211 opening doors to better health e update june 2015

E-update #1 - June 2015

Introduction The purpose of this update is to provide stakeholders of the 211 Opening Doors to Better Health initiative with an overview and the first quarterly status report.

Highlights  Funding support for this innovative initiative, 211 Opening Doors to Better Health, which will improve the health outcomes of low income families, has been received from Green Shield Canada Foundation.

Green Shield Canada  Initiative sponsors are Ontario 211 Services, which is leading the initiative, (represented by Andrew Benson), Green Shield Canada is a Canadian insurer specializing in individual and group health United Way/Centraide Canada (represented by Bill and dental plans. The only non-profit Morris), and Findhelp Information Services benefits carrier in Canada, Green Shield (represented by Sue Wilkinson). was founded in 1957 by a pharmacist to  The initiative will be delivered over four phases: Start help people be able to afford prescription (Feb. - May 2015); Pilot (June 2015 – May 2016); drugs.

Expand (June 2016- Oct. 2017); and Sustain begins Nov. 

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2017.

The Mission is to create innovative Focus is client centred, strategic and targeted, builds on solutions that improve access to better the core strengths of 211, leverages integrated health. Through the Community Giving technology and is designed to be scalable.

Program, Green Shield Canada provides This collaborative project is being piloted and rolled out funding annually for projects that focus in Ontario with ongoing national engagement and on improving access to health care for information dissemination. uninsured and underinsured populations Regular communications to keep stakeholders informed in Canada (the homeless, the working and engaged.

Agreements are in place with two 211 Regional Service poor, and those on social assistance).

Providers, Findhelp/211 Central Ontario and Community Connection/211 Central East to pilot the initiative.

Information sharing and consultation has begun with 211 front line staff.

From the outset we welcome your feedback, questions and any suggestions or related resources you are willing to share or direct us to. We are excited about the new ideas that will be piloted and implemented in this initiative, and appreciate that we are building this work on the success and learning from work done by others over decades.

In Ontario funding for 211 is part of the province’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. Some of the learning from attending the recent national Poverty Reduction Summit in Ottawa is included in this E-update.

Poverty Reduction Summit - Ottawa May 6-8 2015 Recently Karen Milligan, Director, Partnership Development and Strategic Initiatives, Ontario 211 Services, and Jonquil Eyre, 211 Opening Doors to Better Health Project Manager, attended the national Poverty Reduction Summit focussed on Vibrant Communities, hosted by Tamarack Institute in Ottawa. The 2.5 day Summit engaged 350 attendees from across Canada: municipal and provincial politicians and staff, NGO staff and volunteers, people with lived experience of poverty and business people. Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson, Senator Art Eggleton and Hon. Deb Matthews, Minister Responsible for the Poverty Reduction Strategy in Ontario, were among the many stimulating speakers.

Because of the alignment of Poverty Reduction Summit with the 211 Opening Doors to Better Health initiative, some learning from the Summit has been included in this E-update.

A list of some of the resources referred to or distributed at the Poverty Reduction Summit are on the SharePoint site.

Ideal collaborators

211 Opening Doors to Better Health The work of this initiative is organized into seven activity areas which is the framework we will use to update you.

GOVERNANCE      

The Project Charter and work plan have been developed and the Charter approved by sponsors on April 10th The Project Manager role was posted on April 16th. Following a selection process, sponsors appointed Jonquil Eyre and a contract was completed on May 12th SharePoint online site set up for easy sharing of materials Pilot phase kick off meeting of sponsors held on June 1 Framework for Pilot Phase developed Invitations were sent on April 8th for expressions of interest from 211 Regional Service Providers in Ontario to participate in the pilot phase with Findhelp. The sponsor’s process resulted in Community Connection/211 Central East being selected and an MOU was completed on June 5th

Next: Conduct environmental scan to identify best practices and complementary initiatives; prepare evaluation framework Summit learning: Do the right work: frequently review goals to ensure best use of resources in this period of increased ‘austerity’.

SECTOR ENGAGEMENT Next: Design agency engagement strategy

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Summit learning: Collaboration: Get beyond jurisdictions. We can limit ourselves to working within our mandate or work with others and expand the mandate. This requires thinking creatively about potential new partners and finding ways to work with sometimes “unlikely others”. Involve millennials who are often underrepresented. Find common ground and be solutions focussed.

