Newfoundland%20and%20Labrador

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Newfoundland and Labradors Poverty Reduction
Strategy

• Building Community Resiliency and Capacity
  through Innovative Policy-making
• Aisling Gogan
• October 28, 2009

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Governments Commitment
By 2014, transform Newfoundland and Labrador
from a province with the most poverty to one with
the least.
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What we want to achieve

• Prevent poverty Prevent people from living in
  poverty
• Reduce poverty Increase the proportion of the
  population with incomes above poverty-level
• Alleviate poverty Decrease the depth of poverty
  for those who are poor

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What do we mean by poverty?

• Not just a lack of money, also consider
• Ability to participate in ones community
• Education
• Adequate housing
• Access to essential goods and services
• Health status

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Who is most vulnerable to poverty?

• Families led by single mothers
• Unattached older individuals (45-64)
• People with work-limiting disabilities
• Aboriginal People
• Recent immigrants (nationally)

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Poverty Reduction Strategy

• Involves 14 departments and agencies
• Ministers Committee
• Deputy Ministers Committee
• Interdepartmental Working Group
• PRS Division
• 132.2 million investment (2009)
• Over 80 initiatives and programs

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Poverty Reduction Strategy

• Supports an integrated and coordinated approach
  across partner departments, agencies and
  committees
• Ensures poverty reduction policies, programs and
  related initiatives meet the needs of individuals
  and families with low income
• Engages in an ongoing dialogue with community
  partners and the public

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Process being used to address poverty

• Review existing programs and services
• Analysis of combined impacts
• Research
• Links to other Government strategies
• Consultations with community ongoing involvement

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Consultation and Public Engagement

• Formal public engagement process every two years
• Second round held in 2008/09 included
• Minister-led roundtables and public sessions in
  15 locations across the province
• Focus Groups with individuals living in and
  vulnerable to poverty have occurred throughout
  the province in addition to presentations to and
  sessions with groups focused on poverty
• Telephone, e-mail and written feedback
• Staff survey will be conducted shortly

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Highlights of Progress

• Increases and indexation of Income Support
• Income Support rates were increased by 5
• Income Support rates indexed to inflation
  (increase annually based on inflation)
• Expansion of the prescription drug program
• More than 32,000 individuals benefiting from the
  expanded eligibility provisions of the NL
  Prescription Drug Program.

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Highlights of Progress

• Elimination of the provincial portion of the
  Income Tax for low income residents will benefit
  almost 50,000 individuals in 2009.

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Partnering with the community

• Approximately 14,000 youth benefited from the 19
  Community Youth Networks and 11 satellites in
  2008.
• The CYNs provide services for youth living in or
  at risk of poverty and offer access to academic
  support, employment counselling, wellness
  education, and social and recreational
  activities.
• A total of 2.6 million is being invested both to
  expand the number of CYNs and increase the
  budgets of these important successful
  community-based centres. Since 2007 the CYNs have
  expanded with an additional 13 sites.

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Highlights of Progress

• The number of children from low-income families
  accessing subsidized child care increased from
  1,373 in March 2003 to 2,100 in March 2009, a 53
  percent increase.
• The eligibility threshold for a full child care
  subsidy increased from a net income of 20,280 to
  27,500 for a single-parent family and 27,840
  for a two-parent family. There is also a sliding
  scale of parental contribution for families
  earning more than these amounts.

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Highlights of Progress

• From April 2003 to March 2009, there has been a
  36 percent increase in the number of regulated
  child care spaces in the province.
• More than 1,200 families benefited from the
  Mother Baby Nutritional Supplement.
• In the 2008-09 school year more than 24,000
  students in grades nine to twelve were provided
  with free textbooks.

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Affordable Housing

• For the period April 2006 December 2008, there
  were 204 new affordable housing units
  constructed.
• To date there has been an increase of 225 rent
  supplement units with an average supplement of
  335 per household.

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Highlights of Progress

• More than 2,100 individuals are benefiting from
  the eligibility changes to the Board and Lodging
  Supplement.
• Approximately 220 additional clients have been
  served in the area of family and civil law due to
  the funding enhancement from the Poverty
  Reduction Strategy.

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Highlights of Progress

• Decrease from 12.2 to 6.5 of population below
  LICO
• Decrease in the number of Income Support clients
  from about 36,700 cases in 2003 to 31,323 in
  2008
• Over 4,500 Income Support clients have started to
  work since 2007

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Next Steps

• Ongoing work on improving access and
  coordination of Government programs and services
  
• Guide to Government Programs and Services
  currently being reprinted
• Ongoing work on improving models to assess
  combined impacts

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Contact Information

• Poverty Reduction Strategy
• Department of Human Resources, Labour and
  Employment
• Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
• P.O. Box 8700
• St. Johns, NL A1B 4J6
• Feedback
• Phone [phone]
• Toll-free feedback line 1-866-883-6600
• E-mail povertyreduction_at_gov.nl.ca