COVID Cases identified at 25 Tweedsmuir in Kirkland Lake

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The Timiskaming Health Unit has identified that as of 3:00pm on March 19th four residents at
the multi-residential complex on 25/25A Tweedsmuir Road in Kirkland Lake have tested
positive for the COVID-19 virus. One of the cases is associated with a variant of concern. As
the owner of the complex, the District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board is
working with health unit staff to complete all necessary contact tracing and coordination of
testing for residents and employees as required.

Throughout the pandemic, the District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board
has been taking all necessary precautions based on Public Health Ontario's Infection
Prevention and Control guidelines to reduce the risk of infections and prevent transmission of
COVID-19 among employees, residents and visitors. "We take our responsibility to ensure the
safety of our residents and staff seriously and are committed to supporting the health unit until
the situation at our complex is resolved," said Chair Doug Jelly.

The District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board employees will continue to do
whatever we can to prevent the virus's further spread. We will continue to work in collaboration
with the health unit until the situation at the housing complex is resolved. We will provide
updates as information is available. We want to thank everyone for their support by continuing
to follow public health guidelines.

Kelly Black
Chief Administrative Officer

Request for Proposal - Community Safety & Well-being Plan

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The District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board (“DTSSAB”) wishes to embark on a process to develop a Community Safety & Well-being plan on behalf of our 23 member Municipalities and the Municipality of Temagami (The “Municipalities”) in accordance with the Police Service Act.

To that end the DTSSAB is looking for a proponent to assist in:

• Leading a planning process that will engage all 24 communities within the catchment area and ensure multi-sectoral buy-in while meeting legislative requirements:

• Supporting an Advisory Committee and a multi-sectoral Working Group(s) as required in identifying priorities, determining outcomes, selecting strategies, developing an implementation plan along with monitoring and evaluation indicators: and

• Embedding the planning process within the Municipalities.

For more information please see our RFP document below.

RFP-2021-01 (PDF)

NOSDA Names New Executive Director

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The Northern Ontario Service Deliverers Association is pleased to announce the secondment of Fern Dominelli as its new Executive Director.

“The need for a pan‐Northern strategy and plan focused on strengthening our communities’ human services systems has never been greater” stated Janet Gawne, Chair, NOSDA “We are excited to have Mr. Dominelli join our organization as the Executive Director to support our members and work closely with our northern municipal associations.”

Mr. Dominelli brings with him over 35 years of leadership experience in the human services sector and will lead NOSDA into post‐pandemic work focused on strengthening Northern Ontario’s affordable housing, social assistance, employment, childcare and paramedic services systems.

“I am proud and honored to have the opportunity to lead NOSDA and its members into a new and exciting future for the human services sector,” said Fern Dominelli. “I look forward to strengthening NOSDA’s strategic partnerships and continuing to build on our members’ incredible work which is already contributing so much to Northern Ontario’s economy and municipalities.”

In Northern Ontario, a group of 10 District Social Services Administration Boards (DSSAB’s) and the one Consolidated Municipal Services Managers (CMSM) have joined together to form NOSDA to create a more effective and holistic approach to supporting families, community, and industry in Northern Ontario.

2021 DTSSAB Budget Approved

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The District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board (DTSSAB) passed its 2021 budget at its meeting on February 17, 2021. Board Chair Doug Jelly stated “in 2021, as in every year, the DTSSAB is cognizant of the impact of our budget on our municipal partners. The Pandemic has been particularly hard for municipalities and we worked diligently on maximizing the financial contributions from the senior levels of government to minimize the impact on the municipal budget.”

The overall 2021 DTSSAB budget was $35,313,048 which is a 1.25% increase over 2020. The budget funds the following four programs in the district: Ontario Works ($10,323,965), Children Services ($9,773,958), Housing Services ($7,144,615) and Emergency Medical Services ($8,030,410). The increase in the overall budget is due to a shift in our Emergency Medical Services to 24/7 Supervision that will also help improve response capacity across the District resulting in a 2.0% ($131,274) increase to the municipal apportionment. This year the Board chose to remove funds from our working fund reserve in the amount of $166,100 to reduce the billing impact to municipalities and the unincorporated townships. Once again, we have used our working fund reserve to ensure the overall impact to our municipal partners is 0%.

