Questions and Answers
Last updated December 7 2020.
Note: this page is not a CLGW FAQ. It was published to share questions and answers given after a November 2020 family townhall meeting. The information on this page may be out of date, but remains available for educational purposes.
In an effort to share good information, with as many people as we can, we've put together this Question and Answers page.
If you do not see your question presented here, you can submit it online at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/question-and-answer
Submitting it here will help us streamline getting answers. We appreciate your help with that!
For the purposes of this page:
- Day Services – has been used to describe day-time services that CLGW provides. You might know Day Services as: ARC, ADS, Day Programs and so on.
- Community Living Centre - has been used to describe each building that CLGW provides Day Services in. You might know these as a variation of the following: ARC Industries Building, ARC East, Fergus Base, Minto/Harriston Centre, and Mount Forest Base.
- People supported, people, or people receiving services – has been used to describe a person who currently receives support/services from Community Living Guelph Wellington. People4People Self Advocacy Group advocated on behalf of people supported to CLGW to stop using the word client, in an effort to recognize people as people.
Each question is displayed below. You can scroll to find a question that interests you. To see the answer, click the white down arrow ( v ) on the right hand side of the question bar. It will then expand to reveal the answer.
Ministry Related Questions
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, or MCCSS for short.
Currently, Minster Todd Smith
Currently, MPP Mike Schreiner (Guelph), Randy Pettapiece (North Wellington), Ted Arnott (Centre and East Wellington)
At no point has MCCSS indicated that all congregate Day Services will close.
CLGW’s 2020-23 Strategic Plan is independently decided by CLGW’s Senior Leadership Team and its Board of Directors, with input from employees, people supported and families. The Strategic Plan was reviewed by CLGW’s Program Supervisor at MCCSS to ensure that we were still meeting expectations based on the funding we receive.
Funding Related Questions
CLGW’s audited statements are available here.
The majority of our funding comes from our approved Service Contract with MCCSS (see Provincial Subsidy Revenue line in audited statements).
If you need a hand understanding the audited statements, please let us know. We’d be happy to speak to it!
MCCSS’s definition of Allocated Central Administration is: “General operating costs associated with governing and operating an organization. Do not include cost for service/program administrative expenses that directly supports clients”.
Expenses typically included in this line are:
- Salaries, benefits, training and travel expenses for positions like: Executive Director, Finance, Human Resources, Payroll, Volunteers, Training, Information Technology, Marketing & Development, Operations, Administrative Support
- Information Technology-related services, and supplies and equipment like: cellphones, computers, software and more
Right now, CLGW’s Allocated Central Administration, is approximately 7%. That is below the approved amount of 10%.
This percentage typically changes only when we expand services or add new services that come with additional funding (including administrative funds).
Most of those who attended CLGW’s Day Services, did so with funding from the Community Participation Supports funding stream from MCCSS.
From Developmental Services Ontario, the access point to adult developmental services:
If you are looking to connect to your community through meaningful experiences that promote your personal interests, skills, growth and development, the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS) funds local agencies who provide Community Participation Supports.
Agencies can help you participate in the following community activities:
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- recreation,
- volunteering,
- life skills, and
- employment opportunities.
Developmental Services Ontario works with ministry-funded agencies across the province, to help connect people with services and supports.
After completing the DSO Application Package, the DSO helps connect people with disabilities with the agencies that provide Community Participation Support services. The DSO can also help you understand the resources you need, based on your Application Package.
Each year, service providers are required to submit a budget to the Ministry of Community, Children and Social Services. This budget includes the various funding streams, to which the definition given for Community Participation Supports is:
Provide community participation services & supports to adults with a developmental disability that promote social inclusion, individual choice, independence & rights, and transition supports for students who have a developmental disability & are at the secondary school level.
In the past, a few people purchased CLGW Day Services time with their Passport funding. Because CLGW Day Services are moving towards a more individualized approach, people with Passport funding will receive supports from the Passport services.
All CLGW Direct Support Professionals work collaboratively with each other, regardless of the service they provide. This collaboration looks at each person, in an effort to ensure that person has the services they need for a meaningful day/week.
Passport is a service available through the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. It provides funding for adults with a developmental disability, so they can:
- Take part in community classes or recreational services
- Develop work, volunteer and daily life skills
- Hire a support worker
- Create their own life plans (this is called person-directed planning) to reach their goals
- Get temporary respite for their caregivers
Developmental Services Ontario manages the application process for all provincially funded-developmental services and supports for adults with a developmental disability in Ontario.
One of our many services includes Passport direct support with a CLGW Direct Support Professional.
