2022 DTSSAB Budget Approved

The District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board (DTSSAB) passed its 2022 budget at its meeting on February 16, 2022. Board Chair Derek Mundle stated “in 2022, as in every year, the DTSSAB is cognizant of the impact of our budget on our municipal partners. The Pandemic continues to impact 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 2022 DTSSAB budget is $39,087,424 which is a 10.69% increase over 2021. The budget funds the following four programs in the district: Ontario Works ($11,803,507), Children Services ($10,312,427), Housing Services ($7,279,902) and Emergency Medical Services ($9,651,488). The increase in the overall budget is due to one-time Provincial funding provided to our Emergency Medical Services and Children’s Services Programs, an increase in our Homeless Prevention funding and a projected increase to our Ontario Works Caseload resulting in approximately $3,400,000 increase to the overall budget. Increases in our Housing Services and Emergency Medical Services programs have resulted in an increase to the municipal apportionment of 2.97% ($199,149). This year the Board chose to remove funds from our working fund reserve in the amount of $200,000 to reduce the billing impact to municipalities and the unincorporated townships.

“The 2022 budget is a good budget for our municipal partners. 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. This year we were able to deliver a 2.62% increase despite much higher increases to costs to operate our programs and especially with increased costs due to the pandemic.” commented Chair Derek Mundle

The municipal share of the overall budget is $6,902,043 (17.7%), the Territories Without Municipal Representation (TWOMO) contributes $1,830,911 (4.7%), federal/provincial share is $30,075,170 (76.9%) and contributions from reserves of $279,300 (0.7%) comprise our revenue sources.

“Over the years the Board has kept the municipal apportionment as close to 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 $2,324,100 from our working fund reserves.” noted Mr. Mundle. 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.

Timiskaming Community Safety and Well-being Plan

Community Safety and Well-being Plan

The District of Timiskaming is creating a Community Safety and Well-being Plan. Community Safety and Well-being Plans combine the strengths of partners in the community with the unique needs of the area to work towards being a safer, happier and more cohesive community.

Community Input

The community will help to shape the plan and focus on key issues. The survey includes questions about your day-to-day life, health, education, employment, safety, leisure, and recreation experiences, as well as what you think about living, working and playing in your community. By sharing your experiences and what matters to you, you help to shape life in your community, determine key priorities, and indicate where you think change is needed most.

Please only complete this survey if you live in of the District of Timiskaming or Temagami region. The Timiskaming District includes all residents who live in Matachewan in the west to Kearns in the east, and Sesekinika in the north to Temagami in the south, and all areas in between.

This survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. The survey responses are being confidentially collected and only overall results will be shared. There are no questions that ask for individual identifying information.

There are no mandatory questions. If you wish to participate you are free to fill out only the questions you are comfortable answering.

---

Survey Link (English)

Survey Link (French)

Public Access to the DTSSAB Offices continues

Please be advised that in accordance with the announcement made January 3rd, 2022, by Premier Doug Ford, the District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board (DTSSAB) is taking further measures to protect our residents, employees and community.

These measures include keeping our offices in Kirkland Lake and Temiskaming Shores open with compliance to health and safety protocols.

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 community 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 emergencies only, and people will be required to pass the COVID-19 screening and wear a mask when accessing the premises.

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 assistance needs, including health and safety issues, will continue to be addressed. Tenants will be advised of alternative ways to pay their rent where necessary.

Community Paramedicine supports continue to be provided to eligible patients with strict adherence to health and safety protocols. Our 911 service is operating to respond to medical emergencies.

Targeted School-Aged Emergency Child Care in Timiskaming

The District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board, in collaboration with our Licensed Child Care Centres and Licensed Home Child Care Providers, will be implementing emergency childcare during Ontario's temporary move to shift schools to virtual learning, in response to concerns surrounding the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The Emergency Child Care has a tentative start date of January 10th, 2022, pending further direction from the Ministry of Education.

The Ontario government has opted to move elementary and secondary schools to remote learning following the Christmas break. The move has been made as a preventative measure in response to the rapid increase of community transmission of COVID-19 cases, and the increasing risks posed to the public by the Omicron variant across the province.

Licensed childcare programs will continue for non-school aged children from ages 0-4. Childcare programs that are co-located within a school may continue as approved by individual school boards. Early ON programs will pause in-person programming.

The Targeted School-Aged Emergency Child-Care will provide childcare services for children aged 3.8 to 12 years old, at no cost for provincially identified essential workers who are not able to acquire alternative child care and/or are unable to accommodate care at home for their school-aged children. Eligibility will be determined according to the Province's Individuals Eligible for Emergency Child Care list available here: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/200263.

The DTSSAB will continue to work closely with the Timiskaming Health Unit, Licensed Child Care providers and local school boards to identify interest and prepare for the opening of emergency childcare locations for school-aged children. Applications can be completed using the following link:

Application

Inquiries can be directed to DTSSAB Children's Services at our toll-free number 1-888-544-555 or 1-800-627-2944.