Alberta Developmental Disability Sector Takes a Stand

Most people start gearing down and shift into holiday mode for Christmas.  The people working and cared for in the developmental disability sector of our social safety net are suiting up and shifing into a higher gear.  They are organizing to protect themselves from more shortsighted, meanspirited and frankly unnecessary budget cuts by the government of Alberta.  I am advising these people now on a pro bono and volunteer basis.

I have done a lot of professional work with this sector recently, including help negotiate new contract templates so the GOA could meet their goal of a "more business-like relationship" with the sector.  Well that was accomplished and contracts, not grants are the way the sector is not funded.  But the government seems to think they can merely intimidate community-based volunteer agencies into funding cuts now and going forward regardless of the "business-like" relationship. 

Service providers are facing intimidation, innuendos and pressures to comply with this so-called  "voluntary" request for "in-year adjustments." The Regional PDD Boards knew they were going ot be short of funds last April 1 based on the government funding.  Why have they ignored that reality until now and why are they squeezing the service providers and caregivers as a "solution?"

Well the Minister in charge can do exactly that.  She can unilaterally cut budgets and change the contracts.  It is a term the government insisted stay in the agreements called Ministerial Directives.  If the Minister wants to claw back more money and put vulnerable people at risk then that is her prerogative under the contracts.  But that is a political decision not a management decision.  Such matters of budget cuts are always political and not management, as the government is trying to finesse the facts these days.

The Alberta Council of Disability Services, a provincial body representing most PDD sector service providers in the province sent a letter to the Premier and the Minister on Monday.  There has been some media references to it but I thought the readers of this blog would like to read the letter in its entirety. It will show you what the high road looks like.  I have been advised there is a error in the letter on page 3.  The  Edmonton PDD asked for changesby December 31, the 18th.



Honourable Ed Stelmach
Premier of Alberta

Office of the Premier

Room 307, Legislature Building

10800 - 97 Avenue

Edmonton, Alberta T5K 2B6

Dear Premier Stelmach:

Re: PDD 2009-10 Third Quarter Budget Announcements

Subject: Proposal for a Joint Solution

A collaborative partnership is essential to enable improved outcomes and sustainable solutions for individuals and families that we are contracted to support on the Ministry’s behalf. We support a partnership that honours mutual unique strengths and contributions while respecting each other’s autonomy. We support a business relationship that also has inherent rights, responsibilities and commitments. We have a common vision and goals to ensure that individuals supported through the Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) Program are able to live with dignity and safety in their communities.

Principles of a Partnership

Accountability – Recognizing that while the Ministry Seniors and Community Support, PDD Division and the Community Disability Service Providers each have separate accountabilities, collectively, they are accountable for maintaining the trust and confidence of individuals with developmental disabilities, guardians, families and all Albertans by ensuring transparency, high standards of conduct, and sound management in their work together, and by monitoring and reporting the results of this work. Independence – Respect the autonomy of the Ministry and Service Providers, recognizing that each has unique strengths, expertise and separate accountabilities. This is not an employee–employer relationship. Our mutual independence supports and promotes many different solutions and policy actions. Interdependence – The actions by either the Ministry or Service Provider directly or indirectly affect the other; a collaborative relationship is important with us and with individuals, families and community. Co-ordination and collaboration

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are required with all Government of Alberta Ministries that impact individuals and their families. Dialogue – We believe that the sharing of ideas, perspectives, expertise and experiences contributes to better understanding, improved identification of priorities and sound public policy. Communication, cooperation, transparency, respect and collaboration are essential to addressing areas of mutual concern and to achieve our common vision.

A Collaborative Partner

Government is facing difficult choices now – how those choices are implemented in the community, both in the short- and long-term is critical for the health of communities and vulnerable Albertans. Community Disability Service Providers are part of a valuable and essential Non-profit/Voluntary Sector in Alberta and have a long history of partnership with the Government of Alberta delivering PDD mandated services. We have made long-term commitments in our communities to support individuals with developmental disabilities and have delivered services to them for over 50 years. Many of our Service Providers were founded by families who wanted to ensure that supports were in place to meet long-term needs, many are faith based organizations committed to supporting this common mission. Our volunteer boards are connected and committed to their communities. A collaborative framework provides the opportunity for government to participate and invest in a long-term inclusive engagement with the sector on funding discussions. The far-reaching implications of the current fiscal challenge make it imperative that we work together to minimize the impact and ensure sustainable services to vulnerable Albertans.

