TUAS RESPONSE TO COMMUNITY FEEDBACK

Chi-miigwetch to everyone who participated in, and provided essential feedback,

to the Toronto UAS during our Winter Forum, Community Engagement Sessions, Service Provider Brainstorming Session & Surveys held during the Winter & Spring of 2009.

We are happy to share the results of our community engagements and to provide you with our response on how we are currently addressing the feedback provided by Community Members.

The following recommendations which include potential next steps are focused on the major issues identified in the study. It is important to note that the feedback from the participants in this study provides a very rich source of information that can be used to provide additional guidance to further enhance the strategy. Of special note, the majority of key informants asked if the results of the community engagements would be shared. Therefore this report allows for some repetition of responses, so that informants, if given a copy of the report, would be able to see that their voices have been heard and that the information was duly recorded.

Step 1

Topic:        Toronto UAS Community Plan

TUMC reviews the report and recommendations in order to identify next steps and begin development of a strategic plan that will give overall direction to the updated focus of the strategy. Review and where appropriate update the strategy vision, mission, and objectives to reflect the revised focus.

Response:  TUAS has updated their community plan to reflect the needs and wants of the community at large. This Community plan is a living document that will continue to grow and shift with the needs of the community, and can be viewed online by visiting us at www.tuas.ca

Topic:        Priorities & Funding Strategy

The results of this study indicate support for maintaining the focus on Aboriginal women and families, including youth and seniors. There is support from the community to focus the strategy activities on one or two of the priority areas. Healing and wellness, health and housing were the 3 top priorities areas identified in the community engagements.

Response: TUAS established a Community Engagement Review Committee, a sub-committee that was given the responsibility of reviewing the community feedback from the Community Engagement Sessions and our Service Provider Brainstorming Session. The TUAS 2009/2010 Priorities & Funding Strategy are based on the information contained in these reports.

Topic:        Continued Community Engagement

Identify a strategic approach, inclusive of the aboriginal community, for determining which priority area(s) to focus on and to identify the relevant critical sub-populations within the overall mandated population (e.g. unemployed women, youth at risk etc.) Relevant sources of information could include environmental scans of current health, healing and wellness, and housing services offered in Toronto to the aboriginal community and/or key informant/agency round table, community and elder round table, and service provider and client round table.

Including the aboriginal community in this level of planning will assist the strategy in its goal to unify and mobilize the community in creating a long term vision.

Response: TUAS hosted a facilitated Service Provider Brainstorming Session/Agency Roundtable, utilizing this feedback in determining the TUAS 2009/2010 Priorities & Funding Strategy. We continue to network with National and Regional UAS Sites, and other Government Agencies.

The UAS has contributed funding dollars toward research projects such as the Toronto Aboriginal Research Project (TARP), the Environics Urban Aboriginal Research Strategy, and the Aboriginal Policy and Research Conference.

Topic:        Communications Planning

It is recommended that the Toronto UAS develop and implement a public relations (PR) strategy that mobilizes their desire to maintain and build positive relationships with the Toronto aboriginal community and agencies.

The results of this study indicate that there is a need to build a relationship with the Toronto aboriginal community and agencies. It was evident there that are a range of relational experiences with TUMC and Toronto UAS. This range includes both positive and negative experiences. However, it is clear that some alienation has occurred in the past that may act as an obstacle to progress in the future.

Special attention to "lessons learned" may be of particular value in creating a PR strategy that has the potential to attend to as well as avoid negative experiences that have occurred in the past.

A consistent and transparent effort toward building positive relationships will go a long way toward strengthening old and creating new bridges. Some additional suggestions offered by the participants of this study for enhancing public relations include: holding a community feast, networking and social activities with the TUMC representatives in attendance, use the web to post a picture of the TUMC members with a quote of why they are on the committee, identify a champion to help rebuild relationships, and for TUMC to be more engaged and visible in the community so people know who they are and what they are doing.

Step 5

It is recommended that the Toronto UAS develop and implement a communication plan. The results of this study indicate that there are multiple and diverse issues regarding communication that need to be addressed to move the strategy forward. The issues are primarily focused around transparency and accountability.

