceremony and highlight cultural practices.

Child Intervention Practice Committee:
ALIGN sits at the CI Practice committee which is presently reviewing how to create consistencies and best practice around Cultural planning.

Elder Capacity Pilot
ALIGN sponsored 3 Elders to attend an Elder Capacity Building pilot and hosted 20 participants at a Cultural Solutions 201 session April 2017 through a grant from Children Services and is in continue discussions to help further the knowledge and practice capacity in these areas. The Purpose of the Elder Capacity Building Pilot is to build elders capacity in urban and rural First Nation settings, who are working with children and families who are at risk of being involved in the Child Intervention system, either through the Ministry of Child and Families or through contracted agencies in Alberta.

Youth in Care Mentoring (YIC) and Alberta Mentoring Partnership (AMP)
A three-year commitment has been made to the agencies that are piloting Youth in Care Mentoring.  We are currently working on documenting a service delivery model.  There has been an updated literature review completed and the pilots are working with the advisory group to look at consist parts of the delivery and what it takes to offer this program area

Child Welfare League of Canada (CWLC)
ALIGN continues to sit on the CWLC Board.  The most recent activity is the National Forum on infant, child mental health in Calgary the first week of October.

Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD)
ALIGN has been working with the regional directors and agencies to get some consistency in services delivery and contracting.  Recently the minimum wage increases have been of concern.  I believe the government will be making announcements shortly on how to help with this shortfall.  FSCD children being in group care is also an area we are exploring to ensure that those children get the right services and the agencies are clear about the mandate with FSCD children and how to work with their families.

 

The Procurement Advisory Table (PAT) Final Report to the Ministers of Community and Social Services and Children’s Services August 2017

Update September 2017

Procurement, contracting and contracts continue to be a bit of a ambiguous.  We have met with the DM and Minister regarding the need to have contracts move forward.  We were told that in reality little will move until the Child Intervention Panel concludes and makes recommendations.  We continue to advocate that parts of the system still can be procured, or negotiated.

Procurement Advisory Table – Final Report August 2017

The Procurement Advisory Table (PAT) provided its Final Report to the Ministers of Community and Social Services and Children’s Services. The report includes recommendations for the departments to consider for designing and implementing future contracting approaches.

Arrangements are underway to schedule a meeting involving ALIGN (Rhonda Barraclough) ECVO (Russ Dahms)  ACDS (Andrea Hesse) and Deputy Ministers for both Ministry of Children’s Services and Community and Support Services Shannon Marchand and Darlene Bouwsema the second week of September to determine a course of action going forward considering changes that have occurred since the report was tabled in December.

Related

Response from Minister Sabir to PAT Co-Chair,  Russ Dahms

Terms of Reference

Membership List

Previous PAT Updates

See ALIGN Directory of Contracting News

 

 

A “Sneak Peak” of AMP New Indigenous Mentoring Resources

SNEAK PEAK: Resources for Mentoring Refugee, Immigrant & Newcomer Children and Youth

To access the resource one more step is required. Please fill in your contact information to assist in the role-out and evaluation of our new resource. AMP will not share your information, it is only for internal tracking purposes. In the next few months they will send you a brief survey asking for feedback.


Notice to Members  from Michael Jan August 1, 2017

AMP partners work to expand and enhance quality youth mentoring programs for young adults across Alberta.  Here is an exclusive opportunity for a “Sneak Peak” of the new Indigenous Mentoring resources. You might use different language or program labels other than mentoring, but the principles and considerations outlined in the document are valuable for any program that supports Indigenous or non-Indigenous relationships. Share your feedback with Michael Janz michael.janz@albertamentors.ca about how this can be further mobilized into the community.

While ALIGN is a valued “Builder Partner” of the AMP (and Rhonda Barraclough is a member of the Leadership Team), each individual agency should be listed as a AMP Partner! If you have not done so already, please take a moment and fill out our “Partner contact form” so AMP can promote your work and your agency and you can take advantage of our volunteer recruitment capacity! Don’t worry, there is no charge because we are a no-fee partnership

ALIGN Association Strategic Directions Update – We Want to Hear From You!

Dear ALIGN Members,

I hope you are having a marvelous summer.  ALIGN is reviewing its strategic directions this summer with the goal of having a strategic plan completed this fall that will lead the way for the next few years.  Last week Nicole, Cathy and I held sessions in Lethbridge, Red Deer, Calgary and Edmonton.  The feedback we heard has been incorporated into the Draft plan so far.  We want to hear for anyone else who may have great ideas.  So I have attached a draft of the plan and some of the directions members have been suggesting we move towards.  If you have any thoughts on these please or think of other things you would like to see us doing please add them to this document and send it back to me.

