County councillor Lynda White says the work done by Wellington County’s social services department is not widely known despite a price tag for operations of about $68 million annually.
Ward 3 councillor Gary Williamson who represents the northern area of the township also made a report to county council on Nov. 4.
“Social services takes about half of our county budget,” White, the Ward 4 councillor representing the southern portion of Wellington North, said in her report to council. White sits as a member of the social services committee which oversees Ontario Works, child care services, low income housing, and ambulance services. Many of the programs are shared with the City of Guelph.
“The county is one of 47 consolidated municipal services managers that are responsible for delivering Ontario Works, house and child care on behalf of the province of Ontario for a geographic area that includes the county and Guelph,” she said in her report. “The population in the service area is approximately 210,000. These programs are delivered in accordance with provincial legislation and guidelines and the county reports to the various ministries on performance levels.”
“Child care services is the service manager for the licensed child care system for Wellington and Guelph,” White said. “For the licensed child care sector, we provide subsidies to families to help pay fees at licensed programs, we provide wage subsidies and various grants to licensed operators and we contract agencies to support the inclusion of children with special needs. As part of our role, we have the option to directly operate child care programs if there is a unique need in a priority area in our service plan. As such, the county directly operates the Mount Forest child care and learning centre and offers full-day, full-year care for six infants, 10 toddlers and 16 preschool children.
“I do know there has been a lot of confusion and some frustration from families in North Wellington about care for school age children,” White said. “This is definitely a gap in service for many areas.”
White said Ontario Works recipients from the northern part of the county can find out whether they are eligible for financial and employment assistance from the office in Fergus.
“If our intake workers thinks that a client is eligible, they are booked for an appointment with a caseworker at our Fergus social services office,” White said. “Our Fergus office provides service to our clients in Centre Wellington, Mapleton, Minto and Wellington North. The office can be reached by phone at 519-837-2670 extension 2603 or at www.ontario.a/socialassistance. The office is located at 321 St. Andrew Street West.
In addition to financial assistance, Ontario Works provides clients with access to services and benefits to help clients find a job. Specialized programs also exist for youth clients, and individuals with addictions and mental health challenges, White said.
Of the 1,951 clients as of September, 449 were from the county.
County services can be found at wellington.ca/en/socialservices/ontarioworksemploymentand financial assistance.asp.
In her report, White stated another function of social services department is managing affordable housing.
“The county owns and directly operates 1,189 rent-geared to incoming housing units which are located at 30 addresses in 34 properties throughout Arthur, Guelph, Erin, Palmerston, Fergus, Mount Forest and Harriston,” she said. “The county owns and manages 55 affordable housing units located in Fergus where rents are set at 80% of market. The county also offers support and legislative oversight to 21 housing providers (17 non-profit housing providers and four housing cooperatives) located in Wellington and Guelph. The county does not own these buildings but as service manager has responsibility to ensure that they are all well managed.”
White pointed out several of the units are located in Mount Forest and Arthur.
The county also maintains a centralized waiting list for residents eligible for affordable housing.
Application forms can be found at wellington.ca/en/socialservices/applyingforhousing.asp.
Williamson, who has been involved in the creation of the county Safe Communities Committee and heads up the recently-formed Wellington North safe community chapter, told council of the county organization’s official formation on June 22. He also informed council of work being done by the Wellington North group.
Williamson also noted the upcoming 10th anniversary of the county Green Legacy program.
“There has been over 1.5 million trees planted,” Williamson said in his report.
He noted the county credit rating was recently upgraded from “AA” to “AA with a positive outlook.”
“This confirms that the county’s finances continue to be managed responsibly and allows the county to borrow money at competitive interest rates and pass on the lower cost to local municipalities and our taxpayers,” he said.
Both councillors periodically update township council on county matters.