Principals Guiding Funding:

1. To ensure sustainability and effective services support for strong and resilient communities, allocation of funding should be transparent, evidence-based, and reflect local stakeholder expertise and community knowledge and context.

2. Community programs are most effectively delivered through sustained, predictable and coordinated funding. Contractual funding arrangements should reflect and support the long-term service we provide to individuals with permanent and often complex needs. We have a record of service to this government and measured standards of service and accountability. We require the flexibility to respond and be innovative. We require predictability of funding and honouring of funding commitments to plan effectively and efficiently.

3. Government should make a priority of open communication and meaningful consultation with individuals, guardians and families. Research, impact analysis

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and coordinated planning with these resources and the broader community are particularly significant when changes to policies, programs or services are being considered.

4. Outcomes for people and communities can be improved through better alignment of planning, program design and service delivery within and across both government and the Community Disability Services sector.

2009-10 Third Quarter Contract Budget Adjustments

Recent third quarter budget announcements by Regional PDD Community Boards of projected Regional Board deficits and Ministry budget reduction targets have placed Service Providers and family managed contracts in an untenable position.

Northeast Regional PDD Board announced on October 23, 2009 retroactive funding reductions of 4.34% of total Service Provider and family managed contract budgets. Calgary Regional PDD Board provided formal confirmation of in-year contracted and retroactive funding reductions of approximately 2.1 %.of annual agency contract budgets to address their Regional Board deficit and the provincial deficit. The notice was issued on December 9 and December 11, 2009 with expectation that agency plans for reductions be submitted by December 18, 2009. Edmonton Regional PDD Board confirmed retroactive budget adjustments of approximately 2.3% on December 16, 2009. Agencies have been asked to submit plans and revised change forms by December 18, 2009.

Key Messages

The impact of these reductions over the remaining few months of the contract term will have a significant impact on direct services to clients and the ability of agencies to operate under the new contracting model which pays for services after they have already been provided. Inadequate notice and time has been given to allow agencies to properly inform their Boards, give required notice to staff, and support families, guardians and clients to develop coordinated plans to ensure the safety and well-being of the individuals. This is not sound business practice, it is not good fiscal management, and does not live up to the principles, rights and obligations of a contractual business arrangement that should be expected from government. The Ministry (PDD) has ongoing responsibility to ensure and oversee the provision of statutory programs, resources and services to adults with developmental disabilities; and has the mandate to provide services to individuals through determination of eligibility and approval of units of service

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that they will provide and fund. The Service Provider contracts with the Ministry to deliver these services on behalf of the Government. Communication and direction about changes and or reductions in services should most appropriately be directly between government and the client. Individuals receiving or applying for services have the right to be consulted prior to any significant decisions affecting them; and are to be informed of decisions made by the Community Board that affect them and of their right to independently appeal such decisions. The individual may then access their right to appeal decisions of PDD Program Community Boards that impact them. Program supports, or applying to receive supports, can be appealed to the Minister through the PDD Appeal Panel. Decisions of a PDD Program Community Board to enter into, amend or terminate a contract with a Service Provider on the other hand cannot be appealed. The ACDS Board appreciates the difficulties that Regional PDD Community Boards face with unanticipated cost pressures and the complex and changing needs inherent in delivering mandated human services. Our members also face these same pressures, adjust accordingly within our yearly budget and contract, and are held accountable for a balanced budget. We also appreciate the challenges of the uncertain economic climate. Many agencies already reduced their budgets by up to 5% at the beginning of the contract year in response to Ministry anticipated budget pressures, and staff received only one half of the committed wage increase as a one-time bonus. As we have done each year, for many years, we have already demonstrated our willingness to collaborate and work toward a solution. The ACDS Board understands that under the current contract with Service Providers, any amendments or changes must be mutually agreed upon by both parties and further that Service Providers should consider carefully and ensure that they take the time and steps necessary to be fully informed before agreeing to voluntarily amend the contract by agreeing to reduce services or units of service. We understand and have been advised, that even a request to voluntarily agree to an in-year adjustment may be considered an Anticipatory Breach of the contract. We would expect PDD to honour the current contracts over the next quarter. The Ministry commitment to allocate $24 million in the 2009-2010 budget to address recruitment and retention of a skilled workforce is still outstanding. The delivery of quality services to individuals with often complex needs is dependent upon sustaining a qualified workforce. While government programs and staff received wage and benefit increases, and contracted programs and staff funded by other Ministries received their 5% wage increase on April 1, 2009, PDD funded contracts received only a partial allocation of $14 million this fall to be distributed as a one-time bonus. Some Service Providers have not had the April 1, 2009 minimum wage increase addressed in their funding.

