Wednesday, April 6, 2011

FORT FRANCES TIMES A5

Childrens aid merger given funding to proceed

By Peggy Revell Staff writer The merger between the regions Childrens Aid Societies is moving ahead now that provincial funding has been confirmed. While April 1 was the original merger deadline between KenoraPatricia Child and Family Services and Family and Childrens Services of the District of Rainy River, the process was stalled as the agencies waited for the province to officially say it would finance both FACs deficit and debt, as well as amalgamation costs. This was a requirement before Kenoras agency would agree to the amalgamation. But last week, the Ministry of Children and Youth Services officially informed both agencies that these costs will be covered, meaning the new combined agency will start out debt-free. Both agencies are excited that the end toward our new beginning is near fruition, Bill Leonard, executive director of the KPCFS and Vic Nowak, Executive director of FACS, said in a news release issued on behalf of both agencies last Friday. With this funding secured, the two agencies now can proceed with formal board motions affirming their intentions to amalgamate, then signing and submitting the required legal documents to various regulatory authorizes for approval. This process should take sixeight weeks. The new organization will be known as Kenora-Rainy River Districts Child and Family Services. Its logo, vision mission, and value statements also were unveiled last Thursdaythe culmination of months of work by amalgamation committees made up of people from both organizations. Like any good logo, the more you look at it, the more you see, FACS board president Bob McGreevy said in explaining the meaning behind the new logo. As a way to reflect the geographical reality of the organizations, the logo has a tree motif with three leaves on a branch in various shadeswith the leaves also representing people with outstretched arms and circles as their heads. The three leaves also represent the three branches of the new agency: family services, childrens services, and clinical/community services. And with such a long name, the new logo features Child and Family as the largest focus, with Kenora-Rainy River Districts/Services in smaller fonts. Meanwhile, the organizations new vision statement will be Children and families reaching their full potential, with their mission statement to be, We are dedicated to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of every child by providing effective services to children and families. The outlined values for the organization include positive attitude, relationships, integrity, diversity, and excellence. Even though the vision, mission, and values remain words on paper, theyre aspiring words but words nonetheless, Leonard said at the unveiling. So as we move forward as one organization, it will be incumbent on each of us working on within the new organization to bring life into these words, to ensure that they are a true reflection of our beliefs and that they will guide how we will provide service, he stressed. We must prove this to be so through our individual efforts, through our work with each other, and, most importantly, through our work with the children, families, and communities to whom we are ultimately accountable, Leonard added. There will be no cuts to frontline staff or services with the merger. The move to amalgamate came after FACS, along with dozens of Childrens Aid Societies across the province, faced deficits ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions in the 2009-10 financial year. FACS, itself, faced a deficit of just over $600,000 before receiving one-time mitigation funding of $430,000 from the province back in February, 2010. In an interview this past fall, McGreevy said the total estimated deficit and amalgamation costs are $900,000. The amalgamation also will mean a combined budget of $17 million$12 million from the KPCFS, $3 million in funding for the child welfare portion of FACS child welfare in Rainy River District, and $2 million for FACS integrated services (i.e., childrens mental health). Once merged, there will be an estimated annual savings of $400,000 due to economy of scale kicking in as costssuch as administrative ones, which are more burdensome on smaller agencies like FACSwould be reduced. An estimated 250 children will be under the care of the new organization. The combined staffing levels are estimated to be at 250 full-time and 100 casual workers. Leonard will remain on as executive director, with FACS executive director Nowak becoming director of service for the new organization.

Whats in a name?

