Community Action articles from February 2008

Community Action archives from February 2008

Who's counting?(COMMENTS)
February 20, 2008... Around this time of the year, as governments prepare and present their budgets, we can expect some 40 or more organizations of medical specialists to make their annual pronouncements of dire shortages of physicians, decry the lengthy waiting...

Manitoba MD body sets conditions for withdrawal of treatment.(HEALTH)(Manitoba College of Physicians and Surgeons)
February 20, 2008... The issue of medical futility was tackled in a cautiously worded directive issued by the Manitoba College of Physicians and Surgeons in a statement on the role of the MD on situations where the doctors are considering withdrawing life...

Can charities engage in research? CRA offers policy draft.(VOLUNTARY SECTOR)
February 20, 2008... What research can charities engage in? The Canada Revenue Agency Charities Directorate offers a draft policy statement aimed at setting the legal and administrative requirements a registered charity is expected to fulfill, in order to conduct...

9,000 BC health care workers to receive payment for losses from contracting out.
February 20, 2008... About 9,000 health care workers in British Colombia will receive compensation from the provincial government because of a Supreme Court of Canada decision. The Supreme Court ruled that parts of the government's scheme to contract out...

Closing of CHN site draws opposition.(Canadian Health Network)(Brief article)
February 20, 2008... The federal government's plan to close down funding for the Canadian Health Network website is drawing vigorous opposition from the staff and supporters of 26 organizations that make up the friends of CHN. The website has been a...

Calendar Canada.(COMMUNITY ACTION)(Calendar)
February 20, 2008... Feb. 19-22: Nenviolent Crisis Intervention Workshop; Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI): Halifax, NS; 1-800-558-5976 or register at www.crisisprevention.com Feb. 26-29: Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Workshop; Crisis Prevention Institute...

Foreign calendar.(COMMUNITY ACTION)(Calendar)
February 20, 2008... Mar. 10-12: Dubai International Rehabilitation Forum: Dubai; www.rehab.ae Mar. 10-15: Conference: Technology & Persons with Disabilities; Los Angeles, CA: www.csun.edu/cod/ Mar. 13-15: National Association of Public Child Welfare...

Toronto child care ratings on the web.(CHILDREN, YOUTH & FAMILIES)
February 20, 2008... Parents can now review inspection ratings at child care services that have contracts with the City of Toronto. The city's Children Services made this possible on a new web site that is publicly available. Toronto is the first city in Canada to...

Jail often only placement for troubled NB youth, Advocate reports.(CHILDREN, YOUTH & FAMILIES)(New Brunswick youth according to Child and Youth Advocate Bernard Richard's Connecting the Dots report)(Brief article)
February 20, 2008... "Unfortunately, in New Brunswick currently, the local jail is often the only placement available," the province's Child and Youth Advocate Bernard Richard states m his report, Connecting the Dots. Richard reports on a two-year investigation...

New child protection agency receives $2 million in federal funds.(CHILDREN, YOUTH & FAMILIES)
February 20, 2008... The new Canadian Centre for Child Protection received $2 million dollars in new funding for the Centre over the next two years from the federal government. "The work of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection and its collaboration with...

New Zealand ends agency competitions for child and family services.(CHILDREN, YOUTH & FAMILIES)
February 20, 2008... The New Zealand government has decided to move away from a market-based system where community groups competed against each other for funding contracts. New Zealand, the birthplace of the market approach to health and social service, is...

BC child care facing staffing crisis.(CHILDREN, YOUTH & FAMILIES)
February 20, 2008... Childcare in BC is facing a critical exodus of well-trained early childhood educators leaving the field because they cannot earn a living wage, a survey conducted by First Call BC Child and Youth Advocaccy Coalition found. The survey also...

UN Sec'y General wants action on child soldiers.(CHILDREN, YOUTH & FAMILIES)
February 20, 2008... Over 250,000 children have been recruited as soldiers in armed conflicts in more than a dozen countries, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reports. The practice continues and Ban is asking for additional measures to deal with the issue. The...

Censure man. nurse for adoption.(CHILDREN, YOUTH & FAMILIES)
February 20, 2008... The Manitoba College of Registered Nurses censured a nurse for trying to adopt the child of one of her patients. The college's quarterly journal said the unnamed nurse was delivering services to a young female patient with a learning...

UNICEF focus on child deaths.(CHILDREN, YOUTH & FAMILIES)(United Nations Children's Fund)(Brief article)
February 20, 2008... "Community-level integration of essential services for mothers, newborns and young children, and sustainable improvements in national health systems can save the lives of many of the more than 26,000 children under five who die each day," said...

Despite a significant increase in reports of child maltreatment across Canada.(CHILDREN, YOUTH & FAMILIES)
February 20, 2008... Despite a significant increase in reports of child maltreatment across Canada, the number of children seriously harmed or killed by parents has remained constant. --Centre for Excellence in Child Welfare, University of Toronto.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada.(FUNDING)
February 20, 2008... 613-954-1064 CultureLink Settlement Services, Toronto. $322,900 Delta Family Resource Centre, Toronto. $861,581 Dixie-Bloor Neighbourhood Centre, Mississauga. $4,335,729 Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board,...