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Service Providers value our relationship with this Ministry. A strong collaborative relationship must be based on honouring commitments, integrity and mutual respect grounded in the fundamental principles and values that place the well-being of the individuals we support first.

Recommendation for a Joint Solution

That the Premier and Minister intervene and rescind the PDD Community Board requests for in-year budget adjustments and ensure that formal correspondence is issued clearly communicating to Service Providers and family managed contractors, that PDD fully intends to honour their contracts and that this is a voluntary request for budget reductions. That full contractual payment to Service Providers will continue and there will be no repercussions if Service Providers and family managed contractors do not voluntarily agree, or did not meet the deadline for submission of action plans and change forms for reductions in services. That Service Providers and family managed support contractors who have already submitted action plans or implemented changes be offered the opportunity to review and reconsider given this new and clear communication from the Ministry. That the Premier support the Minister to implement a full external program review and audit of the PDD Division Programs and Services. Stakeholders and families would be willing to participate in the development of the terms of reference and support this review. That PDD Community Boards be requested to communicate their intent to fully honour their contracts with families and Service Providers That PDD Community Boards be required to communicate directly to individuals and their guardians and families, any decisions that may impact services to ensure that they retain their right to appeal, and further that the timeline for filing the notice of appeal starts on the date of this communication from the PDD Boards.

Respectfully submitted,

Bob Greig

President

ACDS BOARD

cc. Honourable Mary Anne Jablonski

What is a Progressive in a 21st Century Alberta

Part of the Reboot Alberta -The Launch was a request from participants that we start to put some content and context about what it means to be a Progressive in Alberta in the 21st century.  A number of citizens who participated in Reboot Alberta - The Launch have taken some time to write a blog post on their personal perspective on the question.

My input is typically tooooo loooong but if I had more time I could have made it shorter.  Here is my take.  I strongly recommend you read the others as well.  If you are moved to write your own contribution - email it to me ken@cambridgestrategies.com and we will get it posted.

In the meantime if you are a Progressive or think you are, mark your calendar for February 26-28.  Reboot Alberta 2.0 is happening at the Delta at Kananaskis.  More details tomorrow to those signed into the Reboot Alberta community.  If you want to be in that loop too, let me know your name and contact information so we can add you to the list.  Go to http://www.rebootalberta.org/ and join the movement. 

Tomorrow I will be posting the letter the developmental disability sector sent to the Premier yesterday.  It pretty much speaks for itself.  I am advising the sector on a pro bono basis becuase they don't have any money to hire me and I have already gather lots of information from the two years I did professional work for them.

Merry Christmas to one and all.   

Don Braid on Decline of the PCs - He Gets It! Reboot Alberta Gathers Steam

In case you missed it, Don Braid's column in yesterday's Calgary Herald captures the essence of the erosion happening in and around the PC government in Alberta.  I appreciate his comments on my blog post about why I am leaving the Alberta PC Party

If the Wildrose is the viable option, we are in more trouble than we have already imagined.  We need a much different option to ensure we preserve, protect and progress in our Alberta.

