Let the voting begin!

Our new communications manager, Pamela Daoust, asked me what observance and holiday celebrations ASPECT notes in our Aspectives newsletter. It's a question I have never found the right answer to in the 7 years I have been producing the Aspectives newsletter. Quite often, I'm not aware of a special day of recognition until after it has passed. I worry that my colonialist lens may be leaving important dates out when my goal for ASPECT is to be an inclusive and diverse organization that shows leadership in this area. We've noticed over the years that while some of our members punctually celebrate traditional or religious holidays, others observe few holidays, and others dutifully mark their calendars with non-traditional celebrations and observances.

Pamela has deeply explored what days, weeks, or holidays we might observe. She has consulted the BC Government communications department for a list, the municipal lists, the UN and the UNDRIP lists, all producing an extensive collection of dates that could leave us in a perpetual state of celebration, or worse, having us grudgingly choose between a vast array of celebrations.

Help Us Choose

In short, we can't decide and are asking for your help to participate in this process to help us pick and choose those moments that are important to you and your community that we should recognize in Aspectives. Please take a moment to vote for what dates we should observe and add to this list if we have forgotten anything.

Asking for your help is a community development project that could go horribly wrong, but I'm willing to take the risk. We will leave the survey open until mid-July. In the meantime, a few dates I missed, some that are in progress, and some that are yet to come: 

• Asian Heritage Month
• Jewish Heritage Month
• BC Child Care Month
• Family Caregiver Month
• Red Dress Day — May 5
• Buddhist Cutlure Day — May 7
• British Columbia Economic Development Week — May 8 to 12, 2023
• Youth Justice Week — May 8 to 14, 2023
• Moose Hide Campaign Day — May 11, 2023
• World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development – May 21
• BC Anti-Racism Awareness Week – May 23 to 29, 2023
• National AccessAbility Week  – May 28 to June 3, 2023

 

Let the voting begin!
 
Janet Morris-Reade, CEO
ASPECT

The province released its StrongerBC: Future Ready Action Plan last week. It is a good response to the future needs for BC, addressing the more than one million job openings in the next 9 years. If you have read the BC Labour Market Outlook 2022-2032 report, you'll know that "80 percent of job openings over the next ten years will require some form of post-secondary education or training." (p.3)

As a lifelong learner, I'm delighted with the plan to make post-secondary education more affordable and accessible and for increased micro-credentialing. The extension of tuition waivers for all formerly in care, the expanded training for people with disabilities, augmented Indigenous training programs, and streamlining BC newcomer credential recognition are all excellent supports. The $3,500 training grant for people to train or upskill for in-demand jobs is also appealing. I also tried out the supporting website that helps people navigate their way forward to take advantage of a new career path is a valuable resource. I enjoyed playing around with the EducationPlannerBC website inputting several jobs and micro-credential options and looking at possible post-secondary programs available in one place. Such a good resource!

Community-Based Organizations Left Out

However, it's a pretty big "however," community-based trainers and employment services were left out of the plan except for additional funding for multi-barriered clients and international credential recognition. Private trainers were left out, and when I searched a few career paths, some of the training programs had a six to nine-month waiting time, i.e., apply for the program in January for starts in September. This is exactly why post-secondary organizations are challenged, especially in this dynamic and ever-changing labour market where community-based trainers have thrived. ASPECT members can pivot to market conditions using their connections to local employers, potential clients, economic development corporations, and local colleges and institutions to create training and opportunities quickly. 

Here lies the opportunity for the evolution of the Future Ready Action Plan -- expand the plan to include that entire employment landscape to include community-based training and upskilling services. Extend a micro-credential framework to all training, and fund recognition of prior learning for employment. In the meantime, we will continue to work to find ways to bring post-secondary institutions under the employment-ready umbrella.

One project that ASPECT is working on is a SPARC BC research project under the guidance of Dr. Alex Price. The research aims to bridge knowledge gaps and establish evidence-based connections between the British Columbia Social Services Sector, work-integrated learning institutions, and students to enhance capacity and sustainability, foster collaborations among stakeholders, and guide policy development and program improvements. My hope is that the results of this study will identify opportunities between community service providers and work integrated learning with funding to secure those relationships.

The Future Ready Action Plan is good, but there are so ways for it to evolve to be much better. ASPECT will continue to work with the government to help them understand the value of the community-based sector. 