“This is good news for our municipal partners,” commented Chair Doug Jelly. “The DTSSAB delivers these services on behalf of the district municipalities and we strive to ensure that our operational costs do not exceed the expectations of the municipalities and this year we were able to deliver a 0% increase. We were able to deliver a 0% increase budget to our municipalities despite much higher increases to costs to operate our programs especially with increased costs due to the pandemic.” commented Chair Doug Jelly

The municipal share of the overall budget is $6,702,894 (19.0%), the Territories Without Municipal Representation (TWOMO) contributes $1,774,587 (5.0%), federal/provincial share is $26, 532,567 (75.1%) and contributions from reserves of $303,000 (0.9%) consists of our revenue sources.

The result is eleven municipalities in the district will see a decrease and twelve municipalities will see an increase in their 2021 municipal billing. Of the twelve municipalities seeing an increase only six have an increase greater than 1.0%. The reason for a small number of municipalities seeing a decrease is a combination of assessment increases and/or Ontario Works caseload increase.

“Over the years the Board has kept the municipal apportionment as close to 0.0% as possible despite increases in salary and benefits and operating costs such as hydro and fuel, by using contributions of our reserves. Since 2008 we have used $2,124,100 from our working fund reserves.” noted Mr. Jelly. The Board, which consists of seven appointed municipal representatives and two elected representatives from the territories without municipal representation, bring the viewpoint of the local taxpayer and their municipality to the table and ensures that the budget is fair and responsible in delivering the services that the DTSSAB has been mandated to deliver. Our focus is always maintaining or increasing our services without having a negative impact on our municipalities.

For further information on the budget, please contact Kelly Black at 705-567-9366 ext. 3253 or 705-568-7791.

Emergency Services Toy Drive a Great Success

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The DTSSAB’s EMS program would like to express a big thank you to the individuals of Kirkland Lake and surrounding area who supported the Emergency Services Toy Drive this weekend at the Canadian Tire and Giant Tiger. We had an overwhelming response from the community who shared their generosity by donating toys and money.  Together with Kirkland Lake Fire & Emergency Services and Kirkland Lake OPP we were able to fill an ambulance, paramedic response unit, fire services pick up truck and police cruiser with toys, money and gift cards for all ages. It’s a privilege to be of service to a great and generous community!

A special thank you to all the firefighters, police officers and paramedics (and their kids) who volunteered to come out and brave the cold for a few hours for a great cause!

Also, a special shout out to those who dropped by with treats of hot chocolates, coffees and hand warmers. This was very thoughtful and much appreciated!

 
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Public Access to Offices Closed Until Further Notice Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

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Please be advised that due to the serious nature of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board (DTSSAB) is taking further measures to protect our residents, employees and community.

These measures include closing public access of our offices in Kirkland Lake and Temiskaming Shores effective the end of the business day March 19, 2020.

All individuals seeking services of the DTSSAB are advised to call the office at one of the numbers listed below. There is a phone located outside the door of each office that will allow people to call our reception desk directly. In addition there are drop boxes at each office location and each of the social housing buildings that can be used (by our tenants).

Kirkland Lake 705-567-9366 OR 888-544-5555
Temiskaming Shores 705-647-7447 OR 800-627-2944

In-office visits are restricted to extreme emergencies only, and people will be directed to use the phone to communicate to office staff.

People receiving social assistance payments are strongly urged to set up Direct Bank Deposit if they haven’t already done so to avoid any complications with receiving their benefits. Anyone can call the number listed above if they need assistance with this.

All client emergency needs, including health and safety issues, will continue to be addressed. Tenants will be advised of alternative ways to pay their rent where necessary. Anyone requiring DTSSAB services are asked to call the number listed above. Staff continue to be in both DTSSAB offices.

“I commend all staff for taking such swift action to ensure everyone’s safety,” says DTSSAB Chair Doug Jelly.

“Senior Management have been working incredibly hard over the past week to put the necessary systems in place that will allow the DTSSAB to continue to provide essential services in our communities.”
— Doug Jelly, DTSSAB Board Chair

Essential core services that will continue include:

  • Issuing social assistance payments - Payments will not be disrupted. Please call the DTSSAB office if you require assistance.

  • All applications for social assistance and subsidized housing will be taken by phone by calling the phone numbers provided above.

  • Health and safety matters with our social housing properties will continue to be addressed, and essential maintenance continued.

As the situation evolves, further updates will be posted regularly on the DTSSAB website at www.dtssab.com and using our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

For further information please contact Kelly Black, Chief Administrative Officer, at 705-567-9366 ext 3253. Thank you for your cooperation and patience.

Open house @ 255 Grant Dr in Temiskaming Shores

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We will be having an open house at our newest residential building on June 10th from 10AM until 2PM.

The unit is located at 255 Grant Drive in Temiskaming Shores (behind Walmart). We look forward to seeing you there!

255 Grant Drive Fact Sheet (PDF)