Years ago, I loved gardening. I wasnt a wonderful gardener, but spent many happy hours digging in the dirt. I loved the feel of the soft, mellow soil on my bare feet. When we first moved to Kansas 40 years ago, it took a while to find out how different it is to garden in Kansas than Canada. Peas and spinach have to be planted in late February or early March, when our garden in Canada was still covered with snow. And its impossible to grow lettuce in Kansas in the middle of the summer. I also found that the northern asters and snapdragons didnt take kindly to our hot summers. Gradually, I began planting native grasses and flowers with good results. During that experimental stage, I tried all kinds of unusual things. Blueberries, which failed because our soil was too alkaline and the weather too hot. After that, I tried garden huckleberries as a substitute for blueberries, a plant from the tomato family. But no one wanted to eat them! Then I planted a few exotic plants: burdock and dandelions. Yes, I actually bought seed from a garden catalogue! I planted the burdock for nostalgia purposes. It reminded me of a time long ago, when I used to sit on the ground and play house, using the huge burdock leaves for plates. Today, when all my other experiments are long gone, these two sturdy plants still flourish. Just last week, in fact, we had a delicious salad of dandelion greens. The dandelion is a perennial plant with a long, sturdy tap root, which means you can cut it down before it flowers and the plant will come back next year with more fresh, nutritious salad greens. A serving of dandelion greens gives you iron, calcium, and potassium, as well as vitamins A, C, and K. While we only use the leaves for salads, the flowers often are used to make dandelion wine while the roots can be ground and roasted as a coffee substitute. The dandelion also has medicinal properties and traditionally was used by the native Canadians, the Chinese, and European herbalists, and it still can be bought in health stores today. Dandelion root sometimes is used for liver and gallbladder problems, and dandelion leaves are a natural diuretic. The dandelion also is used to help normalize blood sugar levels, lower cholesterol, assist with urinary tract infections, and support kidney function. Of course, as with all herbs, you have to be careful about interactions if you are taking prescription medicine. With all of its nutritional and medicinal properties, I would like to know why the dandelion is seen as a pesky weed today! It makes me think of the starcrossed lovers from feuding families in Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet. Juliet lamented, Whats in a name? That which we call a rose/ By any other name would smell as sweet. Whats in a name? Capulet or Montague? Weed or vegetable? Take a few moments this spring to really look at that pesky weed before you pull it. Pick a few leaves and make a tasty salad. Then think about other names that might be limiting what you see in the world around you.

Science projects
At left, Nolin Spuzak, of J.W. Walker School, demonstrated his science project, How Hot Is Your Shot, during the regional science fair there Saturday. He and his partner, Tyler VanUden, earned top honours for their project, while fellow J.W. Walker student Hailey Beaudry, above, received an honourable mention. These students now are eligible to to attend the national competition in Toronto next month, along with Stephen Stechishen (Red Lake) who earned silver, and Taylor Whitehead (J.W. Walker) who captured bronze. Heather Latter photo

Addictions treatment centre plans moving ahead

By Heather Latter Staff writer The Atikokan Addictions Committee will move ahead with plans to build an addictions treatment centre there after results from a recently-launched survey show there is a need for one in Rainy River District. Theres a lot of work involved, but that cant stop us from moving ahead. We need to try and do this for the people that we serve, stressed Donna Kroocmo, executive director of the Rainy River District Shelter of Hope, which facilitated the needs assessment survey being funded through Justice Canada. Kroocmo said the committee will meet to review the survey findings, which also were discussed during the Shelter of Hope conference last week. Connie Terlesky, who was hired to collect the data through the survey, presented her final report at that time, which showed the need for an addictions treatment centre in the district. The biggest thing was that prescription drugs [had] surpassed alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drugs, by far, as a problem, Terlesky noted from the data collected, citing a 65 percent misuse of

Theres a lot of work involved, but that cant stop us from moving ahead. We need to try and do this for the people that we serve. Donna Kroocmo
prescription drugs compared to 30 percent for inhalant, 36 percent for street drugs, and 46 percent for alcohol. The survey, conducted over a four-week period, also highlighted suicide and bullying as major problems locally. All organizations dealing with treatment referrals from communities across the district were invited to participate in the survey. Terlesky said more than 60 people attended the Shelter of Hope conference while a total of 113 people completed the surveya 96 percent response rate. She added plenty of people indicated they had referred others for treatment in the past, with 19 people saying they referred more than 30 people and another 34 noting they had referred one-five people. These are big numbers, Terlesky stressed. And they are all going out of town because there is nothing here. Kroocmo said given the interest from an investor willing to put forth $1.5 million to build a treatment centre in Atikokan, they need a business plancomplete with data and researchto acquire financing from the bank since this amount wont completely cover the construction cost. She noted the committee has submitted a proposal through the Community Giving Program through Green Shield Canada. Next, they will do more research into the normal rate for beds at a residential treatment facility. The private investor wants a return, so at least some of the beds have to be set aside as for-profit beds, which means they would have to pay the going rate, whatever that might be, Kroocmo explained, noting so far they have determined this could be anywhere