Janet Morris-Reade, CEO
ASPECT

In my March 10, 2023, CEO Report, I shared my experience about my mistakes on the road toward Truth & Reconciliation and how I still made mistakes even when I tried to do everything right. My intention was to share my uncomfortable teachable moment with our sector. At the discussion, some Indigenous communities see smudging as sacred and shouldn't be taught to others outside the community.    Well, the learning related to this post continues.    Lorelei Lyons of 2 Metis Women, who we contracted to deliver the smudging workshop, contacted me. To her, I had humiliated her and undermined her business which, of course, was never something I had intended to do. In addition to the smudging workshop, Lorelei has also presented workshops at the ASPECT Conference to create dreamcatchers and medicine wheels. All of these workshops have been highly reviewed by conference participants. So again, I am apologizing to Lorelei and recommending her business to you.    At this point, a younger version of myself might run away from the conflict and pain I've caused, but Truth and Reconcilliation are too important to do that. In other words, I will continue to make mistakes, and likely, I will continue to share them with you in the knowledge that the "settlers" among us have a lot of work to do.    We are not alone in this work, however. The provincial government released their Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan last year and will rely on us and our sector to help facilitate some of the difficult discussions ahead. ASPECT and other umbrella advocacy and community-serving agencies who share our mandate of removing colonialism from social services will join us to move forward. Running away isn't an option: this is too important for that. Janet Morris-Reade, CEO ASPECT

Comments from previous ASPECT Conference evaluation: Thank you for highlighting Indigenous teachings. Please do more of this. Lorelei was knowledgeable, inclusive and a warm and inviting presenter. This was an incredible experience, and I have already reached out to her to present it to my own organization. Lorelei did an amazing job. Immensely valuable session, highly emotional and informative - outstanding!

This has been such a busy few weeks that I'm not even sure where to start except with gratitude:

ASPECT Board of Directors

Thank you to the volunteers who lead the work of ASPECT and have committed so much of their time and expertise on behalf of all members. This year we've accomplished so much from our research, strategic planning, and intensive work toward choosing a new board member. At the May 18 Annual General Meeting, we will be welcoming Coreen Jenner from the Okanagan Training and Development Council to the board. In recognition of National Volunteer Week, ASPECT is truly fortunate to have such committed individuals leading us.

Canadian Coalition of Community-Based Employability Training

Thank you to my colleagues from across Canada who met earlier this week in Toronto to spend a day of strategic planning, presenting at the First Work Ontario Amplify Conference on the importance of collaboration and community-based services, and met with the ESDC national program director and program about the YESS program. We talked about how the expertise of employment service providers can inform policy. Thanks to Akosuoa Alagaratnam of First Work for being such a generous host and making it possible for us to be there.

From L-R: Mohja Alia, ISANS (Nova Scotia), Me, Akosuoa Alagaratnam First Work Ontario, Monika Feist, Success Skills Centre (Manitoba), Válerie Roy, AXTRA (Quebec). Missing is Debbie Green, Bredin Centre for Career Advancement (Alberta). 

BCCDA

Thank you to Lubica Keighery and Sweety Rajpal for inviting ASPECT to be a part of their in-person Symposium in Vancouver yesterday and for generously inviting me to be a part of their board dinner. Thanks to Seanna Quressette, BCCDA President, for brainstorming professional development ideas with me and for agreeing to deliver a pre-ASPECT Conference workshop day on November 1st along with her colleague, Dr. Catherine Hajnal, on Mental Health Strategies for CDPs. Details are coming soon.

Government Colleagues

Thank you to all of you who are working with ASPECT on several initiatives. From the Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills, Hon. Selina Robinson, and her staff for arranging the Future Ready Skills announcement at yesterday's BCCDA Symposium to the others who have invited ASPECT to inform initiatives and announcements. If you are reading this, you all know who you are.

ASPECT Members

Thank you to our ASPECT members who share their time and expertise to inform our advocacy work. For those who attend our member meetings and for those who serve on subcommittees to review and edit reports and white papers, I could do none of this important work without you. 

I know this is a long CEO report, but after an exhausting couple of weeks, all I feel is gratitude for the people who contribute to our work and helped me along the way.