One of the first people that you meet with at CLGW is the Passport Direct Support Supervisor. They will work with you to figure out the type of support that you need. After this, they will connect you with a DSP to start planning or one to one direct support. Before meeting with one of the two Passport Supervisors, you will have already signed a Passport One Transfer Payment Agency Form for CLGW to manage your Passport funding.
CLGW can act as a Transfer Payment Agency for those who have Passport funding. This can only happen if the person or their caregiver/guardian signs a Transfer Payment Agency Agreement delegating funds to CLGW.
Previously, this agreement needed to be signed each year. However, through Passport One, this agreement no longer needs to be signed annually.
You also have choice in how much or how little CLGW does with your funding, if you use us as a Transfer Payment Agency:
- We can act as a broker between you and Passport One. This means that we pay expenses and submit claims to Passport One on your behalf, but you do all of the planning on your own. This option is usually for those who are unable to or don’t want the hassle of covering expenses up front (such as bus passes, gym memberships, etc.).
- We can act as a planning resource. A Direct Support Professional would help you plan for how your funds are spent. They could organize getting concert tickets, transportation, and more. As well, CLGW would submit claims on your behalf to Passport One.
- We can provide 1:1 direct support. A Direct Support Professional would help you plan activities and accompany you. As well, CLGW would submit claims on your behalf to Passport One.
In all of these options, CLGW can provide a detailed account of remaining balances and how your Passport funding has been spent.
You can also split your Passport funding – CLGW does not have to manage all of it if you choose us as a Transfer Payment Agency. You can assign CLGW to manage some of the funding, and you manage the rest.
As a Transfer Payment Agency, we manage a lot of the Passport administration work that you might typically do if you were self-administering your Passport funds.
In any of the ways you could use CLGW as a Transfer Payment Agency, you would be charged an administration fee.
Administration fees are used to pay for:
- financial administration time (including payments and reimbursement submissions on your behalf, accounting for your funds, writing special requests for admissible spending, providing information for submissions that are audited)
- human resources, payroll and supervision support (including recruitment, training and supervision of DSPs)
- information technology support (including the technology and related support DSPs need to do their job)
There’s a lot packed into what our admin fees cover.
Yes. If you choose CLGW to act as a Transfer Payment Agency for your Passport funds, you can always adjust how much we manage.
For example: a person we support has a total of $14,000 in Passport Funding. Their caregiver chose to self-administer $4,000 and have CLGW manage $10,000. Half way through the year, the caregiver realized they had almost spent the $4,000 they were self-administering. They called CLGW to see how much was still available of what CLGW was managing, and it turned out to be quite a lot. Collaboratively, we worked together to make sure those funds were available and used in the way the caregiver was using the self-administered funds, so that there wasn’t a gap in support.
If at any time, you want to cancel your Transfer Payment Agency Agreement, you may do so. Get into touch with your CLGW Passport Supervisor, and we will work with you.
Due to COVID-19, MCCSS has provided maximum flexibility for 2020-21 funding to be used to cover any additional costs related to supporting residential services including things like: additional staffing, overtime costs, equipment, technology, supplies, additional staff training, purchased services, increased food costs, and more.
The Community Participation Support funding continues to be used for DSP’s to support people in the community (caseloads), and it will be used to support the temporary re-opening of the Community Living Centres. Community Participation Support funding is based on the services it provides, regardless of whether that service is inside of an agency-owned building, inside a residence, or in the community.
CLGW Services related questions
People supported are encouraged to choose their peers and friends, and if they want to do a group activity. Their choice, both in the activity, and in the group who they participate with, is a person-centred approach to support. However, we can understand why this is confusing. There was a time when 4 or more people would go out together, for an activity, because staffing limitations restricted each individual choosing what they wanted to do (or if they wanted to do the activity with their peers). They went out as a group, because the only other choice might have been not participating at all. This was not a person-centred approach to support, as each person was not given the opportunity to choose what they wanted to do, and who they wanted to participate with.
We have continued to declare vacancies and admit people into Community Participation Support, from Developmental Services Ontario. We have supported some new admissions directly from their home with a community-based approach, while others were a blend of coming into a Community Living Centre, and from their home.
Community Participation Support admissions are not the same as admissions that were tied to the Sheltered Workshops.
Using Personal Outcome Measures interviews, we can identify people’s quality of life 'outcomes', plan supports, and gather information and data about individual outcomes. The reason we conduct these interviews is to demonstrate the linkage between personally defined quality of life excellence in person-centred services and the importance of data in planning and making change.
