Wednesday, January 15, 2014
City of London
Ontario Works to open a location in North East London
City Council has approved the first of its decentralized Ontario Works sites at Northland Mall at Huron St. and Highbury Ave.
The location is scheduled to open this summer. This site will offer service to approximately 23% of London’s Ontario Works participants.
The move is part of a long term strategy to decentralize service delivery out of the downtown Ontario Works office located in Market Tower at Dundas and Richmond Streets.
The decentralization strategy will eventually establish an Ontario Works location in each of the four quadrants of the city, as well as a downtown location.
The decentralized model will provide:
- easier client access to services closer to where they live
- the opportunity for Ontario Works staff to collaborate and coordinate services at the neighbourhood and community level with other related services and supports, including employment, training, and newcomer settlement services, and
- the opportunity to provide a mix and level of services at each location that reflects the needs of the community
To establish criteria to select the site, City staff consulted people using OW services, community agencies, residents associations, business improvement associations and OW staff.
“We are grateful for the input from our community and we feel this north east location at Northland Mall meets all the criteria established as part of a consultation process. We’re excited about this strategy and we are confident that people in our community will benefit,” said Sandra Datars Bere, Managing Director of Housing, Social Services and Dearness Home for the City of London.
The idea of providing services at a neighbourhood and community level reflects widely-accepted best practices in the field of social services. The model also reflects the City’s “At Your Service” mission, as well as the philosophy and principles of other City initiatives including Service London and ReThink London.
The other decentralized Ontario Works sites are scheduled to open during the next three years. The south west quadrant site will be located in the expanded South London Community Centre scheduled for implementation in 2015. The south east quadrant site is scheduled to open in 2016, and the North West and core locations by the spring of 2017.
“Now that we have a North East location confirmed, there is a lot of work ahead of us to ensure a smooth transition. We want to reassure anyone who is currently receiving social assistance through the London Ontario Works office that they will be notified personally and with plenty of notice if this move impacts them directly,” says Datars Bere.
Media Contact:
Sandra Datars Bere
Managing Director
Housing, Social Services and Dearness Home
519-661-2500 ext 5337
sdatarsb@london.ca
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