from $400-$800 a day. So wed have to find something in the medium range, I would think. She said they also have to consider the cost of ongoing operations. We have to have this be self-sufficient, she remarked. But Kroocmo said her hope is to have at least two of the beds as not-for-profit. Thats my dream, she noted. We just want to make this available to everyone. She said the committee also must decide the approach the treatment facility would take. They have two preferencesto serve youth and to have several beds for familycentered treatment. Twelve- to 16-year-olds are using and we know that, Kroocmo said. You dont want to see young person sent away for treatment. As well, a family-centered approach would allow family, children, or whoever is needed as a support group for the person being treated. This also would allow the facility to be more culturally-appropriate to First Nation communities, where involving family and extended family is important for treatment. In addition, Kroocmo said the treatment facility could offer an

out-patient clinic or day program. We thought that would be a really excellent way to service the people who couldnt otherwise afford a residential treatment program, she explained. And they could access the treatment they need with very little cost to the client. With additional programs, Kroocmo said the centre could be much more than just a residential treatment centre. We could do much more with it, and thats our hope and our plan, she insisted, adding they have a very active committee with community service providers from many sectors, which will be beneficial to assist with all the work ahead of them. Terlesky, meanwhile, conceded the committee is aware other groups also are trying to get a facility going. Whoever gets it first, lets just build it and get it going because a strong need is there, she stressed. Currently, the closest treatment centres include Thunder Bay and Kenora while the closest familycentered one is in Winnipeg.

DSSAB defends uploading position

Staff In response to an article in last weeks Times, the Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board said uploaded savings have been used to offset budget increases for other programs since they first began in 2008. In a press release to the Times, DSSAB administration said they have analyzed information the town received from the Ministry of Finance (which was partially printed in last weeks edition) and do not dispute it. The ministry indicates the estimated total benefit of 2011 provincial uploads for the Town of Fort Frances to be $420,400, which we do not dispute, the release said. Contrary to [Coun. Ken] Perrys statements in the article in the March 30, 2011 edition of the Fort Frances Times, the RRDSSAB has not turned a blind eye to all the verifiable facts, and we concur with the figures from the Minister of Finance. We have taken a good look at this and have not gone astray, or lead the board astray, nor has the board led us astray, it stressed. Not reflected in the provincial numbers is, since 2008, the RRDSSAB members had, by board resolution, utilized amounts from these upload savings to offset budget increases for other programs in 2008 and 2009 to lessen any increase in municipal levies, the release added. This, in turn, decreased the actual amount of the municipal upload savings for those respective years. As a result, there is a difference in the figures provided by the province and the amounts levied to municipalities by the RRDSSAB as the province is not notified of local RRDSSAB decisions on utilization of savings. The local DSSAB said it is committed to working with both the province and the municipalities on this issue as it appears further discussions are required as to how this information applies to the RRDSSAB budget. Meetings with the province and the municipalities are taking place to review this issue, they noted. All information has always been, and will continue to be, available to the DSSAB board members for review and further discussion.

Irish singer taking stage

Press release A reminder for all members of the Border Concert Association that songwriter, masterful pianist, comedian, and one of Irelands best vocalists, Cahal Dunne, will appear at Backus Auditorium in International Falls this Saturday (April 9) starting at 7:30 p.m. Dunne possesses a certain magical quality that comes from deep within a great entertainer and washes over his audiences, captivating them. His vocal style is rich and deep as he takes you on a musical journey to his homeland. Accompanying himself on the piano and with full orchestral tracks, you will be amazed at the sound coming from the stage. With an easy rapport and a great sense of humour, Dunne appeals to audiences of all ages. He is truly an entertainer extraordinaire. This will be his first mid-American tour, although Dunnes concert schedule takes him all over the country. Dunne is a native of Cork, Ireland and received a Bachelor of Music degree from University College of Cork. He has won a number of prizes in Irish song contests, including Irelands National Song Contest. His winning song, Happy Man, earned him the right to represent Ireland in the International Eurovision Music Contest in Israel. Happy Man became number one in Europe and Ireland, with record sales topping the quartermillion mark. This gave him the title that most people know him by: Irelands Happy Man. Dont miss this exceptional concertthe fifth in the 2010-11 Border Concert Association series.