From January 2019 through to February 2020, 100 people we support participated in Personal Outcome Measures interviews. These interviews are certified and designed to identify what a person values in their life. By defining what they value, we can get clearer on what increases their quality of life, and what will help them to feel like they are living a full life.
In 2021, the interviews will be focused on people receiving Day Services support. This will aid in personal planning, as well as collecting valuable data regarding quality of life.
Citizenship is about experiencing human rights, responsibilities and opportunities.
For many people, including persons with disabilities, citizenship experiences may be limited. Not everyone is allowed the same opportunities and sense of belonging. CLGW is working to ensure that being a full citizen also means belonging for those with a developmental disability.
When full citizenship exists, persons with disabilities will have access to the social, recreational, volunteer and employment opportunities open to others. To achieve this, a Direct Support Professional provides support that enables the experiences, exposure and education to each situation. We educate people about their rights and their responsibilities. People don’t always choose what we think is “right” however we walk along side and continue to support and educate.
What full citizenship means, is also something uniquely decided by each person. The things about our life that we find the most value in, contribute to what full citizenship means.
Full citizenship is also a moving target. There won’t be a specific day in the future, when a person feels they’ve fully arrived at their definition of full citizenship. As people have experiences and opportunities, take up their rights and responsibilities, what they value will also grow and change.
Full citizenship is now in CLGW’s mission because we understand that it’s not a finite destination, or a specific point in time. It’s a continuous attempt to see each person we support experience human rights, responsibilities and opportunities, and to continue to determine what they value in their life.
COVID-19. On March 16, 2020, CLGW immediately suspended many of its services, including Day Services, because of COVID-19.
Many other service providers followed suit, as Day Services were not deemed an essential service during the pandemic.
Instead of temporarily laying off Direct Support Professionals connected to the suspended services, we re-deployed them to our residential services, which was deemed an essential service by the Government of Ontario.
A number of COVID-19 specific factors have since impacted our staffing resources. Emergency Orders restricted staff employment options. Legislation offered staff a temporary leave of absence due to childcare issues or taking care of family members with compromised immune systems. The reality is that CLGW has been experiencing an ongoing reduction in the number of DSPs we have available to provide support. At any time, 60-100 staff have been rightfully unavailable to provide support and we respect them for the difficult decisions they have had to make.
These re-deployed staff have ensured that our residential services could continue to meet the support needs of the people we support, while also trying our best to meet all of the demands of providing support during a pandemic. It’s been challenging, but our entire DSP team has been doing a great job keeping people safe and healthy.
Most of the redeployed Day Services and Passport staff have remained in residential services, while we continue to fulfill our expectations as an essential service provider. We have recently redeployed some staff from residential services, to help with community-based supports like Passport and EmployMEnt Options. We have also resumed recruitment, in an effort to increase our staffing resources. We will continue to take strides to restore suspended services, while balancing our expectations as an essential service provider.
We have been offering a combination of services, both exclusive and inclusive/community-based for many years. We believe this is the next step in our process. We foundationally believe that every single person can fully participate in their community. They may need varying levels of support depending on what they want to do and where.
It is important to put our focus and energy into inclusive supports, and to provide more opportunities for people to choose from.
Direct Support Professionals will work collaboratively with each person and the people who are important to them to foster and grow their existing friendships and also to explore new friends and relationships.
While individually planning, we’ll continue to ask the question: “who are you missing” and “are there activities you would like to do with some friends?” As support continues to progress, it will focus on the specific person, and they can direct that they want to do an activity with people who are their peers and friends.
We are also going to continue to look at events and opportunities, in partnership with P4P, other organizations, and even just hosted by our own organization, where community can come together.
As you can gather from Why are Day Services closed right now? re-opening Day Services requires us to redeploy staff from our essential service - residential. It also requires us to meet all public health requirements to host Day Services, including limitations on how many people can attend, disinfecting protocols, required equipment, policies and compliance, and more. We’re currently in the planning stages for all of this, as well as getting a firm timeline on when we can effectively redeploy staff to provide the support needed for Day Services. Once we have confirmation of timelines, we will be communicating those to families, along with what to expect, the challenges we face and asking families to help problem solve those challenges.
Our announcement about temporarily re-opening Day Services is available here.
No, this is not a new idea. Each and every person we support in Day Services has been participating in community-based activities in some way.
Regardless of whether they were attending Guelph’s ADS or ARC (Day Options), Erin, Fergus, Harriston or Mount Forest, each person did not spend their entire week inside the building. In many cases, people did not spend their entire day in the building. We have been progressively and continually moving schedules in Day Services to see each person we support participate more and more in their community, whether that’s volunteering, participating in inclusive opportunities, and experiencing more options.
