1. SENIORS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
- 2007 WORKPLAN AND 2006 ANNUAL REPORT COMITÉ CONSULTATIF SUR LES PERSONNES ÂGÉES – PLAN DE
TRAVAIL DE 2007 ET RAPPORT ANNUEL 2006 |
That
Council:
1.
Receive the 2007 Annual Report of the Seniors Advisory
Committee as detailed in Attachment 1; and
2. Approve the objectives contained in the
2007 Workplan, as detailed in Attachment 2.
Recommandation du Comité
Que le Conseil:
1.
reçoive
le Rapport annuel de 2006 du Comité consultatif sur les personnes âgées, tel
que décrit à la pièce jointe n o 1; et
2. approuve les objectifs qui sont
présentés dans le plan de travail 2007, tel que décrit à la pièce jointe n
o 2..
DOCUMENTATION
1.
Chair, Seniors Advisory Committee report dated 13 February 2007 (ACS2007-CCV-SAC-0001).
Report to / Rapport au :
and Council / et au
Conseil
13 February 2007 / le 13 février
2007
Submitted by / Présenté
par : Chair / Présidente
Seniors Advisory Committee / Comité
consultatif sur les personnes âgées
Contact
/ Personne-ressource : Julie
Tremblay, Coordinator / Coordonnatrice
580-2424,
Ext. 28719, Julie.tremblay@ottawa.ca
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ACS2007-CCV-SAC-0001 |
|
SUBJECT: |
SENIORS ADVISORY COMMITTEE - 2007 WORKPLAN AND 2006 ANNUAL
REPORT |
|
OBJET: |
COMITÉ CONSULTATIF SUR LES PERSONNES ÂGÉES –
PLAN DE TRAVAIL DE 2007 ET RAPPORT ANNUEL 2006 |
REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Seniors Advisory Committee recommend
that the Community and Protective Services Committee recommend Council:
1. Receive the 2007 Annual Report of the
Seniors Advisory Committee as detailed in Attachment 1; and
2. Approve the objectives contained in the 2007 Workplan, as detailed in Attachment 2.
Que
le Comité consultatif sur les personnes âgées recommande que le Comité des
services communautaires et de protection recommande que le Conseil:
1.
reçoive
le Rapport annuel de 2006 du Comité consultatif sur les personnes âgées, tel
que décrit à la pièce jointe n o 1; et
2. approuve
les objectifs qui sont présentés dans le plan de travail 2007, tel que décrit à
la pièce jointe n o 2.
Pursuant
to their Terms of Reference, each City of Ottawa Advisory Committees is
required to report annually, through its respective Standing Committee, with
respect to its Annual Report and its workplan for the following year. The purpose of the Advisory Committee’s
workplan is to identify the activities the Committee plans to undertake in the
upcoming year and whether or not these have a budgetary impact. Each activity should be identified, a brief
description of the project or activity should be provided.
The Lead Department Representatives are to provide the Committee with information on the departmental workplan and priorities, where the Committee’s workplan ties into the Department’s workplan, and where the Committee can assist the Department. The Lead Department Representative will also advise on what staff and/or financial resources are available as part of the departmental priorities.
DISCUSSION
At its meeting of 5 February 2007,
the Seniors Advisory Committee (SAC) approved its 2006 annual report and 2007
workplan. The final version of each of
these documents is found at Attachments 1 and 2 of this report, respectively.
The committee also approved its amended Terms of Reference at the 5 February
meeting. It should be noted that the
only amendments to the SAC Terms of Reference were those reflecting the current
name of the lead Standing Committee and department to the SAC and therefore
Council approval is not required. The
amendments are noted in Attachment 3 of this report.
*The Committee will add workplan
objectives/activities that fit within its mandate as determined necessary.
The
mandate of the Seniors Advisory Committee (SAC) is to act as a liaison to
enrich and enhance the lives of seniors in the City, identify barriers, form
partnerships with the community, and act as a public forum for issues affecting
seniors.