Janet Morris-Reade, CEO
ASPECT 

I was having a conversation with a ministry colleague this week and we were discussing the idea of creating a community of practice for employment service providers for a specific population. It reminded me of a few communities to which I belong, and some of which I have not visited in a while.  Future Skills Centre I was an early adopter of this community but was frustrated by the inability to find the information I needed. It appears that they heard from the community and have made some improvements. If you haven't visited in a while, I encourage you to try it out again. Career Development Professional Centre This is the second version of this community of practice as the initial platform did not accommodate French as it should. I have to say that I'm really enjoying this one, which is even better because of the posts below. Another post that I thought you might appreciate is from Anna Gordon who has compiled a reading list for Career Development Professionals.  If you signed up for the previous Career Development Professional Centre's CoP, I encourage you to sign up for the new one.    National Newcomer Navigation Network (N4) The resources on this pan-Canadian site are amazing. I can see that there are already 140 contacts from BC with many being from the ranks of ASPECT's membership. This CoP is a bit clunky to navigate but the resources available are excellent. As the fiscal year comes to a close and the new one begins, now is a good time to focus on building your tool belt of ideas to help you in the work you do. If anyone else knows of good CoP sites, please send them to me.  Janet Morris-Reade, CEO ASPECT BC

Correction  In last week's Aspectives, I mistakenly gave a new name to one of my ministry colleagues. My apologies to Ian Ross and his family for changing their family name to Powell. This is not the first time I've inadvertently renamed Ian, but I would like to apologize to him for doing it again. I will make every effort not to let it happen again. For those of you who don't know Ian Ross, he is the Executive Director of Program Policy & Development in the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction.

I have been hearing a lot from WorkBC contractors these past two weeks. Unfortunately for some, the guaranteed fee payments that were a part of the province's pandemic relief measures will end on March 31st. 

Whether you are a WorkBC prime or subcontractor, you know firsthand that there are challenges to delivering these contracts. Compensating staff in line with the labour market and inflation pressures while adjusting programming to serve more multi-barriered clients who need longer interventions are just a few of the more significant ones. In our advocacy work, we ensure funders are aware of these types of challenges. 

Yesterday, ASPECT President Val Meaney and I met with Social Development and Poverty Reduction Assistant Deputy Minister Karen Blackman and her leadership team Kerry Taylor, Val Beaman, and Ian Ross. We discussed the impact of the ending of the guaranteed fees and the concern from contractors about the financial modelling moving forward. It was a productive and informative discussion, and we were able to gain clarity on some items that can have a significant impact on contract delivery. Thank you to all of the WorkBC contractors who participated in our ad hoc survey, our WorkBC "quick adjustments" discussion last week, and those who emailed and spoke to me this week to help me understand the complexities of a very complex contract. Thanks also to Karen Blackman and her team for taking the time to meet with us to listen to the emerging issues and to help deepened our understanding of the ministry's concerns. Thanks also to Val Meaney for volunteering her time and expertise at these meetings.

Yesterday's meeting was a perfect example of advocacy in action, working with our public service colleagues to find paths forward that support those who access employment services and supports in BC.

Janet Morris-Reade, CEO
ASPECT BC

 
Today marks the 3rd anniversary of when the pandemic hit ASPECT. Three years ago today, we hosted our first virtual annual general meeting and had our first COVID-19 member discussion. By the following week, nearly all members had decided that their staff's health and safety came before their employment contract obligations and closed their doors.
 
Next, we saw the biggest pivot of all time! Employment workshops and services that were almost wholly in-person switched to online. Computers were scavenged from workshop rooms, laptop loaning programs and policies were created, and ingenious ways of helping those without internet access received thumb drives or laptops loaded with content. The generousity of members in sharing resources was outstanding as plans for virtual services were quickly implemented and running within about three weeks. All this while others were trying to figure out how to log in remotely.
 
Three years ago, my world of work seemed to have changed forever. During this time, ASPECT hosted 216 virtual meetings, webinars, and workshops, including two fully virtual conferences. It's been both a gift and a curse: a gift because we got to know our members and their needs better but a curse because it ratcheted up my workload substantially. However, we are doing interesting work that excites me to come to work every day. Our research projects, Competency of Virtual Services for CDPs and Refocusing the Urban Lens for Rural and Remote Employment Services, would not have been possible without the pandemic engagement from ASPECT members. Our member contributions to CERIC's business survey mobilization project, 10 Ways Employers Can Address Their Talent Needs by Partnering with Career Development Professionals, are outstanding in that it took the expertise of our provinces' CDPs to create a practical tool kit.
 
Although exciting and dynamic, innovation can be exhausting, especially for those among us supporting clients with increasing barriers to employment. That's why when additional funding for a much-needed resource was announced this week, I was so excited. BC's Hub for Workplace Mental Health has excellent resources and contacts designed for Community Social Services providers. Run by the Canadian Mental Health Association BC, I think you'll agree that they have compiled a good resource building on their BounceBack® program.
 
It has been a busy three years but also an incredibly rewarding period as we continue to adjust to the changes in the way we work and the new challenges, such as the ever-changing labour market, that lie ahead. Thank you to all of you who have been with me on this wild ride.