I would appreciate your thoughts by August 18.  After that we will be finalizing the plan and taking it to the Board of Directors.  Thank you for your participation and support. See you in the fall at the AGM  Sept 29, 2017

ALIGN Mission/Strategic Planning For Members Feedback

Rhonda Barraclough
rhondab@alignab.ca
Executive Director ALIGN Association

Review Panel Updates July 2017

NEW

Government responds to OCYA reports Minister Sarah Hoffman issued the following statement, on behalf of Children’s Services Minister Danielle Larivee, in response to the Child and Youth Advocate’s Investigative Reviews released today: July 18, 2017

Alberta’s child-welfare system failed First Nations youth: report Globe and Mail July 19, 2017

Alberta government ‘not going to wait’ for feds to close First Nations child welfare gap July 20, 2017

Child advocate ‘concerned’ about government inaction on death recommendations Edmonton Journal July 19, 2017

Alberta’s child-welfare system failed First Nations youth: report Globe and Mail July 19, 2017

 

RECENTLY POSTED

Child Intervention Practices in Alberta Ministerial Panel on Child Intervention June 5 2017

ALIGN Partners in Child Intervention Child Intervention Panel Submission June 30, 2017

ALIGN:  Presentation to Child Intervention Review Panel (ppt) June 15, 2017

ALIGN Calgary Chapter Submission 1 – Working Relationships and Collaboration
ALIGN Calgary Chapter Submission 2 – The Practice of Child Intervention
ALIGN Calgary Chapter Submission 3 – Funding Community Agency Services A Sector in Crisis

 Inter-Agency Foster Care Committee (IFCC) Submission to Review Panel June 29 2017

Child and Youth Care Association of Alberta (CYCAA) Submission to Child Intervention Panel June 2017

VIEW ALL UPDATES & SUBMISSIONS HERE

ALIGN Review Panel Presentations

ALIGN SUBMISSION TO CHILD REVIEW PANEL

ALIGN Partners in Child Intervention Child Intervention Panel Submission June 30, 2017

ALIGN:  Presentation to Child Intervention Review Panel (ppt) June 15, 2017

ALIGN: Re-Envisioning Therapeutic Group and Residential Care:Closing the Gap Between: “What We Know” and “What We Do” June 15, 2017

ALIGN AFPA – Foster and Kinship Care Presentation for the Ministerial Panel for Child Intervention June 15, 2017

ALIGN CHAPTER MEETING SUBMISSION TO CHILD REVIEW PANEL

ALIGN Calgary Chapter Submission 1 – Working Relationships and Collaboration
ALIGN Calgary Chapter Submission 2 – The Practice of Child Intervention
ALIGN Calgary Chapter Submission 3 – Funding Community Agency Services A Sector in Crisis

ALIGN Edmonton Chapter Submission to Child Review Panel May 1, 2017

ADDITIONAL AGENCY PRESENTATIONS

Inter-Agency Foster Care Committee (IFCC) Submission to Review Panel June 29 2017

Child and Youth Care Association of Alberta (CYCAA) Submission to Child Intervention Panel June 2017

Children & Youth in Care and Mentoring Advisory Committee Submission to Child Intervention Panel June 21, 2017

FMAV Webcast Ministerial Panel on Child Intervention – June 15, 2017

Community Initiative Against Family Violence (CIAFV) Submission to Review Panel June 11, 2017

Child Review Panel Submission by Kathleen Kufeldt, MSW, PhD June 9, 2017

CSD Collaborative (Edmonton) The Family Centre Blog/Letter Submission Letter May 30, 2017
CSD Collaborative (Edmonton) Illustration of The Work 3 Stories May 30 2017
CSD Practice Manual Edmonton Region May 30 2017

 

Alberta Care Worker Safety Focused Inspection Program June 8 and September 30, 2017.

Dear Members,

Alberta Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) announced a Care Worker Safety Focused Inspection Program which will take place between June 8 and September 30, 2017.

The program’s goal is to ensure workers and employers in the sector are aware of their rights and responsibilities to help create healthy and safe workplaces.  View the Care Worker Stakeholder Presentation 2017 ppt, that OHS presented to us which is quite informative and explains what they are going to be doing, the rationale and the how.

If you have any questions please contact Cathy Mitchell.

contractor with ALIGN at cathym@alignab.ca. Thank you.

ALIGN to Present at Child Intervention Review Panel. Member Submissions & Presentations Encouraged

May 10, 2017
Dear ALIGN Members,

Over the next few months we have an incredible opportunity to ensure that The Child Intervention Panel (currently tasked with reviewing and revising the current child welfare system in Alberta) are informed, encouraged, educated and influenced by agencies, educators and the families who receive service. ALIGN is preparing to make a presentation to the panel regarding the work that sector agencies do and the need for resourcing the valuable information agencies can contribute.  We expect that they will be interested in hearing from various sectors such as group care, kinship and foster care.