The Community and
Protective Services (CPS) Department appreciates the advice and support
provided by the SAC in 2006 as outlined in the 2006 Annual Report (Attachment
1) including participation in the City of Ottawa’s Seniors Agenda as well as
important issues referred to the Department such as the accessibility,
affordability and supportive housing, evaluation of allowable assets under
EHSS, among many others.
The
Department supports the SAC’s 2007 workplan (Attachment 2) including key
activities such as visiting or touring facilities or programs to gain an
appreciation for the programs, and key objectives such as identifying possible
funding sources for Aging in the Home projects, and continuing participation of
SAC members on the Seniors Agenda Working Group to provide their
input/perspective.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no financial impacts from this report.
Attachment 1 – 2006 Annual Report of the Seniors Advisory Committee
Attachment 2 – Proposed 2007 Workplan of the Seniors Advisory Committee
Attachment 3 – Seniors Advisory Committee Terms of Reference
DISPOSITION
City Clerks Branch staff will forward the recommendations approved by the Community and Protective Services Committee to City Council for ratification.
ATTACHMENT 1
Seniors Advisory Committee
2006
Annual Report
Preamble
The City of Ottawa Seniors Advisory Committee with a membership of ten (10) men and women held eight (8) meetings in 2006. The meeting held in March 2006 was a joint meeting with the Accessibility Advisory Committee. Various motions were put forward to the Standing Committees of the City of Ottawa covering a wide range of seniors’ issues.
At the November 2006 meeting the Seniors Advisory Committee updated its Work Plan for 2007 retaining four sub-committees, namely, Transportation, Housing, Health and Well Being and Budget, allowing committee members to choose to whichever sub-committee they wish to lend their experience and understanding of seniors’ issues evolving within the City of Ottawa and its immediate rural environs.
As a result, the Seniors Advisory Committee has
maintained the ability to fulfil recommendations guiding the committee’s
activities thus achieving goals set out in the City of Ottawa Seniors Agenda.
Seniors Advisory Committee members have been and are presently active in the community, attending City .of Ottawa consultations, presentations and meetings with service providers, seniors groups and counsellors. These meetings have assisted and will continue to assist the Seniors Advisory Committee in generating seniors’ issue-related motions for inclusion in the City of Ottawa’s agenda.
Consultations, presentations and
meetings were as follows:
City of Ottawa Budget Meeting
The
Seniors Advisory Committee made a presentation on 5 December 2005 on the 2006
budget considering the
following items:
·
New
fee structure for seniors at community centres
·
Security
and consultations for Age Mixed Buildings
·
Restore
the Snow Go Program – 2007 Budget
·
3-1-1
– follow- up meeting with staff
Joint Meeting - Seniors Advisory
Committee/Accessibility Advisory Committee
At a joint meeting held in March 2006 with the
Accessibility Advisory Committee the following items were addressed:
Community
and Protective Services:
Housing Accessibility,
Affordability and Supportive Housing
Recreation Programs Availability
of personal supports, Accessibility of recreation facilities, Cost Recovery
Policy
Corporate
Services:
Communication The 3-1-1 Information Line, the TTY telephone lines which are available at city facilities
Public Works and Services:
Transportation Para Transpo, Rural
Transportation, Community Pass, Pedestrian
Crosswalk Timing
Guest Speakers at various committee meetings included:
Maryan O’Hagan, Program Manager, Public Health, CPS
Norma Strachan, BSc (PT), MHA Project Manager, Seniors Agenda, CPS
Diane Officer, Director, Long Term Care, CPS
Dan Chénier, Division Manager, Parks & Recreation, CPS
Sharon Singleton, Prg Mgr, Home Support, EFA, CPS
Russell Mawby, Director, Housing, CPS
Elizabeth Dandy, Analyst, Housing, CPS
Peter Mabee, Manager, Communication, CSPI
Kathy Riley, Accessibility Transit Specialist, PWS
Mary Reid, Corporate Accessibility Specialist, CS
Pat Larkin, Program Manager, Para Transpo, PWS
Ken Foulds, Manager, Housing, Policy and Programs
John Manconi, Director, Surface Operations, PWS
Maxwell Miner, Program Manager, Operations Research, PWS
