Saskatchewan

Programs and Services

Saskatchewan entered into the five year Employability Assistance for People with Disabilities (EAPD) Agreement with Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) in March 1998.
The EAPD agreement allows for a three year transition phase in which programs and services that were cost-shared under the previous Vocational Rehabili-tation of Disabled Persons (VRDP) agreement could continue to be cost-shared, even though they may not fit the employability criteria of the new agreement. Programs described in this report represent a combination of VRDP and EAPD-eligible programs and services that were cost-shared for 1999-2000 and 2000-2001.

Service Delivery

Three departments within the Saskatchewan government identified programs and services eligible for cost-sharing under the Employability Assistance for People with Disabilities Agreement in 1999-2000 and 2000-2001.

Post-secondary Education and Skills Training ¹

Employability Assistance for People with Disabilities Program (EAPDP)

EAPDP purchases services or equipment for people who, due to a disability, require assistance to train for, seek or maintain employment, or who are at risk of losing their employment. These services include educational/ psychological assessments, specialized basic education services, pre-employment training, post- secondary tuition and books, all types of personal disability supports and equipment, job coaches, training-on-the-job, wage subsidies, as well as living allowances for persons with disabilities not qualifying for a student loan.

EAPDP also contracts with community based organizations for pre-employment and life skills training services and for career and employment counselling for people with disabilities.

Expected participant outcomes include successfully completing training, and obtaining and maintaining regular employment.

Saskatchewan Social Services

Long-Term Employment Initiative (LTI)

The LTI funds individual long-term employment supports when and as required, including ongoing wage subsidies, job coaching, model workers, worker enclaves, and work crew supervision.

The LTI also contracts with community agencies, including networks of local service and advocacy organizations, to provide ongoing employment counselling, job search, job placement, job coaching and job maintenance services.

Expected participant outcomes include obtaining and maintaining regular employment, and gaining access to supports (employee and employer) on an ongoing basis.

Employment Initiatives

Social Services provides project funding to community based organizations to offset the cost of additional supervision or job placement or job development costs.

Vocational Training in Sheltered Workshops

Social Services contracts with community based organizations to provide paid sheltered employment, unpaid employment training, pre-employment training and recreation/therapy programs for adults with disabilities. Expected participant outcomes include successful program completion, sheltered employment, life skill development, and obtaining and maintaining regular employment.

Community Based Organizations

Social Services also provides core funding to provincial disability organizations to provide rehabilitation counselling, career/employment counselling, deaf sign language interpreting and service coordination. Participant outcomes include access to counselling services and access to basic deaf language interpreting services throughout the province.

Saskatchewan Health

Saskatchewan Aids to Independent Living program

This program provides assistive devices, respiratory equipment, medical supplies and other required equipment to persons with disabilities. Participant outcomes include access to required equipment and independent community living.

Alcohol and Drug Services

The health department provides a range of addiction recovery services aimed at promoting healthy living without chemical dependency, including individual and family counselling, detoxification programs and vocational counselling. Expected participant outcomes include recovery from addiction, the restoration/ establishment of addiction-free family life, and the acquisition or maintenance of employment.

Mental Health Services

A range of general mental health services is available from local health districts such as crisis intervention, case management and individual and group counselling. A range of vocational services are also available such as pre-employment training in daily living skills, job search training, and supervised work experience.

Expected participant outcomes include restoration/maintenance of an optimal level of functioning and obtaining/maintaining employment.

Program Results

The EAPD agreement lists the following primary indicators to measure, on an aggregate basis, the short and medium-term results of interventions under this initiative:

• the number of people actively participating in programs;
• the number of people successfully completing programs;
• the number of people employed following participation; and
• the number of people sustained in employment in the case of vocational crisis.

The Results Indicators table below summarizes programs and services provided during 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 with detail to the extent that it is available. More detailed information will become available as the various record keeping systems are developed or improved.

2 Due to system changes data for Saskatchewan Aids to Independent Living will not be available until later in 2002.
3 This information is not available for 1999-2000.
4 SAIL provides equipment that supports people with disabilities to obtain or maintain employment consequently this indicator is
not meaningful for this program.
5 CBO Grants are a transition program that will be not be claimed when the agreement is fully implemented.
6 The transition identified in the Multi-year Program and Expenditure Plan sees the phasing out of the claim for this program.
Since this is a transition program this data will not be collected.
7 The purpose of the long term employment program is to maintain people in employment who would not otherwise be employed.
Consequently this is not a meaningful indicator
8 This is not a meaningful indicator for this program.

Expenditures

Consultation with the Public and People with Disabilities

Post Secondary Education and Skills Training conducted a series of consultations with stakeholders regarding future plans for the EAPD program. Discussions were also held with the Provincial Inter-agency Network on Disability Issues. In the summer of 2000, province-wide consultations were also conducted by the Office of Disability Issues concerning a Disability Action Plan for the province. Employment and EAPD were key areas of focus during the consultations.

Provincial Contact

Intergovernmental Relations Branch
Saskatchewan Social Services
1920 Broad Street
Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 3V6
Tel.: (306) 787-3621
Fax.: (306) 787-3650

1 This department became part of a new department, Saskatchewan Learning on March 26, 2002.