Community Action articles from February 2004

Community Action archives from February 2004

Keeping score.(Comments)
February 16, 2004... Health care scorecards are here and more of them are coming. We anticipate an increasing number of reports that compare health services across Canada. The comparisons cover such areas as professions, institutions, regions and provinces. ...

Street nurse Cathy Crowe receives $100,000 Atkinson award.
February 16, 2004... TORONTO -- Cathy Crowe, street nurse and advocate for the homeless in Toronto was awarded the Atkinson Charitable Foundation economic justice award. The award provides $100,000 per year for up to three years. Crowe will use the award to...

Rights of women offenders violated in federal corrections, CHRC reports.
February 16, 2004... OTTAWA -- Women offenders in the federal correctional system still face continuing, systemic human rights offences, particularly towards Aboriginal women, racialized women and women with disabilities says a recent report from the Canadian Human...

Supreme court upholds spanking but sets limits for parents and teachers.
February 16, 2004... OTTAWA -- The Supreme Court of Canada says parents can spank children, who are older than two years of age and are not yet teenagers while teachers "may reasonably apply force to remove a child from the classroom or secure compliance with...

B.C. steps back on welfare time limit.
February 16, 2004... VICTORIA -- A total of 339 employable clients who have been receiving assistance for more than two years may become ineligible over the coming year, or receive a rate reduction, as a result of non-compliance with their employment plan. This is...

Calendar Canada.(Calendar)
February 16, 2004... Mar, 1-3: Working with Aggressive & Violent Children & Youth. Presenter: Dr. Gordon Neufeld, Ph.D, in Vancouver. For a complete brochure Contact: Jack Hirose & Associates Inc. at: 1-800-456-5424. For further information or to download...

Foreign calendar.(Calendar)
February 16, 2004... Feb. 26-28: National School-Age Care Alliance; Tampa, FL; http://www.nascaconference.com Feb. 27-Mar. 1: Annual Technology Conference: Anaheim, CA; Center for Technology in Social Work Education & Practice; College of Social Work,...

Health Canada warns on anti-depressants for children.(Child & Family)
February 16, 2004... OTTAWA -- Health Canada issued a warning to the public and doctors on its Web site about the potential risks faced by 18 year olds or under who have been prescribed newer anti-depressants. Warnings about these risks first surfaced in 2000 when...

Parental leave program invades province's jurisdiction, Quebec court.(Child & Family)
February 16, 2004... OTIAWA -- Ottawa is violating provincial jurisdiction by offering parental leave through the Employment Insurance program, and EI should only be used to replace wages of those who have lost their jobs and not for social programs such as...

Calgary day care shut.(Child & Family)
February 16, 2004... CALGARY -- The Treehouse Child Development Centre was closed by the Alberta Government. The shut-down was ordered after a fire drill in which children were sent outside in extremely low temperatures, many without shoes or coats.

Ontario looking at child welfare reform.(Child & Family)
February 16, 2004... TORONTO -- The Ontario government will add $64 million additional funds to the province's Children's Aid Societies, Services Minister Dr. Marie Bountrogianni announced. A total of $64 million will be distributed to the societies to address...

Pension crunch coming as population ages and labour shortages appear.(Child & Family)
February 16, 2004... TORONTO -- A worldwide labour force shortage combined with an aging population will likely cause a pension systems crunch while undermining economic growth in many countries by 2030, including Canada, whose old age dependency, due to aging baby...

Disarm Liberia's child soldiers.(Child & Family)
February 16, 2004... NEW YORK -- Liberia's fragile peace will not hold unless it disarms and rehabilitates its 15,000 child soldiers, says Human Rights Watch. How to Fight, How to Kill: Child Soldiers in Liberia documents how both government and rebel militias...

Asylum seeker kids in Australian court.(Child & Family)
February 16, 2004... CANBERRA -- Locking up asylum-seeker children breaches the Australian constitution because they were unable to decide for themselves whether to stay in Australia, the High Court heard yesterday. In a landmark case about four Afghan...

National Strategy on Community Safety: 613-954-1721.(Funding)
February 16, 2004... Gastown Neighours First, By Your Side project, Vancouver: To raise awareness among hotel and pub staff of safety issues facing seniors in the area. The project will provide educational workshops in the community and operate a "safe walk"...

Canadian Women's Foundation: http://www.cdnwomen.org/eng/.(Funding)
February 16, 2004... Economic Development Collaborative Fund: Five-year funding supported by Canadian Women's Foundation, CIBC, The George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation, The Ontario Trillium Foundation, and an anonymous donor. Nanaimo Foodshare Society,...

Trillium Foundation Ontario: 800-263-2887.(Funding)
February 16, 2004... Amherstburg Community Services. To strengthen the Amherstburg Youth Council's organizational capacity to provide programs that encourage youth to lead healthy and productive lives. $8,900 over five months. Big Sisters of Sarnia-Lambton. To...

