September 30, 1999

 To:Community Services Committee

From:Commissioner, Community and Neighbourhood Services

Subject:Learning, Earning and Parenting (LEAP)

Purpose:

This report discusses Learning, Earning and Parenting ( LEAP), a mandatory Provincial program that will be delivered by municipalities under the Employment Supports (ES) component of Ontario Works (OW). An initial overview of the program's key features is provided. Funding and service delivery implications for the City of implementing the program are identified, and initial implementation steps are described.

Financial Implications:

Mandatory changes to the Employment Supports stream of OW under LEAP recently announced by the Province will be cost shared on an 80/20 Provincial/Municipal basis. Toronto Social Service's (TSS) and Children's Services year 2000 budget submissions incorporate costs associated with delivering LEAP. No funds will be required in 1999.

Recommendations:

"It is recommended that:

1.City Council endorse the proposed direction for delivering LEAP in Toronto;

2.Funds for LEAP be included in the year 2000 budget requests of Toronto Social Services and Children's Services in the amounts of $1.89 million gross/$378,000.00 net and $4.00 million gross/$800,000.00 net respectively;

3.the appropriate City Officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto."

Background:

The Province announced its intention to introduce the LEAP program in the 1998 Ontario Budget. Provincial guidelines, intended to be used in conjunction with Ontario Works Directives, were received in Toronto in March 1999. LEAP is a mandatory Provincial program that will be delivered by municipal OW delivery agents.

LEAP is targeted at young parents between 16 and 21 years of age on social assistance, and provides a range of supports to enable them to meet their educational, employment and parenting objectives. It has two primary objectives:

(1)to encourage young parents to complete high school; and

(2) to assist young parents improve their basic parenting skills.

As per Provincial guidelines, the City will forward a business proposal regarding its approach to delivering LEAP to the Ministry of Community and Social Services' (MCSS) Toronto Regional Office. Program implementation will commence in late 1999. Service targets and performance requirements for this new program feature will be integrated into the City's OW Business Plan.

This report initially provides an overview of the main features of the program. Funding, child care and program management implications of delivering the program are identified. Initial steps taken by Community and Neighbourhood Services to implement the program are also discussed.

Discussion:

I.An overview of the main features of LEAP:

LEAP Target Group:

As per the Provincial LEAP Guidelines, the LEAP caseload will be comprised of mandatory and voluntary participants. Mandatory participants are parents in receipt of OW, aged 16 and 17, who have not completed high school, while voluntary participants are parents, aged 18-21, who have not completed high school.

In Toronto in 1999, there are just under 200 participants per month in the 16 and 17 year old age group. In turn, there is an average of approximately 200 very young children in these families. The municipality must ensure that these parents attend high school and receive assistance to improve parenting skills. At the same time, the municipality must support the provision of flexible child care while the parent is in school. A range of other supports can also be provided (eg. school supplies).

Parents between the ages of 18 and 21 may also participate in LEAP, but participation is on a voluntary basis. It is estimated that there are approximately 1600 parents per month in the voluntary group. They may also access supports, including child care, to facilitate their participation. In August, there were 1,953 dependent children in the voluntary group, of which 1,755 were under the age of 5, and 198 between the ages of 5 and 6.

It is estimated that, in year 2000, on average a maximum of 700 participants will be involved in the program each month. However, it is difficult to project the number of voluntary participants who will participate in the LEAP program. Participation rates will depend both on client interest, and on availability and access to child care.

Deferrals can be granted to clients for maternity leave for the earning and learning elements of LEAP, although participants with newborns will be expected to focus on the parenting and child development element. Eligible LEAP participants may also have their participation requirements deferred if they are ill or if they cannot access appropriate child care.

LEAP Program Components:

(1)Learning

Participants are required to regularly attend an educational program leading to a high school diploma. Individual service plans must be sensitive to the individual's barriers to school success, such as the need to attend an alternative school or adult education program versus a traditional high school program, the phasing in of attendance if needed to build confidence, or attention to language or disability.

