FEEDBACK FOR MCSS RE FACILITY CLOSURE PROCESS

November 23, 2005
The following is a collection of feedback & questions from across the province concerning the closure process. No effort has been made to categorize or edit the questions or comments, so there is duplication of some types of comments as a result.

• Lack of information regarding francophone clients
• Does the Ministry intend to purchase community health services through local CCAC’s?
• Does the Ministry intend to access community health services through the current resources available through CCAC’s? (Is there additional resources?)
• We want to get information to families & key support staff that will be supporting the moves i.e. Brochures & videos. Does the Ministry have lists that would assist with this? How can family members &/or facility placement planners make effective plans without full knowledge of what is out there as options & choices?
• ?Plans? for individuals were pulled from agency when time for planning was requested ? given to another agency
• Fire Code requirements to meet B3 are having significant impact on increasing costs
• Profiles missing key information or reliable information
• We have discussed at our regional planning table that some base funding will be put into areas on only a temporary basis. We have 38 identified to relocate to our area as an example. If this is the way we need plan it is a deterrent to making long term plans. The argument is some areas like Simcoe already have too much and other areas have too little. So you plan to take 38 people back but you can only keep property for the time they are alive and then some sort of switch will occur. How can agency planning be done with the thought that in a few years you?ll give up a large percentage of your base budget and lay off all the staff and infrastructure etc. This is not the answer to effective planning.
• Is there start up budgets for furniture?
• Community & health services ? we don?t know the needs yet of the individuals in the facilities so how can we know what community services are required?
• Wage issues must be discussed
• Locally all arrangements have been declared at each planning table in an overview format, allowing for transparency of activities. Would like to see this across Ontario as a condition of contract acceptance & to ensure transparency of Ministry activities
• Only 6 weeks into planning for our first person from HRC so not have anything to report other than the process is smooth to this point however have not begun to negotiate funding yet
• Our experience with working with the planners etc. from SRC has been positive. The planners themselves I have found to be very accessible, making the planning process fairly easy. The one suggestion that I feel would help the process is providing the agencies with the Individual Profile (not the personal plan) at least in the fiscal year prior to when the individual is scheduled for placement. This allows the agencies time to consider these people in their planning process. Other wise the time frame becomes very short for finding a suitable living arrangement. Apparently each facility has quotas for placement of individuals in each fiscal quarter that have to be met. These quotas make planning appropriate transitions very difficult. With our most recent placement, the time frame was 8 weeks from the family touring our agency, making a decision on the agency and the individual actually moving in. This makes for very quick planning.
• The information we received from Huronia on the two individuals we have been supporting