ACCESS TO SERVICES

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Intro: 
In a City for All, everyone has access to social services.
Why It Matters: 

·       Ottawa has a growing, aging, increasingly diverse population.

·       Social services play a key role to decrease crimes and enhance wellbeing and belonging.

·       In 2017 City Budget, the City- funded social service providers requested $2.8 million to address growing demands and emerging needs. This shows the size of the problem and the need to increase community funding.

·       In a 2018 survey to City-funded social service providers conducted by Social Planning Council, 87% of respondents reported an increase in demand for services, 44% reduced services, 18% turned clients away.

We Believe That: 

·       In a City for All, everyone has access to social services.

But the Reality Is Troubling: 

·       Ottawa has a growing, aging, increasingly diverse population.

·       Social services play a key role to decrease crimes and enhance wellbeing and belonging.

·       In 2017 City Budget, the City- funded social service providers requested $2.8 million to address growing demands and emerging needs. This shows the size of the problem and the need to increase community funding.

·       In a 2018 survey to City-funded social service providers conducted by Social Planning Council, 87% of respondents reported an increase in demand for services, 44% reduced services, 18% turned clients away.

Questions to Ask: 

·       Will you ensure that community and city social services have sufficient funding to keep pace with the growing demand?

·       Will you raise taxes as needed in order to meet the unmet and emerging needs of our increasingly complex city (i.e. housing, transit, social services)?