(2) Earning

LEAP participants will access the full range of employment measures. These may include: Co-op education program, apprenticeships, part time summer employment, job shadowing, the Provincial Job Connect program and Summer Employment Strategy, or Community Placement positions. As participants approach graduation, an appropriate plan for the transition to work or further education must be developed in conjunction with the client.

(3) Parenting

Parenting and child development programs need to be scheduled at times convenient for parents, and focus on the needs of the target group as well as provide a full range of activities specified in the guidelines. Individual service plans will set out specific activities appropriate to individual participants.

Upon high school graduation, a parent may receive a $500.00 bursary if they are proceeding to post secondary education, or may opt to place the $500.00 in trust for the education of the child(ren). A parent must attend a minimum of 35 hours of parenting/child development programming to be eligible for this incentive.

Program Management:

Delivery agents must manage overall development and delivery of the program for their area of responsibility, work with community partners to develop implementation plans, deliver and/or coordinate delivery, ensure a focused seamless continuum of service, provide case management, and monitor and report on outcomes. Additional personalized support for the target group may be purchased as necessary.

II.Funding Delivery of LEAP:

There is specific funding available from the Province to deliver LEAP. However, delivering the program will impact on existing funding envelopes under both the City's OW and child care programs. This section discusses how the City will fund LEAP services, including child care, and articulates the City's position regarding the level of LEAP funds required in Toronto. The implications of the proposed LEAP funding model on the City's child care system are also identified.

(a)Redirecting Existing Employment Related Expenses (ERE) Funding:

LEAP is a targeted strategy under the ES component of OW which uses supports provided through the OW program. In many cases, supports provided to LEAP participants, including transportation, school supplies, and money for other school related activities, will be funded through the existing Employment Related Expenses (ERE) envelope under ES. It is estimated that $1.2 mil gross, $240,000.00 net will be redirected to support LEAP participants out of the $4.169 mil gross $$833, 860.00 net budgeted under ERE for the year 2000. Detail about the specific supports available to clients under ERE is provided in section III.

(b) New Funding Under LEAP:

LEAP funding is intended to complement existing OW funding and not to duplicate existing services. Cost sharing is on an 80 Provincial/20 Municipal basis. Funding is outcome based with agreed upon service levels, and will be recovered if service levels are not met.

In the LEAP Guidelines, issued in late March, the Province initially indicated that up to an average of $4500.00 per participant per year would be available to all delivery agents to support program delivery, plus an additional $ 500.00 per participant to cover bursary costs. Upon receipt of further LEAP program information from the Ministry in August, TSS learned MCSS' Regional Offices will in fact negotiate an average per participant per year cost with each delivery agent. The maximum amounts available per participant will vary based on a set of criteria, which assess the maturity of the municipality's existing community-based services and institutional infrastructure, as well as the availability of child care funding to support the program's objectives.

In Toronto, since the community based and institutional infrastructure is well developed, direct services (e.g. parenting courses) for LEAP participants are to be provided through the existing community-based social services sector, and through the wide range of provincially funded health, education and mental health services available. As a result, there will be no additional funding for new services, and very limited scope to expand existing service capacity. In addition, no new funding will be available to agencies other than through the purchase of services in specific situations. However, LEAP funding is available to the City to provide specialized supports on a case by case basis, dependent on client need. These supports include: tutoring, specialized services (e.g. Family Counselling), respite care in situations where parents need time to study after school hours, graduation fees, etc.

With reference to the criteria being used by the Province to determine what level of funding will be available to delivery agents, it would appear that Toronto is considered to have a well developed direct service infrastructure. As such, it is the Department's understanding that the City will potentially receive up to $2500.00 per participant per year under LEAP. However, the final funding level available to the City remains to be negotiated with the MCSS Toronto Regional Office.

Based on projected client participation rates for year 2000, TSS has budgeted $1.75 million gross, $350,000.00 net for provision of specialized supports under LEAP. TSS has also budgeted $140,000.00 gross $28,000.00 net to cover the costs of the $500.00 bursary that is provide to clients who complete high school.