Implementing a communication plan will assist the strategy in getting the word out in an intentional and well planned manner, to the people they are aiming at and beyond. It will help to raise the level of awareness about the Toronto UAS initiative and be an important component of transparency and accountability.

It is recommended that multiple communication channels be utilized to deliver the Toronto UAS message to the intended audience(s). These channels could include newsletters, website, outreach presentations, special events etc. It may also be helpful to develop a set of culturally sensitive, community friendly guiding principles for the governing body. Some suggestions offered by the participants for enhancing communications include: the development of an annual report that identifies funding agencies, level of funding and project outcomes, schedule an annual meeting with all agencies to exchange information, develop a transparent process, build a community outreach to enhance partnerships and trust.

Step 6

Response:  TUAS established a Communications Committee, a sub-committee that was given the responsibility of developing our Communications Plan.

A major component and focus of this plan has been on the development of the TUAS Website, www.tuas.ca. This website enables us to share information regarding; UAS National, Regional & local activities, the TUAS Community Plan, Committee Membership and Terms of Reference, Community Partners, Project Recipients, and much more.  A video of the TUAS Project Success stories can be viewed online as well.

Topic:        Steering Committee Membership & Composition

The results of this study indicate a desire for an enhanced governing body. There is particular dissatisfaction with the limited community representation in decision making and lead decision making roles. It is recommended that TUMC duly review the current configuration of the governing body and determine a course of action that responds effectively to this perception of the governing body. Taking action on this point will help to further TUMC's goal of addressing potential barriers to the progress of the strategy.

Some suggestions offered by the participants for enhancing the governing body include: stronger representation from the community and agencies; create a sub-committee of the urban organizations to advice TUMC on specific issues (ad hoc committee); develop an elder visioning committee and/or elder representation on TUMC.

It is worth noting that adding Aboriginal community members and/or Elders from the community at large and/or aboriginal agencies would further the strategies' desire to create stronger linkages with the Aboriginal community and the agencies that serve them.

Response:  The TUAS Steering Committee Membership was renewed in 2009. Announcements were publicly advertised throughout the City of Toronto by advertising in the Native Canadian News, posting over 300 posters at strategic locations throughout Toronto, broadcasting emails to all Service Agencies and all  TUAS contacts, and by advertising at our TUAS booth during the Toronto Aboriginal Festival (Rogers Centre Pow-wow). This enabled the TUAS to recruit Diverse Members from a broad range of Toronto's Aboriginal Committee.

The current composition of our Steering Committee Membership is: A maximum of 14 members, 4 members will be representatives from all levels of government and the remaining 10 members will come from the Aboriginal Community.

The committee reserves the right to invite Technical Advisers, who can provide advice for TUMC. Technical Advisors are defined as individuals with expertise in various sectors.  When selecting from the Aboriginal community TUMC will ensure that there is no over-representation.

Topic:        Sharing Community Feedback & Reports

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It is recommended that this report be made accessible to the Toronto Urban Aboriginal community and agencies. Efforts towards increasing accessibility may include hosting a community forum to present the report findings and posting the report via the internet. In the future, it will also be beneficial to share the strategic plans that are created as a result of this report with the aboriginal community and the agencies that serve them.

Response:  TUAS established an Engagement Committee, a sub-committee that was given the responsibility of planning the Community Forum. One of the purposes of hosting a Community Forum is to share the feedback from our engagement sessions, inform community members how the TUAS is responding to the call for action, and obtain further feedback and input from the community.

TUAS established a Communications Committee, a sub-committee that was given the responsibility of developing our website, www.tuas.ca. One of the functions of this website is to make reports, such as this Community Engagement Report, accessible to the Community at large.

Topic:       Funding Partnerships

One of the objectives of this study was to obtain community input that identified potential partners for Toronto UAS that were thought to be beneficial in the successful implementation of a core priority area. The responses from participants of this study provided a diverse pool of potential partnerships that can be integrated into the overall design for stakeholder relations. It is recommended that once a priority area is confirmed, TUMC along with the UAS administrative staff take a strategic approach to stakeholder engagement and relationship management. A strategic approach will include identifying and prioritizing which stakeholders are critical to the achievement of a given priority area. Once this has been identified it will be helpful to define your current or desired relationship with that stakeholder.

