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A criminal charge, even minor, can trap Ontarians in a ‘vicious cycle’ of unrelated problems, report finds
Thursday, July 16th, 2020
… it is very common… for criminal issues to overlap with other barriers, both legal and non-legal. “It’s a whole interconnected system and if one thing goes wrong, it’s very, very easy for lots of other things to fail in quick succession… From a community safety perspective, she said, allowing urgent legal issues to fall through the cracks and get worse “is counterproductive at best, and at worst it’s very oppressive.”
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, rights
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
ER doctors gave cellphones to their patients and results were stunning
Wednesday, July 15th, 2020
COVID-19 has brought homelessness, social isolation, poverty, and other determinants of health into sharp focus. We think putting digital equity at the centre of care helps address urgent health imperatives, provide some human dignity, and be the first step toward improving the health and wellness of the most marginalized in our society.
Tags: disabilities, Health, homelessness, ideology, mental Health, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
De-streaming proposal lacks understanding of how courses delivered
Friday, July 10th, 2020
… the current streaming system is set up to allow students to take a diverse set of courses. Students are not streamed into an all-applied, or an all-academic, program; rather, each course is selected at the level deemed best… Flexibility is the key, rather than the one-size-fits-all approach of de-streaming.
Tags: ideology, youth
Posted in Education Policy Context | No Comments »
Lasting programs needed to cure our social wounds
Thursday, July 9th, 2020
COVID-19 is laying bare the consequences of four decades of neoliberal social policy choices… The poverty, homelessness and precarious work we tolerate and try to bury under inadequate social supports. The entrenched historical structural inequities like racism and sexism we sweep under the carpet but are the driving determinants of who is most negatively impacted by COVID-19 and most other illnesses.
Tags: economy, featured, Health, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context, Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
School pandemic plans don’t work for working parents, province told
Thursday, July 9th, 2020
Other jurisdictions are thinking outside the box so students aren’t simply divvied into groups and told to attend classes half-days or every other day — and Ontario should be too… The “hybrid” model of in-class and online learning “leaves working parents with young children, single-parent households and low-income families in the precarious position of having to choose between educating their children and their own employment,”
Tags: child care, economy, featured, Health, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Their lives have been defined by trauma. Why kick kids out of foster care and group homes when they turn 18?
Monday, July 6th, 2020
Until COVID-19, it was the rule — now suspended until Dec. 31 — that youth in care must move out of their foster or group home when they hit 18 and live independently, whether they are ready or not… “Too many young people ‘age out’ to poverty, to homelessness. It’s a pipeline to the criminal justice system for some. And it exacerbates mental health conditions,” says Ratnam, co-founder of the non-profit Ontario Children’s Advancement Coalition (OCAC).
Tags: budget, ideology, youth
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario to end streaming in Grade 9 and change other ‘racist, discriminatory’ practices
Monday, July 6th, 2020
The Ontario government plans to end streaming in Grade 9 — a long-standing practice that research has found disproportionately impacts Black and low-income students and severely limits their chance of graduating and going on to post-secondary education… The province will also introduce a ban on suspending younger, elementary-school kids — Black students are again disproportionately affected — and improve diversity in hiring and promotions.
Tags: featured, ideology, multiculturalism, participation, youth
Posted in Education Policy Context | No Comments »
Former foster child first to lead local Children’s Aid in 126-year history
Sunday, July 5th, 2020
Typically, after care, foster kids experience: low academic achievement, poverty, homelessness, criminal justice system involvement, early parenthood, poor physical and mental health, and loneliness… there is no tracking of life outcomes after care… The sector needs our leadership — 40 years of academic research on youth outcomes and a century of troubling history prove it.
Tags: child care, participation, youth
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Here’s why Ottawa’s pandemic aid isn’t finding its way to Black-owned businesses
Monday, June 29th, 2020
Black businesses are not getting the kind of financial support that the rest of the country’s private sector is getting from governments these days — despite the commitments from federal politicians to extend a hand to everyone who needs it, and repeated vows to act quickly on systemic racism… Liberals want to consult more with community leaders… The problem is, the damage from the pandemic is moving far faster than bureaucracy, and for Black communities, it’s devastating.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Equality Delivery System | No Comments »
New report shows why a basic income makes sense during COVID-19 recovery
Monday, June 29th, 2020
… Canada should adapt a progressive version of basic income, similar to how the country’s Old Age Security and child benefit programs are calculated. Essentially, your basic income cheque increases and decreases depending on how much other income you make… the country can pay for basic income — either through existing tax programs, or with a new wealth tax, or by increasing sales tax slightly… “It gives people both the security and the flexibility to manoeuvre through transitions”
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, participation
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »