Unison Health Plan

Cash-strapped Welcome Policy should get dollar caps: report

The program that gives Toronto’s poor free access to city-run camps and recreational classes has run out of money for the second time this year, but a new report says changing the way the $8.7-million subsidy is handed out will allow it to go further.

Demand for the city’s “Welcome Policy” has skyrocketed in recent years thanks to a streamlined application process that lets people applying for welfare qualify for the subsidy at the same time. Almost 107,900 residents are approved for the subsidy, up from just over 63,000 last year and 12,700 when the program started a decade ago.

Along the way, the cost of the program has ballooned to $8.7-million from $673,000 in 2001. The funds set aside for the summer sessions officially ran out on Tuesday, just as they did in January. Subsidies will be available again for fall classes.

How to make that money go further is the topic of a staff report to be considered by councillors Wednesday at the Community Development and Recreation Committee. It recommends an annual cap on subsidies of $455 for children and youth and $212 for adults and seniors.

Under the current policy, children can take up to three programs for free each season and adults can take one, but the report notes that a small percentage of users — about 30 per cent — are receiving 60 per cent of the subsidies. The new plan, they estimate, will give 6,000 additional qualified residents access to the subsidy by limiting the dollars available to each individual.

“How we achieve access needs to be thoughtfully considered,” said Brenda Patterson, the city’s general manager of Parks, Forestry and Recreation. “There are always going to be limits to our system.”

A group that calls itself Community Access For All issued its own report Tuesday that was highly critical of the staff proposal, noting that many Toronto residents living below the poverty line are not even registered for the Welcome program and calling for more community consultation before any changes are made.

Amy Katz, a frontline worker with Unison Health and Community Services, said staff need to look at all issues of access at once, not just the subsidy program. She wants to see the city report sent back by councillors for further research.

And at a time when Mayor Rob Ford and his supporters on council have given notice that cuts are coming, Ms. Katz also said more financial resources need to be dedicated to recreational programs for the city’s poor.

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