Eric Katmarian, Manager, Operations Research, PWS
Stuart Edison, Traffic Operations, PWS
Chris Brouwer, Planner, Com. Planning & Design, PGM
Scott Edey, Program Manager, Street & Com. Lighting, PWS
Philip Edens, Specialist, Traffic Operations, PWS
Lucille Berlinguette, Saumure, Specialist,
Policy Plng & Dev., Seniors Agenda, CPS
Yolande Cremer, Manager, Community Funding
Motions
Snow Windrows
Whereas many seniors have difficulty clearing
snow windrows left by City plows on their driveways;
And whereas there may be cost effective ways to reduce the size of
windrows in driveways to help residents;
And whereas the Seniors Advisory committee
supports the Snow Go Program as one potential program to direct assistance to
seniors to deal with snow clearing and windrows;
Therefore the Seniors Advisory Committee endorses Councillor Cullen’s
motion to the Transportation Committee to direct staff to develop a pilot
project to test various techniques to eliminate snow windrows left by city snow
plows.
Improvements to Transportation
for Seniors
Over the past year the Seniors Advisory committee has worked very hard on a number of issues that affect accessibility and transportation for seniors.
For seniors, transportation is a health issue. It affects physical health in terms of having access to medical appointments and safe ways of getting around. It also promotes mental health by integration in the community and overcoming isolation. Isolation is a major concern for seniors in the winter when walking to the bus stops and driveway clearing become difficult.
In December 2004 the SAC asked for an increase in ParaTranspo services because 5% of people were being denied rides. The real refusal rate may actually be higher since calls that don’t get through don’t register and the system doesn’t take into account the people who just give up calling. It is now critical that we review the funding for Para Transpo in the next budget.
The phone booking system also seems inadequate. It is a bottleneck that serves to ration or restrict service. Alternate and more efficient ways to book trips and get updates on bookings other than just by phone needs to be available. The problem seems to be greatest with casual trips as opposed to regularly scheduled ones.
The SAC supports the proposal for the Para Transpo Taxi chit system for accessible cabs. We are hopeful that this will provide needed flexibility to the system for unplanned trips and critical medical appointments. Also the initiatives to put accessible buses on regular routes have been helpful.
Therefore in close collaboration with the Accessibility Advisory Committee the SAC and ACC jointly proposed the motions listed below to the Transportation Committee. These were approved on August 16 with amendments that strengthened the intent of the motions.
The Accessibility Advisory Committee and the Seniors Advisory Committee recommend that the Transportation Committee recommend Council direct staff to:
1.
Thoroughly
investigate and develop solutions to the chronic Para Transpo issues below:
2. Consider potential solutions that are
outside of the traditionally defined parallel service (door-to-door service by
reservation such as Para Transpo), which might more closely resemble the
regular bus service (regularly scheduled routes to popular or central
destinations).
3. Bring forward the budget implications of service improvements to Para
Transpo to the 2007 budget process.
4. Consult with Coventry Connections, as part of the service improvement options report, on how to improve the dispatch function for Para Transpo; and that By-law Services also report on the use of accessible cabs by Para Transpo and the availability of accessible cabs outside of official Para Transpo use.
Carried as amended
WHEREAS some seniors are unwilling to ride OC Transpo buses because of safety concerns such as:
a)
the bus is
moving before they can be seated;
b)
the drivers are
reluctant to lower the ramp on kneeling buses;
c)
the names of
the stops are not announced
d)
priority
seating is already occupied, and;
WHEREAS the bus drivers are often under pressure to meet time
requirements resulting in unsafe practices;
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Seniors Advisory Committee recommend that the
Health, Recreation and Social Services recommend that the OC Transpo bus route
planners provide a wider time frame for the driver’s schedules.
