There is a danger of layoffs of frontline staff at the District Social Services Administration Board in Thunder Bay.
Chair Lucy Kloosterhuis explains it is because funding from the province for next year will not meet the needs to service Ontario Works clients.
“We had a good discussion with the Minister of Children Community and Social Services and we’re hoping they will understand where we are coming from,” explains Kloosterhuis.
The DSSAB chair estimates they require about $140,000 in extra funding to avoid those layoffs.
She tells us the funding is being reduced in 2021 to 2018 levels because at that time they did not spend their entire budget “mostly because we had quite a few staff that were off for medical reasons, pregnancies, or whatever.”
The board is hoping the province sympathizes and restores the funding or the layoffs are inevitable.