The introduction of LEAP will have significant implications for the child care system in Toronto, notably related to required funding levels. The following section discusses the salient issues.

(c)Funding Child Care:

Historically, teen families have received child care through the City's regular subsidy system in order to pursue their high school education. The Department already has purchase of service agreements with many licensed child care programs located in or adjacent to high schools and specializing in service to this client group. Licensed home child care programs have also provided subsidized child care to these young families when this has been their first choice of care.

With the advent of LEAP, its mandatory requirements and its participation incentives, the Department projects an increase in the number of young families it will serve. According to Provincial Guidelines, LEAP participants are priority clients for OW child care, and must not be subject to any existing waiting list for subsidized care, nor charged user fees. Supports must continue beyond high school graduation as long as the participant is considered a person in need under The Day Nurseries Act.

Potentially, an estimated 200 young children per month could require child care. In a full year of operation, given the cumulative addition of approximately 36 new young children per month, as many as 450 children of mandatory participants and up to 2,100 children of voluntary participants may require child care support under LEAP. Providing ongoing child care to these participants would more than exhaust the child care resources currently provided under the Ontario Works initiative. This would significantly impact the City's continuing ability to meet the child care needs of other OW participants who are engaged in employment, education or community participation.

At this time, the cost of serving the significantly younger children of teen families is already having a financial impact on the City. Whereas the Children's Services Division's 1999 budget for the OW funded and regular child care subsidies assumed an average unit cost of approximately $7,000.00 per year, the average unit cost of serving the infant and toddler children of potential LEAP participants is $12,000.00 per year. Therefore, even if available LEAP funding was used to cover the cost differential of the care for the children of the projected 450 mandatory participation clients, the added cost of service would be $2.2 million per annum.

In addition, because LEAP clients will not be required to pay any user fees, there will be a future revenue loss to the City of up to $750,000.00 annually assuming child care is provided only to the 450 projected mandatory clients.

There are other potential cost implications with delivering LEAP. For example, one cost effective way in which child care might be provided to allow homework completion, or participation in parent education activities, would be to extend the hours of service in the child care centres located in high schools and by the providers working through a licensed child care agency. Such costs would be in addition to the top up to cover the cost differentials mentioned above and will require further discussion and negotiation with the Ministry.

Depending on the actual utilization of the LEAP program, the City could also be faced with expanding its supply of both licensed and non-licensed care services for infants and toddlers. The average cost of renovating to serve infants and toddlers is approximately $6,000.00 per space. As part of its negotiation with the Ministry regarding LEAP funding, the City should also be including some recognition of these minor capital costs. Increased funding support to family resource programs currently managed as part of the City's child care portfolio is another way to augment care and support alternatives for teen families.

Provision has been made in the year 2000 Children's Services budget request for $4.00 million (gross) in additional funding ($.8 million net) to supplement the existing child care funding available through both OW and the regular subsidy stream to meet the child care needs of the anticipated LEAP participants.

(d) Transitional Funding:

One hundred percent Provincial transitional funding is available for implementation plan development, communication, and staff training, estimated at $78,350.00.

III. Delivering LEAP in Toronto:

Initial Planning:

LEAP service delivery strategies were initially developed jointly by senior staff from TSS and the Children's Services Division. Implications for the existing service delivery system, as well new demands, were identified. The need for an assessment of client circumstances was also identified. The results from this assessment are discussed below.

TSS also initially met with a number of service providers, identified primarily as a result of MCSS's orientation to local service deliverers in May. These included Toronto Public Health (Healthy Babies, Healthy Children), the Toronto District School Board, Young Parent Resource Centres, parent/child programs, and local providers of mental health services. Other municipalities and Departmental staff have also provided information on service requirements, availability of/gaps in service and/or potential ways to deliver the services specified in LEAP. Further input will be obtained from other service providers, including child care providers.

As noted above, potential LEAP participants were contacted to identify current activities of the target group and to explore future client activities and potential child care needs. Information was obtained from ninety-one 16 and 17 year old clients, plus over two hundred and fifty 18 to 21 old clients.