Response:  TUAS established a Partnership Development Committee, a sub-committee that was given the responsibility of developing a Partnership Plan that would include Partnership Agreements, Definitions, and Terms of References for the funding partnerships secured.

Topic:        Project Recipients

Defining the relationship with each of the stakeholders will help to clarify the terms of a given "partnership." This clarification could be a critical factor in terms of securing future "partnerships" with aboriginal agencies. That is, when asked about willingness to "partner" with the Toronto UAS, a number of participants indicated a desire to know how the Toronto UAS is defining the term "partner." Clarity in this regard will go a long way in avoiding confusion and conflicts in terms of expectations, roles, and responsibilities as well as building trust.

Response:  Service Providers who receive program funding from the TUAS are not Funding Partners, they are defined as Project Recipients, or the benefactors of the funding dollars that the TUAS is raising by developing funding partnerships and expanding their funding base.

Topic:        Project Funding

Step 9

In regards to project funding, there were a number of respondents that expressed frustration regarding the timeliness of approving proposals and distributing the contribution agreement.

In recognition of these responses, it is recommended that TUMC review the current proposal process and timelines and where possible, implement strategies to streamline and expedite the proposal process.

One future suggestion in this regard is to consider flowing resources to Aboriginal agencies who are currently working on projects within the newly identified priority area for this fiscal year. This would allow a transition from the current method of funding projects to a more focused approach on the key priority(s).

Response:  TUAS established a Project Selection Committee, a sub-committee that was given the responsibility of developing our Funding Policy & Procedures.

This committee has included funding timeline recommendations that will expedite the 2010-2011 funding approval process, enabling funds to flow to approved project recipients much sooner.

Topic:        Cultural Sensitivity in Program Service Delivery

There was some expression by respondents regarding the differences in interpretation and understanding with the view of Aboriginal men, women and children and the potential an all encompassing approach to service delivery.

It would be beneficial for TUMC and the proposal review committee to participate in a cross cultural training session with the Aboriginal agencies/community as a step in clarifying the urban cross cultural approaches. It is noted that both the Native Child and Family Services and the Ontario Federation of Friendship Centre has engaged in a number of activities in defining the urban aboriginal culture.

Response:  In October 2000, the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres (OFIFC) released a report titled Urban Aboriginal Child Poverty: A Status Report on Aboriginal Children and their Families in Ontario. This report offers a snapshot of the reality of poverty for Aboriginal children and parents living off-reserve in Ontario, and identifies a number of recommendations to address this situation.

Key informants, consisting of Aboriginal parents and front line workers, were interviewed in seven cities across Ontario and confirmed that the level of poverty among many Aboriginal families has now reached the rock bottom level where even the most basic needs are not being met. Food was cited as the most pressing need.

The report cites some alarming statistics that reveal the extent of the problem:

52.1% of all Aboriginal children are poor;

12% of Aboriginal families are headed by parents under the age of 25 years;

27% of Aboriginal families are headed by single mothers;

40% of single Aboriginal mothers earn less than $12,000 per year;

47.2% of the Ontario Aboriginal population receives less than $10,000 per year; and, Aboriginal people have a disability rate that is more than twice the national average.

TUAS Funding Application Guidelines indicate that specific projects or initiatives must demonstrate that the proposal is aligned with the local TUAS priorities of; Aboriginal Women and families, including youth and seniors.  Examples of eligible activities include cultural awareness and strengthening, and encouraging positive life choices through culture.

In response to the Community Engagement feedback, the funding priorities for 2009/2010 included a specific focus on service delivery to Middle Years Children (7-15) & Youth (16-29), as well as Health Programming, including culturally based healing &wellness.

We would like to Thank the Community for their assistance and support in helping the TORONTO URBAN ABORIGINAL STRATEGY achieve its objectives.