We understand that many people have taken the term segregated as a negative.
What is the opposite of inclusive? It’s segregated (exclusive, limited, specialized, selected, and restricted).
A community centre is often an inclusive space. Inside the community centre, a number of activities and services are offered that are available to anyone, regardless of gender, religion, age, ability, sexual orientation, and more.
However, our Day Services buildings offer exclusive, disability-specific services. The services in these buildings are not on offer for anyone in the community to join. They are, in essence, a special space specific to people with disabilities.
That by nature, is exclusive, and segregated.
Making our services community-based, offers the opportunity to move our services to an inclusive environment, where the people we support can participate alongside whoever their peers might be, their neighbours, and fellow community members, regardless of ability.
Choosing to attend a space that’s specific to a culture, a religion, an age group, is absolutely a choice for many. By choosing these spaces intentionally, you might find yourself among a community of people who have something in common. But you chose to be there, and share in your commonality.
We’re not discounting that there are people we support who absolutely want to be known and be friends with other people with disabilities.
We’re also not saying that exclusive spaces are bad.
However, CLGW is taking a strong stance in the services we provide, to offer as much choice as possible. That includes choice in who you spend your time with, where you spend your time, how we support you, the activities you do, and so much more.
We fully expect that there will be people we support who want to spend time with other people that they attended Day Services with. That’s a reality that DSPs want to make happen, all the while, enabling each person to make their own choice along the way.
This is unique to each person. However we will share a few post COVID-19 potential examples. Please keep in mind the support given is flexible, could be any time of day/evening and any day of the week.
Example 1: A DSP picks up the person supported or meets them at a location/activity for the morning (of course, depending on the person’s independence). This could be a volunteer placement, attending a class, attending a club, going swimming, library, church service, yoga, gym – the possibilities are endless and will be specific to that person. The support they receive may be on-going, or supports are in place until the person feels comfortable. Then, they meet up with their Passport Direct Support Professional to do another activity/job, etc. Their Passport DSP would then drop them off at home by 3pm.
Example 2: Monday/Tuesday – Hopewell Homes Respite Support. Wednesday – Day Options DSP picks up the person and goes swimming, and then drops them back off at home for the afternoon (either because they have support at home, or they only have a certain number of days/hours of Community Participation Support funding) After dinner, their Passport DSP picks them up from home, to go to Special Olympics bowling. Thursday/Friday – attending Community of Hearts.
We are currently in the early stages of planning with each person. Each person’s week/day looks different depending on how they want it to look, based on everyone’s unique circumstance.
Day Services in a Community Living Centre will be 9-3pm, weekdays only.
Community-based Day Services – flexible. This could be daytime, weekend and/or evening activities, based on what the person wants to do.
Prior to announcing the temporary re-opening of Day Services, we had discussed gaps when people were out with a Direct Support Professional doing individualized supports.
Now, people will have the option to attend the day service when not out with their DSP. During the time spent in the building, we will plan with people to explore new opportunities in their community.
DSPs will also plan out a schedule during the day, for people to participate in while inside the building.
You may have read in media articles that this change means you’ll only receive 1-2 hours of support. That’s not the case. However, while still impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, Day Services hours have been significantly reduced because Day Services were not deemed to be an essential service.
'There may be gaps' was first discussed in our Day Services Fact Sheet, which is available here. The Fact Sheet is no longer up to date, as it was shared before we announce the temporary re-opening of Day Services.
That is one of the questions we’ve been asking in our calls to families and the people we support. When it comes to respite – what do you need? Often times, that points to how structured or how flexible a person’s support schedule can be.
For a family or caregiver who has a more flexible schedule, we can explore interests and opportunities in the morning, afternoon, evening or even on weekends. We really can have that flexible approach to their support.
For a family or caregiver who needs a more structured schedule, we’ll still look at providing support in those core hours. However, we also recognize that 9-3pm might not have been the most ideal for your schedule either.
All of those questions are great to bring up in the planning conversations, and when looking at schedules for support with a DSP.
Some people choose a routine with a few familiar activities, while others will choose a life of variety and spontaneity. That choice remains individual to each person
We want to provide each person the opportunity to try new things and let us know what they like and don’t like.
Some people choose these opportunities with their words, others by their body language. Regardless of how they communicate, they do let us know.
Strategic Plan, process, and membership related questions
No. We intend to remain a community-based, not for profit agency, funded by MCCSS.