The Panel members currently have a basic knowledge regarding intergenerational trauma, the CORE story, child development, and the importance of early intervention among other areas of importance.  Over the next 2 months they have expressed interest in furthering their understanding and awareness in these and related areas. Your submissions and presentation will provide them further insights and assist them to better determine what they require additional information on.

It is likely that time lines for presentations will be very short; therefore, I would suggest that agencies collaborate if possible when making written submissions and include an offer to present if you feel it is appropriate.  Share your thoughts with the panel

A few recommendations:

I highly encourage you to listen to the live stream audio segments of the child intervention panel.  You can listen to them by going to Panel Meetings

  • If there a group of you doing the same or similar work and you feel that the panel needs to know about it, do a joint submission.
  • Don’t put too many issues into a submission. Try to keep it to one or two issues so that they can absorb the importance of your concern.  Make separate submissions for each topic area you want them to hear about.
  • Use the guideline on the website Share your thoughts with the panel
  • If there is research that backs up your point, attach it to the submission but don’t send books. Find relevant adequate article and send the link to them if you can.

ALIGN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REQUEST

If you are sending in a submission or presentations, please submit a copy to me at rhondab@alignab.ca  so we can include it on our ALIGN Review Panel Page  – this will assist members to avoid repetition.  The panel is only sitting to August 1, 2017 so don’t delay – if you want to say something now is the time!

Thank you, if you have any questions or want any advice on this please don’t hesitate to email or call me

 

Rhonda Barraclough
Executive Director ALIGN Association for Community Services
rhondab@alignab.ca 780 233.5459

 

For More Resources View  ALIGN Review Panel Page

ALIGN E.D. Correspondence – Alberta Community and Social Services Assistant Deputy Minister Announcement

(Correspondence To ALIGN Association April 12, 2017 from David Morhart  Deputy Minister Alberta Community and Social Services)

It is with great pleasure that I announce the appointment of John Stinson as our new Assistant Deputy Minister for the Disability, Inclusion and Accessibility Division of Alberta Community and Social Services.  This role provides the strategic oversight of the department’s disabilities support programs, including the statutory director responsibilities, and will work closely with the Service Delivery Portfolio on the provision of supports to Albertans across the province.

John comes from Manitoba with an extensive background in the public service, including roles as Chief Executive Officer of Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, CEO of the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority, Vice-President of Acute Care and Planning with South Eastman Health, as well as roles within Manitoba Health and Treasury Board Secretariat.  John brings strong leadership skills in multi-stakeholder consensus building, strategic planning and community development.  He has led and championed cultural change within and across organizations and brings an effective interpersonal style, including a great sense of humour, that embraces collaborative engagement of staff, colleagues and stakeholders.

John will begin his new role on May 23.  In the interim, John Cabral will continue to cover in this role and will be key in transitioning the file on John S’s arrival.

Please join me in congratulating John S. in taking on this new role and in thanking John C. for his continued leadership before his transition back to Alberta Seniors and Housing.

David Morhart  Deputy Minister Alberta Community and Social Services

See More Related to Ministry Transition

 

ALIGN Executive Director Update Re: Alberta Budget 2017

March 19, 2017

Dear members:

Last week the government announced Budget 2017.  We have been capturing the relevant information for you and placing it on our website.  There will be more analysis this week but we thought we would share what we have learned to date.

This budget for Children’s Services and Community and Support Services basically is a maintain status quo budget for both ministries. Any increases that are mentioned are to meet current needs.  No increases or forecasted increases.

In Children’s Services most increases went to growth caseload areas; financial and support agreements and advancing futures bursary funds.  The 60 FTE’s announced are to be put into the system in these growth areas.  Exactly where is still to be determined.

Senior staff are optimistic that funds will come with future recommendations made by the Child Intervention Review Panel.

We have had conversations about procurement, contracts, and moving forward with the Minister and senior executives.  With the splitting of the ministries it has been a bit confusing about who will address the procurement table recommendations.  We have made it very clear that this activity needs to receive focus and cant wait for panels.  We are assured that discussions are underway to figure out a way forward for services in child intervention.

We also  feel it is very important that the Panel get an accurate picture of the entire system and recommendations for improvement. Please review the minutes and live casts. The meetings are open to the public.  I would encourage you to attend or at least listen to it.  If you feel an area needs to be highlighted please send in a submission.   www.childinterventionpanel.ca

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email or call rhondabarracloug@alignab.ca 780 485-3580

Rhonda Barraclough ALIGN Executive Director March 19, 2017

ALIGN Letter to The Honorable Joe Ceci Re RE: Contracted Sector for Children’s Services

On March 6, 2017 ALIGN Executive Director sent a letter to the Honorable Joe Ceci Minister of Finance & President of the Alberta Treasury Board regarding contracted sector.