Carried
In addition to the above motions that increase accessibility to
transportation for seniors, our motions regarding a pilot project called Snow
Go to help eliminate the burden of clearing snow and windrows for seniors was
also approved by the Transportation Committee.
This motion is listed elsewhere in this report. The Transportation Committee has suggested
that it be administered through the Coalition of Home Support Agencies.
1. Seniors Agenda
2. City Housing Strategy
3. City of Ottawa Governance Report
4. Right-of-Way Lighting Policy
5. Long Term Care
Various Other Meetings, Visits and
Presentations
The Chair, with advice from City management, interacted with a member of the public and with Councillor Doucet’s office regarding a question of parking on Plymouth Street.
Research was conducted and a Proposal completed regarding the Age Mixed Buildings with a strong recommendation that an Ombudsperson be assigned to each building. This proposal was forwarded to the Seniors Agenda for further consideration.
The Chair participates in Successful Aging Ottawa (SAO) meetings at the United Way.
The Chair is also a member of the City of Ottawa Seniors Agenda Steering committee. As well, members of the Seniors Advisory Committee are substantially involved in the Seniors Agenda sub committees on Housing, Communications, Transportation and Gap Analysis.
The Chair and the Vice Chair attended and participated in meetings sponsored by the city on various subjects such as “The Final Draft Strategy Report on Housing”, which have a considerable bearing on the life of a senior in Ottawa.
The Seniors Advisory Committee members attended public meetings sponsored by the Council on Aging. Two meetings they attended this fall have been on Seniors health and on transportation. Both meetings were sell outs.
The Chair visited the Para Transpo headquarters to better understand the internal workings of the reservation system.
ATTACHMENT 2
SENIORS ADVISORY
COMMITTEE
Objective 1: Provide input to city planners to ensure continuity of initiatives, priority for senior’s issues and visibility of the advisory committee.
Activities:
Ø Invite city staff and others with responsibility for and information about issues we are pursuing such as visiting or touring facilities or programs to gain an appreciation for the programs.
Ø Put forth appropriate motions related to these issues. Current issues include: transportation, housing, rural issues, seniors at all ages and their access to programs.
Ø Track new and emerging issues and bring these to the attention of decision makers and city staff.
Ø Monitor the City’s undertakings in the Opportunity Agenda of the city’s corporate plan relating to senior’s issues and services, including the City’s undertaking to develop and implement an Equality Framework, which proposes seniors as one of eleven targets.
Ø Plan outreach programs to visit delegations in the outlying areas of the city. Specifically the south communities of Ottawa.
Ø Investigate and provide input for city supported initiatives and community partnerships that affect seniors.
Ø Provide input into developing plans for coping with the tremendous growth in the senior’s population in suburban and rural areas.
Objective 2: Subcommittees to continue with identified priorities that have resulted from public consultations and the subcommittees’ ongoing investigation of issues.
Activities:
Transportation Subcommittee:
Ø The Transportation Subcommittee will liaise with various seniors organizations’ transportation groups including the coalition of home support agencies: ROTIS, Council on Aging, Senior’s Agenda, Successful Aging Ottawa and other community groups with interests in the transportation problems of seniors.
Ø Continue to liaise and monitor OC Transpo and ParaTranspo services re availability and accessibility for seniors including new developments that benefit seniors.
Housing Subcommittee:
Ø Maintain contact with housing authorities to ensure senior’s needs are addressed.
Ø Volunteer to have a member attend and participate in the Senior’s Agenda meetings re housing.
Ø Identify possible funding sources for Aging in the Home projects. Refer these sources to the Senior’s Agenda program.