Trillium Foundation, Ontario.(FUNDING)
February 20, 2008... 800-263-2887 Ontario Society (Coalition) of Senior Citizens' Organizations. To a consultant who will undertake prework activities that will prepare the organization to move forward with full directions for the next five years. $10,800 over...

Canadian International Development Agency.(FUNDING)(Brief article)(List)
February 20, 2008... 819-953-6534 Enablis Entrepreneurial, Republic of Training Workshop on Gender Budgeting. $25,928 Habitat for Humanity (Canada), Waterloo, ON. Canada Secure Tenure and Safe Space for Widows Secure. $336,616 USC Canada, Ottawa, ON....

National Crime Prevention Centre, Ottawa.(FUNDING)
February 20, 2008... 613-991-3301 San Romanoway Revitalization Association, A Positive Alternative to Youth Gangs. To focus on providing support to students from grades 6 to 8 in two middle schools in the Jane-Finch Community of Toronto. It will work...

Status of Women Canada Ottawa.(FUNDING)(List)
February 20, 2008... 613-995-7835 Pauktuutit Inuit Women's Association, Ottawa, ON. The Economic Self-Sufficiency of Inuit Women project aims to build the skill-set and knowledge of Inuit women, and encourage relationships with successful business women and...

Alberta agencies face staff crisis, hard to meet government contracts.(VOLUNTARY SECTOR)
February 20, 2008... Social agencies are facing a crisis in attracting and retaining staff and may have difficulty in honoring their government contracts. They need a salary increase of 16% to 25%, according to a survey conducted by the Alberta Association of...

Non-profit financier group advises U.S. agencies to prepare for recession.(VOLUNTARY SECTOR)
February 20, 2008... The Nonprofit Finance Fund, New York, suggests that nonprofit organizations learn to be prepared for a possible recession and face the loss of revenue as they did in 2001, which was made worse by 9/11. The NFF analyzed finances of selected...

1 in 8 Ontario children live in poverty groups want action to reduce rate.(INCOME SECURITY)
February 20, 2008... One in every eight children in Ontario is living below the poverty line, 345,000 children--a poverty rate of 12.6%, Ontario Campaign 2000 reports in its statement to the Ontario legislature finance committee's pre-budget hearings. The...

Canada needs income plan for prolonged illness.(INCOME SECURITY)(Brief article)
February 20, 2008... Canada needs a social insurance program for workers who experience prolonged illness or moderate disability, Prof. Michael J. Prince points out in a paper published by the Caledon Institute. "Too much of the burden rests on the shoulders of...

learn$ave project reports positive effect.(INCOME SECURITY)(Brief article)
February 20, 2008... The learn$ave project, an experimental program of the Social Research Demonstration Corporation and 10 community agencies, has passed the 18 month mark. The project is designed to demonstrate how Individual Development Accounts can...

Canada poverty rate same as 1989.(INCOME SECURITY)
February 20, 2008... Campaign 2000's annual Report Card on Child and Family Poverty is exactly the same as it was in 1989 when the House of Commons passed an all-party resolution to reduce the child poverty rate drastically. Despite a growing economy, a soaring...

B.C. debit card for welfare payments.(INCOME SECURITY)
February 20, 2008... The B.C. government will issue direct-debit cards to more than 20,000 welfare recipients who don't have a bank account. Each month, the government will load the welfare payments on to the debit cards, which can be used at any ATM or...

Residential care facilities growing.(INCOME SECURITY)
February 20, 2008... Canada's 4,291 residential care facilities, public, private and not-for-profit, looked after a growing number of people in the fiscal year 2005/2006, from the elderly to those with mental health problems, according to Statistic Canada. ...

Publications.
February 20, 2008... The publications listed below are for information purposes only. To obtain copies contact the publisher. The entries in this section are listed free of charge, and are limited to material published in Canada and by Canadian authors. Publishers...

Periodicals received.
February 20, 2008... Canadian Social Trends, Winter 2007, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, ON. Community Report, Fall 2007, West Park Healthcare Centre, Toronto, ON. Deaf Manitoba News, December 2007, Deaf Resource Centre, Winnipeg, MB. making waves, Autumn...

Ontario cancels bidding on home care contracts after Hamilton protest.(HEALTH)
February 20, 2008... Ontario's new competitive tendering process for home care services was brought to a complete halt after a controversy arose in Hamilton. The issue raises once again the role of competition in the management of health and social services. ...

Out of pocket payment for drugs vary among provinces.(HEALTH)
February 20, 2008... Drug plans are not a universal aspect of Canada's health care system, a research report points out. The drugs covered by the provincial government varies widely from province to province and therefore the out of pocket amounts expended by...

Violent crimes of females rise.(HEALTH)
February 20, 2008... While far fewer females than males are accused of committing crimes, the rate at which females (over 12 years of age) were charged with violent crimes grew between 1986 and 2005, with the steepest growth occurring before the early 1990s, the...

Nonsuicidal self harm studied.(HEALTH)(Brief article)
February 20, 2008... The little studied subject of nonsuicidal self harm (including cutting, scratching, burning and minor overdosing) was examined by a team that used data from the Victoria Healthy Youth Study, a longitudinal study of 14 to 21 year olds. The...