Contracted Sector for Children’s Services Letter March 6, 2017

Excerpt 1
While FCSS funding has been substantially increased and that certainly helps, the funding for the agencies that provide services to the more vulnerable and those at risk of having their children enter care have not. These contracts have been stagnant for about 2 years or longer. We had been working with the Ministry of Human Services to find a way forward in the procurement activities to get to a better funding model and closer to true costs…

Excerpt 2
It is our request that you and the Ministers of Community and Social Services and Children’s Services consider a small injection of funds to at least bolster wages. There are many other areas like operating costs for example that need to be considered as well but at this moment the wages are paramount….

Public Board Call

Premiers Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities and the Provincial Parent Advisory for FSCD looking for applicants to sit on public board

Public Board Call FSCD and PCSPD March 2017 regarding a renewed focus on disability services and the request for people to apply to sit on the Premiers Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities and the Provincial Parent Advisory for FSCD.  ALIGN Executive Director Rhonda Barraclough encourages those agencies  in  this area to have people from within your networks to apply.  The premiers council is trying to expand its reach and I think it would be  great way to ensure FSCD and families with persons who have disabilities in them get involved and can influence future directions of the services.  Also note the deadlines are very short.  So please let people know as soon as you can so they have time to apply.

Rhonda Barraclough
Executive Director


Contact Ms. Vicki Bertoia Director PCSPD Secretariat at 780 422-2726 or  Ms. Roxanne Gerbrandt,  Disability Support Branch FSCD PPAC at 780 408-8369

Alberta Child Welfare Class Action NOTICE OF SETTLEMENT APPROVAL

The Alberta government settling a class-action lawsuit involving people who were formerly in the provincial child intervention system in January 2016.  Under the terms of the settlement, people who were previously under government guardianship, subject to a permanent ward ship order or permanent guardianship order by Alberta Child Welfare between July 1,1966 and February 19, 2008 or a temporary guardianship order by Alberta Child Welfare between July 1, 1985 and February 19, 2008  may be eligible for financial benefits.  Human Services had requested that your organization post the notice within your premises, on your website and to share with your membership.

Notice of Deadline to Make A Claim January 15 2017

Joint Letter

All Class Member claims under the Settlement Agreement must start with the making of an application to the Victims of Crime prior to January 15, 2017. Benefit amounts will be determined by Alberta’s Victims of Crime Regulation and depend on the type and severity of the injury, which can include physical and psychological harm.

For application forms and information on making a claim to the VOC, call: (780) 427-7217 or toll free at: 310-0000; or, email financialbenefits@gov.ab.ca; or visit www.victims.alberta.ca

Norm Welch Sr. Mngr Office of the Statutory Director Child & Family Services Division Alberta Human Services

Previously  Related Correspondence The Alberta Child Welfare Class Action NOTICE OF SETTLEMENT APPROVAL All persons who suffered injuries before or during a time when they were subject to a permanent warship order or permanent guardianship order by Alberta Child Welfare between July 1, 1966 and February 19, 2008, or a temporary guardianship order by Alberta Child Welfare between July 1, 1985 and February 19, 2008.

ALIGN Executive Directors Update October 2016

ALIGN Executive Directors Update October 2016
This document was presented to the Board of Directors at our last Board meeting. It is a comprehensive review of the work we are doing at ALIGN. The Board requested that I forward it to the members as a good Executive Director Update. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact myself, Nicole and Cathy at anytime. We want our members to be informed.

Rhonda Barraclough
Executive Director

Child and Youth Services (CYS) Contract Updates

Update – August 2016

First-quarter, sole-source government service contracts disclosed The Government of Alberta’s online database has been updated with service contracts awarded outside a formal competition process during the last fiscal quarter.

Procurement Advisory Table The Agency and Human Services Procurement Advisory Table (PAT) is intended to provide a platform for informal, focused dialogue between Human Services and a small group of leaders from the service provider sector about the ministry’s contracting and procurement practices. The PAT provides an opportunity to leverage the experience, ideas and influence of these sector leaders on the design and implementation of future-state contracting strategies or approaches. The development of these strategies will align with Human Services’ goal of integrated service delivery, and support service delivery partnerships that are efficient, effective and achieve the outcomes Albertans need and expect.

Terms of Reference

Membership List

Update CYS and the Service Delivery Regions – Where Things Are At June 2016
Edmonton and Calgary either have or will be raising the following issues with ALIGN

Child and Youth Services (CYS) Contract Templates: Summary of April 21, 2016 Discussion (ALIGN and Human Services) and Recommendations

Innovations in Outcome Based Service Deliver in Calgary, Alberta February 2015 by Susan Gardiner, Bruce MacLaurin and Jon Reeves