National Homelessness Initiative: 819-953-5646.(Funding)
February 16, 2004... Winnipeg projects. Behavioural Health Foundation. To upgrade the kitchen area and increase food service to 500 meals per day for clients in the residential and addictions programs. $165,600 Union Gospel Mission (UGM). To renovate the...

Twenty from health and social services appointed to the Order of Canada.(General)
February 16, 2004... OTTAWA--Twenty workers in the health and social services were among the 102 new appointments to and promotions within the Order of Canada for their work in the health and social service sector. Those named by Governor-General Adrianne Clarkson...

Shelburne youth centre will close.(General)
February 16, 2004... HALIFAX -- Nova Scotia will close the Shelburne Youth Centre on April 1. The youth offender facility had been the focus of a sexual abuse scandal; one-staff member is now serving a prison sentence. Only two youths now live on the campus. They...

World Bank sets trust fund to encourage poverty reduction.(General)
February 16, 2004... WASHINGTON -- The World Bank announced the creation of a $25 million trust fund to help the world's poorest nations in supporting efforts to promote good governance and improve delivery of social services. The Bank has previously been in...

Eight groups appointed for voluntary sector information management.(General)
February 16, 2004... OTTAWA -- The Information Management / Information Technology Secretariat of the Voluntary Sector Initiative, is establishing a Canada-wide IM/IT training and technical support network for Canadian voluntary organizations. Eight...

Swedish offenders find peace in monestary wing.(General)
February 16, 2004... STOCKHOLM -- Red drapes billow from the ceiling, tea lights flicker in front of an altar and chants play softly, an unusual setting in Sweden's highest security prison and the men meditating are hardened convicts. Kumla prison, 200 kms...

Brandon gets downtown units.(General)
February 16, 2004... BRANDON, MB -- As part of its downtown renewal, Brandon will have 47 new apartments for families with low and moderate-incomes bringing the total revitalized housing units in the city to more than 500. Support from the Canada-Manitoba...

International professionals.(General)
February 16, 2004... TORONTO -- The Ontario government introduced a three year, $4-million plan to expand training for internationally trained professionals, including teachers, heath care professionals and. Engineering technicians, to allow them to practice within...

Publications.
February 16, 2004... Values and principles of restorative justice in criminal matters. http://fp.enter.net/restorativepractices. Self-employment for women: policy options that promote equality and economic opportunities. Jennifer Rooney, Donna Lero, Karen...

Periodicals received.
February 16, 2004... at work, Institute for Work and Health, Toronto, Winter 2003/04 in focus, Institute for work and Health, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, Toronto, Winter 2003 Institute of Health Services and Policy Research, Vancouver, January...

Ontario plans put it on collision course with doctors and hospitals.
February 16, 2004... TORONTO--Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced that the government plans to transform health care by emphasizing public health to prevent illness, focusing on home care rather than on hospital care, and increasing the role of pharmacists,...

Recognize impact of smoking ban on psychiatric patients, advocate urges.(Health)
February 16, 2004... TORONTO -- The Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office requests that hospitals recognize the potential impact on patients' quality of life if smoking is banned. The principles adopted by the PPAO to guide their advocacy work include affirming...

Shared mental health project expands in Calgary.(Health)
February 16, 2004... CALGARY -- Forty four family physicians are working with four psychiatrists and five other mental health practitioners to provide integrated mental health care for their patients. The Shared Mental Health Care project is backed by the Alberta...

Ontario to monitor nursing homes.(Health)
February 16, 2004... TORONTO -- Health and Long Term Care Minister George Smitherman announced new measures to monitor nursing homes and enforce regulations. The measures include: * unannounced annual inspections by ministry investigators, * A new...

Most Ontarians satisfied with care in hospitals.(Health)
February 16, 2004... TORONTO--A majority of Ontarians surveyed about the quality of acute care received in Ontario's hospitals during 2001/2002 felt that they received good or excellent care, with men being slightly more pleased with the care than women says the...

Developing nations group opposes Who anti-obesity plan, backs U.S.(Health)
February 16, 2004... ROME -- World Health Organization proposals that governments take measures to reduce their citizens' intake of sugar and fat met with opposition from a group of developing countries. The group backs "the United States which criticized the WHO...

La Vigile offers therapy for police.(Health)
February 16, 2004... QUEBEC -- La Vigile, a psychiatric treatment facility for police officers has completed a year of operation. It was founded by two experienced police officers who found that people are reluctant to seek psychiatric or addiction treatment....

Quebec eyes care in mental health.(Health)
February 16, 2004... MONTREAL -- Quebec's Ministry of Health has assigned investigators to provincial mental health facilities to check conditions following incidents of abuse and substandard care in recent months. Minister of Health Philippe Couillard rejected...

Videoconferencing technology.(Health)
February 16, 2004... Videoconferencing technology used to deliver mental health services to areas with poor access is over 30 years old. The field, now called "telepsychiatry," grew slowly followed by a period of rapid growth that continues today. The recent growth...