Citizens are reclaiming responsiblity for how they are governed.  The growing interest in Reboot Alberta is proof of this re-emergence of informed and engaged citizenship.  I am working on my Reboot Alberta discussion paper on What is a Progressive in a 21st Century Alberta.  My theme is Citizenship=Stewardship.  I will post it here as well as on http://www.rebootalberta.org/

Why I Am Leaving the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta

I am almost joining the ranks of 97% of Canadians who do not belong to political parties. I will still hold a Federal Liberal membership but I will not renew my Alberta PC membership when it expires at year end. I have been involved in the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party from the mid-70s.' and even took an unsuccessful run at a nomination as a PC Candidate for the 1997 election. I can no longer aid, abet and accept the PCs as my political home in Alberta. There are many reasons but last straws are what people notice. My last straw has arrived.

I take my philosophical political positioning as a social progressive and a fiscal conservative. To many that is an oxymoron but to me it was a balanced and comprehensive approach to governing. That is why I was so comfortable for so many years in the PCs even through the extremes and mistakes of all Premiers since and including Lougheed.

Well the Alberta PCs who are elected to government are no longer progressive, hardly fiscally prudent and as for having a conservation consciousness – forget it. They are no longer aligned enough with my values to continue to be my political home. I know from personal discussions, emails and meetings that I share that realization with many other disillusioned PC party members. They also see the other conventional political parties as merely variation of a tired, inadequate, exclusive and clubby political culture. The Wildrose Alliance is offering an even greater and deeper sense of the tired old conventional politics of a (thankfully) by-gone time.

I see no vision or enthusiasm from the PC government. I see no capacity to respond effectively to the complex changing times in Alberta. They are merely hoping to return to the Alberta of yesterday. They are waiting for commodity prices to return so things and be “normal” again and we Albertans will get to print yet another bumper sticker asking God for yet another boom.

Danielle Smith's Wildrose Alliance Party has deep roots in social conservativism and religious fundamentalism. Stuff they don't want to talk about - until they are elected. There is an unnerving sense that they are thinking that they can win an election with one narrative and once elected, govern the future of the province with another. It is as if they want to take Alberta back to repeat a time that is even farther back into our history. They want to take us back to the conservative times of Ernest Manning and Harry Strom with the added benefits of the moral metrics of Bible Bill Aberhart himself .They want an Alberta where the old TV sitcom series “Father Knows Best” would be considered a modern-day documentary.

So, after about 35 years, I am currently politically homeless, but I have hope. Reboot Alberta is the wellspring of my hope. I see is a way to find a more just, fair, inclusive, prosperous and progressive province. Reboot Alberta is becoming a political movement that is about a new kind of citizen-based pioneering leadership, citizenship and stewardship. It is not about gaining political power. It aspires to greater goals.

I sense from the growing Reboot Alberta community that we are at the trailhead of a new journey. It is a new personally accountable path where citizens take responsibility for the new situational dynamics of being Albertans. We are discovering that the new Alberta venture is about undertaking to actively pursue how we can adapt. That adaptation includes becoming an ecological enhancing economy and an inclusive, cohesive caring society with high levels of innovation, achievement and accomplishment.

I want my Alberta to be about a proud people, with organizations, institutions, industries and communities where our living and learning go hand in hand throughout our entire lives. I want a striving society that honours and encourages different ways of thinking, that is caring, curious, inclusive and diverse. I hope for a society that honours the gifts we all have as individuals and encourages us to strive for personal accomplishment for our own benefit as well as to the greater good.

We must be aware of and honour the past. We must be realistic about the present (think oilsands). And we must once again become engaged in accepting responsibility for the future and the consequences of our actions on future generations.

Reboot Alberta is going to be about citizens coming together in this spirit. Progressives will show an active intent of finding ways to empower, enhance and expand our capacity to design and deliver on a vision for better Alberta based on a more integrated, more inclusive and more accomplished society. We need to be sure our society is served by our economic endeavours and not the other way around. We must seek a better definition of responsible and sustainable growth. Growth and prosperity must accept that there are constraints of nature. We have to change how we measure success and progress. We must take a longer term view based on values, not just a quarterly accounting statement.

Integrating our economic and social growth has to be done in ways that promotes and produces adaptive self-reliant capable and confident citizens in a cohesive, creative, dynamic society. We have to constantly anticipate and adapt to find new ways to thrive within and respecting the capacity of the planet. This is to my sense the fundamental stuff of what we need for progressive politics, policy, governance and government in our Alberta.

We can’t continue to celebrate and expand our capacity to exploit as a species while continuing to ignore or try to engineer our way around realities of the natural ecological constraints of our place and the planet. Success can’t be about being a bigger “Have” place when others are destitute and dying – all too often due to our ignorance or indifference. I don’t what to merely strive for Alberta to be the best place in the world. I want it to be the best place for the world

I can't seem to find these topics of conversation happening much, if at all, in the dominant political cultures of the province these days. But I have been able to find a significant number of Albertans in the Reboot Alberta movement who are longing and yearning for those kinds of conversations. At the Reboot Alberta Launch at the end of November one of the participants called conversations "game changers." I pray that he is right. I am seeing that those conversations have started within the Reboot Alberta community. With some encouragement, tending and nurturing, they will gain traction and momentum. Then I would not have to find a new political home, I, along with others, will be building it.

Do You Really Want a Wildrose Alliance Government for Alberta?

I was made aware of this Youtube set of interviews of fans of Sarah Palin done at a recent book signing somewhere in the United States.  The tip came via Chris LaBossiere on Twitter and I want to thank him for the link.

The irrational exuberanceof the folks in this clip as the supports of Sarah Palin is unnerving.  They are people who have no idea about how she would govern if she won an election and that is truly scary.  These people are mouthing speaking notes and rhetoric without any understanding or reasoning behind what they are saying.

But don't get too smug Alberta.  I expect the same kind of interview responses would happen in Alberta today if such direct questions were asked of Albertans as to why we are supporting what the Wildrose Alliance Party really stands for.  The recend Angus Reid poll says the Wildrose Alliance Party now enjoys the support of 39% of all Albertans and 44% of rural Albertans.  Based on what?  Does anyone in Alberta really know the policy platform and capacity of this new party to govern? 

The Angus Reid poll puts the Wildrose Alliance in majority government territory in Alberta but without much serious expression, information or understanding of what the Wildrose Alliance party policies are or might become once they were elected.  Dannielle Smith is no Sarah Palin.  She is much more intelligent and enormously more capable than Sarah Palin.  But that is little comfort.  In fact that may be even more discomforting for Albertans once they start to think about it.  Thank heavens there is no immediate threat of an election in Alberta.

When thoughtful and capable citizen disengage from the politics of their times, they delegate the power to choose the direction and desitination of their lives to people like those in this Sarah Palin video clip.  These people do in fact show up to vote.  Political cynicism is a luxury that progressive Albertans can no longer afford.  The world is run by those who show up.

It is time for progressive Albertans to wake up and show up - or suffer the consequences.  That waking up and showing up is already starting to happen.  Reboot Alberta is the start of that shift towards a more conscious expression of citizenship. It is the start of a revitalization and a reinstatement of a more inclusive democracy in Alberta too.

If you, as a conscientious citizen, are ready to take back some control over your provincial politics, join the Reboot Alberta movement.  If you are ready to create and support some alternatives to the old-style politics of the past, join the Reboot Alberta movement.  If you believe that we need to delete some of the outdated and harmful approaches to politics and governance in Alberta, join the Reboot Alberta movement. 

If reinvigorating your rights and responsibility as a citizen of Alberta is not something you are concerned about, then get ready to be governed by the kind of values found in this Sarah Palin video clip. These people are not disengaged.  They are joining social/political movements.  They are exercising their influence.  And they are showing up to vote and support people like Sarah Palin.

The world is run by those who show up.  Govern yourselves according Albertan