The majority of those contacted were female single parents. Of the 16 and 17 year old group, 4 percent of the respondents were working part-time, while 56 percent were attending or had attended school full time in the previous school year. Of those who had child care, it was almost evenly provided through licensed and informal care. Sixty eight percent reported that they had been given some parenting instruction, primarily from their school, a community agency or Toronto Public Health, in that order.

In the 18 to 21 year old group, 7 percent of the respondents were working part-time, while only 36 percent were attending or had attended school full time in the previous school year. Again, child care was almost evenly provided through licensed and informal care. Fifty percent of the parents contacted indicated that they had been given some parenting instruction, primarily from their school, a community agency or Toronto Public Health, in that order. Significantly, 81 percent of the younger group and 79 percent of the 18 to 21 year old group indicated that they would be interested in returning to school in the fall.

Service Delivery Approach:

The Department's approach to serving LEAP participants builds on the existing OW delivery system, which involves close and ongoing collaboration between TSS and Children's Services. Since direct services under LEAP can be provided through existing community-based agencies and institutions, the Department's central service delivery and program management role will be to coordinate access to required services, and to ensure necessary supports are provided to clients to facilitate successful completion of their learning, earning and parenting goals. To that end, overall OW case management will be provided through TSS caseworkers and Children's Services child care brokers.

LEAP will require that the Department take on a number of specific responsibilities as follows:

(1)one-stop client shopping for services and supports which facilitates access to appropriate child care, integrating LEAP delivery with the existing OW structures and processes within TSS and coordinating with child care delivery structures within the Community and Neighbourhood Services Department;

(2)ensuring that flexible respite supports are available to assist clients with exam prep, homework, parenting activities and for emergency parent relief;

(3)providing for children with special needs, and for when the child is ill;

(4)helping teen parents to choose the most appropriate child care option during the service planning process;

(5)ensuring access to the full range of supports needed to facilitate attendance at school, inclusive of access to transportation;

(6)enabling clients to obtain funds for a range of supports (eg. school supplies, clothing, trips, graduation fees, tutoring, additional child care, computer lending libraries, fees for recreational activities, and other positive reinforcements), and/or to obtain counselling for depression, low self esteem, substance abuse, family violence or securing safe, or affordable housing; and

(7)ensuring effective linkages between LEAP and programs delivered by Toronto Public Health.

(a) TSS's Program Delivery Role:

Currently, TSS employs a case management approach to delivering services to youth on OW. Enhancing this case management capacity represents the most practical way to deliver LEAP in Toronto, given that there is already a well developed network of agencies and institutions available to directly provide needed services to clients. This approach is characterized by a strong focus on service co-ordination among service providers, and frequent contacts with clients.

TSS will deploy specialized caseworkers who will receive additional training to understand the circumstances facing young families. Caseworkers will work closely with young parents to achieve their educational and employment goals, ensuring access to necessary community supports.

Using this approach, public sector and non profit agencies who are already involved with social assistance clients will be able to work closely with caseworkers to keep track of client progress and attendance. Through improved collaboration with service providers, TSS caseworkers will quickly be advised when access to LEAP supports are needed and will be able to respond accordingly. Overall, caseworkers will play a crucial role as liaisons between and amongst clients, the child care system, the educational system, child welfare authorities, public health, the medical community, etc.

From an overall OW program management perspective, TSS will be responsible for ongoing OW program administration, monitoring participation requirements, developing and supporting community linkages, and documenting outcomes.

(b) Child Care Delivery:

Child Care Brokers from the Children's Services Division, who are located in each local OW office, will discuss with young parents their child care options as part of the service planning process and will assist LEAP participants to access formal child care spaces or access funding for their informal care arrangements, depending on the service option chosen. Children's Services will be responsible for assessing child care and family support needs, providing information regarding care and support options available and referring participants to the required resources as necessary.

However, the introduction of LEAP poses key policy and service level challenges for the City in addition to the significant funding implications noted above. Most notably, there are substantial implications for other clients requiring care and eligible for subsidy support.

