cover image: Last resort : Improving fairness and accountability in British Columbia's Income Assistance Program

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Last resort : Improving fairness and accountability in British Columbia's Income Assistance Program

17 Mar 2009

The Ministry of Housing and Social Development (formerly the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance) has, as one of its principal roles, ensuring that British Columbians who are in need receive the supports that we, as a society, have determined are appropriate. At the same time, it is required to assist those who are capable to prepare for, and obtain, employment. One of the continual challenges the ministry faces is how to distinguish between those who are capable of self-sufficiency and those who need ongoing assistance from society to ensure their well-being and enhance their ability to participate as useful and valued members of society. This significant role makes the ministry the face of British Columbia for those in our society who are facing serious economic, social and health challenges, or in some cases, challenges in all three areas. Consequently it is particularly important that the ministry model the fair, courteous, consistent, and reasonable treatment we would expect any person in British Columbia to receive when dealing with a public agency. This is reflected in the ministry's own core values of respect, empathy, equity, fairness, accountability, transparency and open communications. In the course of this investigation we have looked at whether certain procedures and practices of the ministry appear to reflect those values and are consistent with the ministry's stated goals and role. In this report, I made 26 findings and 28 recommendations for rectifying deficiencies and improving administrative processes. These focussed on the areas of the income assistance application process; the Persons with Persistent Multiple Barriers to Employment program; medical and other documentation requirements; and implementation of prior commitments. All but one of the recommendations was accepted by the ministry; some are already in the process of implementation and the ministry has committed to implementing the rest over the next two years.
health education compliance insurance accessibility audit disability employment ethics family medicine ombudsman public welfare examination identity document employment insurance people with disabilities internal audit disabilities human activities further education identification accessible non-compliance audits income maintenance programs welfare recipients notary public notarized
ISBN
9780772661098
Pages
132
Published in
Canada

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