However, we recognize that there are a large number of people on the registry, waiting on a variety of the services we provide. Through improving how we offer services and expanding on the services we offer, we hope to be able to offer fee-for-service support in the future. This effort is to be more flexible for those coming to adult developmental services, and those on the waitlist, while continuing to support those who currently access our services.
A strategic planning process is a collaborative effort. CLGW’s Senior Leadership Team was responsible for researching, planning, consulting, and drafting a strategic plan that meets and improves existing mandates for the organization and one that is in line with innovative models elsewhere in the world.
Although not required to do so, as an added step CLGW’s Executive Director presented MCCSS with the Strategic Plan draft for review, to ensure it meets the continued expectations of developmental services.
It then went to the Board of Directors for review/approval against the mandate, foundational principles, and expected strategic direction of the organization.
The Strategic Plan was included as part of the agenda, and presented to the members at the Annual General Meeting. The AGM had quorum, and the motion to approve the Strategic Plan passed unanimously.
It is not expected that each Strategic Plan goal have an operational plan at the time of approval. However, CLGW has distributed leads for each Strategic Goal, based on competency and role expectations. Operational plans are the responsibility of the lead.
Given that the Strategic Plan is a 3-year plan, different goals will begin at different times. Some may not begin until closer to the end of the plan’s timeframe. Some may not come to full fruition during the Strategic Plan’s timeframe.
In building the strategic plan, significant emphasis was placed on consultation with Community Living Guelph Wellington’s Board of Directors, Senior Leadership Team, with staff, with people receiving supports and with their families. In each of these respective consultations, there were opportunities for open dialogue and for the submission of responses to questions posed at meetings.
Through Personal Outcome Measures interviews we learned that a very low percentage (just 5%) of the people we support feel they have choice over services they choose.
We had discussions with People4People (P4P) with regards to advocacy, rights and responsibilities and how people want to be treated, by CLGW and the community.
P4P are currently setting up Zoom calls with people affected by the Day Services changes. They plan to act as liaison, and advocate on behalf of people supported to the Senior Leadership Team.
After the announcement of the closures, DSP’s conducted Zoom calls with people supported as an opportunity to have open, honest discussion about the changes.
Most recently, we have called all families and people supported who attended Day Services. We have had good conversations about planning and moving forward during COVID-19, and once we are no longer impacted by a pandemic.
Staff were invited to participate in Strategic Planning Focus Groups. They were also offered surveys to contribute their feedback and how they wanted CLGW’s values and vision to look going forward. Some also participated in visioning exercises.
Yes. Each Director is a voting member, is a volunteer to CLGW and is approved by the membership at the Annual General meeting.
CLGW’s Board of Directors is a Governance Board. A Governance Board develops policies that give overall direction to the agency. Their focus is achieving the organization’s social mission and ensuring the organization is viable.
The strategic direction of the organization remains with the Board of Directors, in tandem with the Executive Director. Operationalizing each goal remains with CLGW’s Senior Leadership Team, or leads assigned to a specific goal.
The Board of Directors reviewed and approved the final draft of the Strategic Plan in late June. We were still hoping for an in-person AGM but that turned out to not be possible. When we postponed the AGM, we announced the rescheduled date in September. Because we were still impacted by COVID-19, it became a virtual meeting.
Yes. The AGM had quorum.
This year’s AGM was unique, due to COVID-19. We used a service that called out to members who had registered in advance. We also provided phone numbers as well for members who had not previously registered to join. We used this method as opposed to a visual meeting, due to the number of members who had expressed their discomfort using technology. We hoped that a phone call would help as many people connect as possible. The validity of attendees was checked when people were admitted to the meeting.
While we prefer to meet in person, CLGW remains governed by a number of COVID-19 limitations and restrictions that impact our services. It would have been irresponsible to have a gathering for our AGM, given the expectations placed upon our organization.
Our AGM’s typically fall in the evenings. We have not deviated from this timing in more than three years.
The membership bylaws allow for you to delegate a proxy. If you’re ever unable to attend an AGM, we encourage you to follow the proxy process so that your voice is represented.
In an effort to explain the changes to Day Services, and to ensure that everyone has the same information, we have done the following:
- Produced a Day Services Fact Sheet explaining the changes.
- Written an OP-ED to explain the changes, and to respond to some misinformation.
- Announced that we will temporarily re-opening Day Services.
We have posted the 2020-23 Strategic Plan here.
You can also find the 2015-17 Strategic Plan and the 2017-19 Strategic Plan Refresh here.
If you do not see your question presented here, you can submit it online at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/question-and-answer
Submitting it here will help us streamline getting answers. We appreciate your help with that!