Ø Monitor issues concerning seniors centers and community centers, pursue consultations with these centers identifying areas where senior’s centers need to be established and areas of the city where senior’s centers and community centers that serve seniors are in danger of being lost.
Ø Monitor services available and needs of those 85 and over, living in their own homes as long as possible.
Ø Determine the barriers to senior’s participation in Public Health Community Program Centers and report on policies to overcome these barriers. Monitor the physical activity strategy.
Objective 3: Meet with other advisory committees on
common issues
Activities:
Ø Meet with other advisory committees on common issues. This group includes the Accessibility Advisory Committee, the Poverty Issues Advisory Committee, the Health and Social Services Advisory Committee and any others that may exhibit common interests.
Objective 4: Continue to work
with other Community agencies that represent senior’s issues in Ottawa.
Activities:
Ø Distribute, through the internet, the updated SAC information package, as applicable.
Ø Continue to work with and be represented at Successful Aging Ottawa (SAO), ROTIS and attend other presentations that are brought to the SAC’s attention that impact senior’s issues.
Objective 5: Continue to
participate in and monitor development of the City of Ottawa’s Seniors Agenda.
Ø Meet with the organizers of the City of Ottawa’s Senior’s Agenda to exchange information to identify best practices of other cities in Canada with regard to senior’s issues and problems including transportation and access to programs. Collaborate with the Senior’s Agenda in their committee meetings to identify innovative policies and techniques and solutions that are applicable to Ottawa.
Ø Give feedback on the inventory of services being developed as part of the City of Ottawa Senior’s Agenda.
Objective 6: Monitoring
Developments at Council
Ø Senior’s Advisory Committee should keep track of new developments in the budget and the budget process. We must consider approaching our respective councilors on issues we have agreed that are pertinent to Ottawa’s seniors before the passing of the budget.
Ø Monitor and participate in the budget process, particularly with regards to how the new budget will impact existing and planned senior’s programs.
Ø Monitor, for possible impact on senior issues, the outcome of Council’s October 25, 2006 approval of the application of an “accessibility lens” to all reports, motions, policies, procedures and decisions.
Ø Monitor, for possible impact on senior issues, the proposed city wide implication of the Gender Equality Planning Guide.
SENIORS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Terms of Reference
MANDATE
The mandate of the Seniors Advisory Committee is to act as a liaison to enrich and enhance the lives of seniors in the City, identify barriers, form partnerships with the community, and act as a public forum for issues affecting seniors.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The Seniors Advisory Committee shall be responsible for:
ORGANIZATION
The Seniors Advisory Committee shall be organized as
follows, with a total maximum citizen membership of between 9 – 15:
· A minimum of one citizen appointment representing the rural community
At least one half of the membership shall be individuals who are 65 years of age or older.
All appointments to
the Seniors Advisory Committee shall be approved by both the Health,
Recreation and Social Community and Protective Services
Committee and Ottawa City Council.
In addition, the Seniors Advisory Committee shall also have in a resource, liaison and/or advisory capacity, the following:
·
1 Staff representative from the People Community
and Protective Services Department (non-voting);
·
A minimum of 1 member of Ottawa City Council,
appointed by Council (non-voting)
· The process for choosing membership for the Seniors Advisory Committee will follow the approved Appointments Policy.
LEAD DEPARTMENT/REPORTING RELATIONSHIP
The People Community
and Protective Services Department shall be the lead department for the
Seniors Advisory Committee. The Seniors
Advisory Committee shall report through the Health, Recreation and Social
Community and Protective Services Committee to City Council,
however may report to another Standing Committee where appropriate, depending
on the issue.
WORKPLANS AND ANNUAL REPORTS
The Seniors Advisory Committee must report annually to City Council through the Community and Protective Services Committee (timing to be determined by the Chair, Advisory Committee Coordinator and City Clerk) on the activities of the Committee in the current year and on the Committee’s workplan for the following year.