Summit learning: Professional inclusivity: Everyone agrees that every child should be on the path to prosperity (the issue is how). Involve everyone - this will be effective for collective impact. Avoid protecting turf, be inclusive, transcend likes and dislikes. Everyone benefits from the experience of others. We learn from difference, it expands our view.

211 SYSTEM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT

Memorable quotes from the Poverty Reduction Summit The goal is not to make living in poverty better it is to raise people out of poverty.

Poverty in not only about money but it is always about money.

Charity is good, but justice is better.

Next: Training needs assessment Summit learning: United Ways have a key role in poverty reduction initiatives.

ENHANCED CLIENT SERVICE 

Consultation with ad hoc advisory groups of staff including front line staff at Findhelp and Community Connection were held June 4-8.

Next: Identify and engage a sample of people who would be likely beneficiaries of 211 Opening Doors to Better Health to provide guidance on effective approaches to messaging, data requirements, client data collection, follow up etc.

Summit learning: Lived experience: Ensure that people with lived experience of vulnerability e.g. living in poverty, Aboriginal people, and people who are unemployed, are engaged at the conception, not as an after-thought, to ensure integrity and relevance of thinking. Ensure approach is ‘doing for oneself not being done for’.

No one believes that poverty is their destiny.

People do not choose to be poor, they are often victims of things beyond their control.

We are all in this together. We are all better off, when those least well off, cease to be poor.

Money is needed to get by, but assets are needed to get ahead. (Assets include education and savings.) Being on social assistance strips people of their assets.

Poverty is constant, traumatic and stressful.

Relentless incrementalism is needed to eliminate it.

Inequality has a corrosive effect.

Every problem related to poverty is an opportunity for economic growth.

Sympathy is marginalizing; empathy is Summit learning: 211 aligns with the movement to reduce empowering. poverty in Canada. We want everyone to prosper. Poverty results in poor health which is socially and economically Advocate for the possible - legally, financially expensive, e.g. multiple trips to ER. ‘Reduce the cost of and politically. poverty.’ The best way to protect health care, policing and justice is to eliminate poverty. Deprivation erodes meaningful participation in community. Priorities: employment and income, transit, education and skills training, housing, food security and recreation. Focus on the big things that can impact large numbers of people.

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DATA ENHANCEMENTS Next: Determine priority services and approach to data enhancement Summit learning: Information: Is there anything that we could do to strengthen 211 assessment and referrals (e.g. data, training) in relation to financial empowerment e.g. importance of filing an income tax return to be eligible for tax credits, avoidance of predatory lenders, and eligibility for Canada Learning Bond (www.smartsaver.org). Investment in education has a measurable benefit on self-esteem. Someone with an RESP is 6 times more likely to finish high school.

COMMUNICATIONS     

Sponsor joint press release March 30 2015 Project Charter shared with pan Canadian 211 providers May 2015 SharePoint repository for easy access to information (If you need any assistance accessing this or other resources please contact the project manager.)

First E-update to stakeholders June 2015 Blog for pan-Canadian communication begun

Next: Presentation to 211NSP meeting June 18th Summit learning: Story telling: There were some excellent speakers at the Summit. Being a good speaker really helps anything that is said be heard and trusted. This includes stories that stir emotion, have humour, vary tone, show humility and awareness of participant interest including respect for the knowledge and experience of the audience. Presentations are more effective if they make an emotional appeal that invokes empathy, include evidence based data and are delivered with clarity and passion.

Summit learning: Navigation: There were frequent references to the difficulty of knowing what services exist and how to navigate them. More work is needed to make 211 top of mind.

RESEARCH AND EVALUATION 

Linked by Green Shield Canada Foundation to work with the Program Manager of Evaluation and Community Impact at Vancity Community Foundation. Teleconference on June 1st. The Demonstrating Value framework will be used to develop a Performance Snapshot for the initiative. See (www.demonstratingvalue.org)

Next: Determine research and evaluation requirements and put in place early.

Meeting with Innoweave Program Manager, the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation Summit learning: Evaluate: ‘What gets measured gets done.’

On behalf of the sponsors, Jonquil Eyre, Project Manager E: jeyre@211ontario.ca

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