PHSSC

That Report COM 24-2023, dated August 8, 2023, respecting Budget Adjustment – Social Assistance and Employment Opportunities , BE RECEIVED and the following recommendation BE APPROVED: 1. That an operating adjustment to the previously adopted 2023 Regional Municipality of Niagara (Niagara Region), Social Assistance and Employment Opportunities (SAEO), operating budget in the amount of $1,287,250 gross and $0 net, to be fully funded through the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS) funding, BE APPROVED. The following friendly amendment was accepted by the Chair, and the mover and seconder of the motion to add the following clause: 2. That staff PROVIDE a report to a future Public Health and Social Services Committee meeting, respecting costs associated with asylum seekers using the Region's shelter system. The Chair called the vote on the motion, as amended, and declared it,

That Report COM 28-2023, dated August 8, 2023, respecting Child Care and Early Years 2023 Operating Budget Adjustment, BE RECEIVED and the following recommendations BE APPROVED: 1. That a gross operating budget adjustment in the amount of $6,232,181 gross and $0 net, to be fully funded through the Ministry of Education (MEDU), BE APPROVED to support the Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) Expansion Plan and the stability of Niagara’s child care and EarlyON system; and 2. That the addition of two (2) new permanent full-time Reporting Analyst positions in Children’s Services, funded using the new approved MEDU funding, BE APPROVED.

That Report COM 31-2023, dated August 8, 2023, respecting Homelessness Contract Adjustments – Emergency Shelter, BE RECEIVED and the following recommendations BE APPROVED: 1. That the previously approved Emergency Shelter contracts and purchase orders totaling $16,720,444.86, BE INCREASED by $300,000 for a total revised value of $17,020,444.86, comprised of $200,000 for an interim wage enhancement increase to respond to recommendations of Niagara’s shelter capacity review, addressing Niagara emergency shelter workforce retention issues and a $100,000 food price adjustment responding to the increased food costs for emergency shelter providers; 2. That an additional contingency of $300,000, BE APPROVED should additional adjustments be necessary; and 3. That the Commissioner of Community Services, BE AUTHORIZED to negotiate and execute the required amendments to implement contract amendments for service providers within Homelessness Services in a form approved by the Director of Legal Services.

WHEREAS universal coverage of contraception enables people to freely decide if or when to become parents and how many children to have, and can also increase gender equality, improve health outcomes, and save on health care costs; WHEREAS timely access to effective contraception directly influences the rate of unintended pregnancies; WHEREAS it is estimated that 30-40% of all pregnancies in Canada are unintended with those of lower socioeconomic status being one of the leading vulnerable groups impacted; Public Health and Social Services Committee Open Session Minutes PHSSC 8-2023 August 8, 2023 Page 4 WHEREAS Abortion Clinics in Ontario are not fully funded and in contrast to the Health Canada Act by Canada Health which instructed all Provincial and Territory Health Ministers to fully fund private clinics doing medical required procedures, making user fees illegal. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: 1. That the Regional Chair BE DIRECTED to send a letter of advocacy on behalf of the Board of Health, to the Provincial government encouraging them to cover the cost of birth control for all Ontario residents; and 2. That a copy of the letter BE CIRCULATED to alPHa, other appropriate partners, and local Members of Provincial Parliament and Members of Parliament.

That the following items BE RECEIVED for information: COM 27-2023 Seniors Services Quality Improvement Report January to March 2023 COM-C 28-2023 Activities related to Niagara’s 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Action Plan for January to March 2023 CWCD 2023-131 Board of Health for Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health unit – 2024 Anticipated Funding Shortfalls

That the Public Health and Social Services Committee DO NOW MOVE into closed session for the purposes of receiving information of a confidential nature respecting: A Matter of Information Explicitly Supplied in Confidence to the Municipality by Canada, a Province or Territory or a Crown Agency or any of them under s. 239(2)(h) of the Municipal Act, 2001 - Building Safer Communities Fund & Grant Program Pilot.

That Confidential Report COM 30-2023, dated August 8, 2023, respecting A Matter of Information Explicitly Supplied in Confidence to the Municipality by Canada, a Province or Territory or a Crown Agency or any of them under s. 239(2)(h) of the Municipal Act, 2001 - Building Safer Communities Fund & Grant Program Pilot, BE RECEIVED and the recommendations contained therein BE APPROVED.