Jasper鈥檚 collaborative approach to Community and Family Services is a model that the provincial government would like to see in other communities throughout the province.
鈥淭he model Jasper has and its collaborative work is almost world famous,鈥� said Karen Ferguson, assistant deputy minister with human services. 鈥淵ou folks have been doing this good collaborative work for years, and we鈥檙e thinking there鈥檚 much to learn about this.鈥�
Ferguson was in Jasper last week, along with her colleagues from the departments of health and education, to learn more about Jasper鈥檚 approach to community outreach, specifically in relation to early childhood development鈥攐ne of Premier Alison Redford鈥檚 top priorities.
Jasper鈥檚 model of service delivery includes six outreach workers separated into life stages鈥攑renatal to preschool, middle childhood, youth and teens, young adult and adult. It鈥檚 through those workers, who are the face of the organization, that individuals and families are put in touch with the services they need to succeed.
鈥淲hat the public sees are the outreach workers. They are very much the face of this model,鈥� explained Kathleen Waxer, Jasper鈥檚 director of community and family services. But those outreach workers aren鈥檛 alone in their work. There is a whole team of people behind them.
Each life stage has a Collaborative Action Team made up of frontline agency representatives and community members, who work to identify emerging trends and service gaps within that stage. Those findings are what guide the outreach workers.
鈥淚t needs to be understood that the collaborative action teams, the executive of the team itself, all the team members, the outreach manager and the team coordinator play a very critical role in making sure the outreach workers are set up to provide the best possible service to the public,鈥� Waxer told the visiting civil servants.
Waxer, who has been in her role for 28 years, is greatly to thank for Jasper鈥檚 renowned model.
She dreamt it up during the 鈥�80s, first envisioning what services a healthy, thriving young family in Jasper might need. She then threw in curve balls, forcing herself to think of the things that that family might need if it faced any number of challenges: 鈥渂eing new to the community, having low literacy skills or English as a second language, developing ongoing mental health issues or addictions, unforeseen changes in physical health or mobility status, marital issues, raising a child with developmental delays or special needs, working in the service industry at low wages and struggling to make rent and bill payments, and juggling a work/life balance.鈥�
With those struggles in mind, Waxer began structuring Community Outreach Services.
鈥淭he first step in custom designing the services was deciding to structure them around life stages instead of around agency mandates,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ecause my experience was people tended to define themselves by their life stage鈥攖hey certainly don鈥檛 identify themselves as an addicted person or a low literacy person.鈥�
That structuring, as well as the welcoming, casual atmosphere of the office, took away some of the stigma around visiting outreach services.
And now, 鈥渙ver the course of the day, there鈥檚 approximately 50 people who drop in regularly and routinely have a cup of coffee, touch base, have a conversation or tell us a joke,鈥� said Waxer, noting that other coffee shops or hangouts might not be affordable or welcoming to everyone in the community. 鈥淗ere they鈥檙e always welcome.鈥�
Those frequent visits allow outreach workers to build relationships with the people who use the services and it also gives them an opportunity to keep an eye on how they鈥檙e doing.
鈥淭hey come in and have conversations and have a coffee and through the spectrum of things, the outreach worker becomes the generalist who supports the people and connects them to the myriad of things they may need to improve their life status.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 come in and have a quick appointment and we give them six cards and off they go. It might be a five year relationship where the outreach worker assists them in moving forward on goal plans.鈥�
Following Waxer鈥檚 presentation to the assistant deputy ministers, which included examples of programs COS offers, as well as its outreach services, the question 鈥渉ow do we do that in a city?鈥� was asked.
Sheryl Frickle, executive director of the early childhood development priority initiative, said she can see many ways that Jasper鈥檚 model is applicable.
鈥淵ou would have to do it neighbourhood by neighbourhood,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o it would be connected networks of neighbourhood supports.鈥�
Nicole Veerman
[email protected]