Janet Morris-Reade, CEO
ASPECT BC

An Apology

At our ASPECT conference last November, we offered a session on smudging that I have since learned was a huge misstep. Smudging is a sacred act that should not be taught to non-Indigenous people, especially by someone who is not a member of the host nation. I am horrified that I made this mistake in programming the conference and will make every effort to avoid making similar mistakes in future. My sincere apologies to those who attended the conference whose culture was disrespected. The pathway toward true reconciliation is filled with uncomfortable conversations and learning, and I would like to thank the ASPECT members who took the time to help me understand. The Federation of Community Social Services of BC is offering its Cultural Safety Training, which is a good first step of many toward understanding.

Extreme Early Bird Conference Registration

With fiscal year-end approaching for many of our members, we have opened up the ASPECT Conference 2023 registration and are offering Extreme Early Bird rates for those organizations that would like to invest now in their staff's professional development. We don't have a program or any presenters set right now, but a call for presenters will be going out next month. The theme this year is "Experts in Work Transformations" which reflects the work the sector does and the current labour market.

Join us at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel on November 2 & 3 this year. We will be sure to have the same high-quality learning opportunities on which you've come to rely.  

Advocacy of Note

As many of you have heard, a three-year extension is coming for the WorkBC contract with details coming soon. In the meantime, ASPECT has met a few times over the last two weeks with our public service colleagues in the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. We discussed possible short-term adjustments that could be made to contract policies and what adjustment would need to be considered over the long term or the next contract.

In response, the WorkBC Advisory Committee will meet next week to discuss possible short-term adjustments, which will also be included in the committee white paper in development. It is crucial to share information with the ministry over the next 18 months as they work on creating the WorkBC 3.0 model. Please see the member consultations and meetings listed below that are not only for current WorkBC prime contractors but also for those who have feedback about the WorkBC 2.0 procurement process.

Janet Morris-Reade, CEO
ASPECT BC

I'm just catching up from being away, and there was excellent news in my inbox.

As you may know, ASPECT is a member of the Social Services Sector Roundtable Reference Group, which comprises about 40-50 social service umbrella organizations that help inform the Social Services Sector Roundtable. In the past, we collectively have advocated for changes to procurement, training supports, requests for funding, adoption of Truth and Reconciliation recommendations, and issues related to staff recruitment and retention for the sector. 

ASPECT contractors know wages, recruitment, and retention have been challenging in today's labour market. Earlier this month, David Galbraith, Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, sent a letter to the Roundtable outlining plans to support contractors. Download the letter here. The following is an excerpt from the letter:

Given the significant negotiated wage increases, provincial funders are aware that the sector is concerned about the resulting implications for the non-union agencies and management salary compression.

Please be advised that the Province will provide the same percentage compensation funding lift to non-union and hybrid (partially unionized) agencies. Funding will also be provided to support management compensation increases consistent with the funding increases for union and non- union compensation. The funding applies to provincially funded services/positions only and are contingent on the completion of the 2022 CSSEA Employee Compensation and Turnover Survey and sharing the resulting agency-level compensation data with provincial funders.

We don't know the details of how this wage support will be coming and the administrative details, but I can tell you that ASPECT is working with our public service colleagues to figure that out. Stay tuned.

Janet Morris-Reade, CEO
ASPECT BC

In our Refocusing the Urban Lens for Rural and Remote Employment Services research report, we identified some systemic injustices in employment service contracting for those delivering services outside of urban areas. Now it is time to expand our discussion to include the broader picture. We hope that with our collective voice, we can provide the government with solutions for upcoming procurement opportunities. 

To this end, we will be having a series of employment service provider discussions addressing some of the areas for improvement that we have heard about. Please note that these discussions are for BC Employment Service Providers only.

New BC Bid System
Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 1:00 - 2:00 pm (rescheduled for March 8)
Register Now


Work BC 2.0 - Unsuccessful Bidders
Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 1:00 - 2:00 pm
Register Now


General Government Procurement Discussion
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:00 - 2:00 pm
Register Now

Again, these meetings will be open to all BC Employment Service Providers and will be a solutions-focus approach to answering the questions: what is working well? And what could be better? After all, you are the experts, and it's an opportunity for you to share your expertise collectively. 

I stumbled upon this video from 4 years ago created by the Human Service Council in New York. It touches on many issues I have been hearing about for years. It's a little funny, but it may be a bit hard to watch for those at the front line of procurement for their organization. Click on the image below for the link. 

You may also remember that ASPECT is working with about 50 other organizations on the Social Services Sector Roundtable Reference Group on issues of procurement as well. The Human Service Council video indicates that our challenges are not unique. 

Janet Morris-Reade, CEO
ASPECT BC