The Provincial priority attached to LEAP clients makes them an exception to the City's "First come first served" admission policy. The expected utilization of this new program will potentially limit the access of other OW clients to timely child care support. The LEAP requirement that subsidized child care support for these young families continue beyond their original entitlement through LEAP will eventually also begin to limit the access of other families, both full fee paying and those eligible for subsidy support. The LEAP program will have a major impact on the future availability of infant and toddler care in particular. Based on the City's birth statistics, it is interesting to note that there are potentially up to 5,000 young families who are not on social assistance but do fall into the same age group covered by LEAP and who may also require but not be able to readily access child care support.

Thus while the Department supports the objectives of the LEAP initiative and agrees that high quality child care is a critical support to the overall program success, the current stock of care options and the current level of subsidy available to the City are inadequate to both meet the needs of LEAP and continue to meet the needs of other OW clients and families qualifying for regular child care subsidy.

(c)Provision of Direct Services:

Mandatory/Voluntary participants of LEAP will have access to services, offered by one or more of the following primary service providers:

(1)Child Care and Family Resource programs;

(2)Public Health;

(3)Young Parent Resource Centres;

(4)Parent and Child programs; and

(5)Educational institutions.

Services will be also obtained from other service providers as required, including mental health agencies, addictions and family counselling agencies, etc.

LEAP participants can enter this network of services through a range of paths, including self referral, or referrals from health care professionals, Public Health programs (e.g. Healthy Babies, Healthy Children), child protection services and TSS.

IV.Implementing LEAP:

The initial target group are those clients whose participation is mandatory. In addition to the planning steps taken above, the first priority for clients whose participation is mandatory was deemed to be access to licensed child care. As part of what was known as the Student Child Care Initiative (SCCI), established by the former Metropolitan Toronto in 1989, admissions to child care subsidy have been timed to coincide with the onset of each new school semester or school term. So, in anticipation of the implementation of LEAP in Toronto, 76 children of teen clients who would qualify for mandatory participation in this program have already been admitted to subsidized child care this fall. Eight more clients have children waiting for an appropriate licensed vacancy so placements can be made. Twenty-seven clients have made their own child care arrangements with relatives and have not identified associated child care costs.

Prior to program implementation, Departmental staff will also assess the need for support services beyond those currently being provided, and ensure that ancillary supports are in place. Clients not already participating in one or more program component will be linked to identified networks.

Departmental staff will continue to meet with stakeholders, including community child care providers, and providers of the Healthy Babies, Healthy Children program, to determine how service coordination can best be achieved, and to further determine the range of services required to support LEAP participants. LEAP will be continuously refined as experience is gained in program delivery. This will include improving access to existing service networks, developing or refining service protocols as necessary, identifying and maintaining an inventory of appropriate community resources and refining referral processes.

Current delivery structures in the form of specialized caseloads for youth 16 and 17, and for clients up to 21 years of age, are already in place in many local OW offices. LEAP implementation will require further identifying the characteristics of potential participants, including: parental status (single parent/two parent families), children's age(s), educational needs, and whether clients are currently accessing/ not accessing services.

At this point, therefore, it is still not possible to accurately estimate program up-take for the voluntary client group. It must also be noted that participation among these families will be contingent upon access to appropriate child care supports.

Conclusion:

LEAP potentially affects a small group of mandatory clients, with about two hundred 16 and 17 year old parents required to participate on a monthly basis. Nonetheless, by extending needed services to this potentially vulnerable and at risk client group, LEAP's introduction will mean that the City will be better able to provide young clients with a wider range of service choices.

In Toronto, obtaining the maximum funds available under the LEAP program will be critical to support the provision of appropriate and required child care. However, even with additional funds available under LEAP, there are significant implications for the City's child care system related to the implementation of the program. It is critical that these issues be addressed in the City's negotiations with the Province.

Contact Names:

Heather MacVicar, General ManagerMarna Ramsden, General Manager

Social Services DivisionChildren's Services Division

392-8952392-8128

 General Manager, General Manager,

Social Services DivisionChildren's Services Division

     Commissioner, Community and Neighbourhood Services