Mr. Speaker, in November 2007 I advised Members that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and the N.W.T. Housing Corporation had initiated a review of the Public Housing Rental Subsidy program. At that time I committed to providing Members with results of the review and a plan of action being taken to address issues related to delivery of the program.
Members will recall that the Public Housing Rental Subsidy transfer from the N.W.T. Housing Corporation to Education, Culture and Employment was the result of the larger Income Security reform of the last government. It is under that framework that we have reviewed the program and identified actions that are being taken to make improvements as needed.
First, I’d like to very briefly provide you with a summary of review activities. There were several parts to the review. Information was gathered from front-line staff from the N.W.T. Housing Corporation; Education, Culture and Employment; and local housing authorities about the administration of the program. A Public Housing Rental Subsidy client satisfaction survey was administered by the N.W.T. Bureau of Statistics that sought feedback directly from public housing tenants from all the regions of the Northwest Territories about the quality of administrative services. A review of best practices in public housing administration across Canada and documentation of the administrative process and analysis of potential gaps and issues surrounding the program were incorporated.
The regional meetings and client satisfaction survey were completed in November and December 2007. The final survey results were reported by the N.W.T. Bureau of Statistics in January 2008.
The results of the review so far show the system is working overall, but there is a need for slight administrative changes to be made. The customer satisfaction survey administered by the Statistics Bureau shows that 75 per cent of the 780 respondents were somewhat satisfied or very satisfied. In the review, we have identified areas that require attention including communication, completion of timely assessments, ensuring policies are clear and comprehensive, and a need to review program components such as cost-of-living reductions and work incentives.
To deal with administrative issues, a policy working group including representatives of the N.W.T. Housing Corporation; Education, Culture and Employment; and local housing authorities has been established and has met and developed an action plan that details short- and long-term actions.
Short-term actions are already underway, and we have developed options for dealing with these challenges that require attention. These actions include improving communications, such as program promotional materials, advertising on local radio stations in all official languages, and ensuring Local Housing Organizations and Income Security staff meet regularly to review files; providing tenants with more options for reporting and providing their required documentation; a service commitment to a 48-hour turnaround time when all documentation is in place; assignment of client service officers focused primarily on Public Housing Rental Subsidy clients in larger centres; utilization of itinerant client service officers in the most needed areas; and where possible, co-location of Local Housing Organizations and Income Security offices.
From a policy perspective, we will be doing further work with respect to policies around exempting income for caregivers and eliminating the requirement for 15- to 18-year-old students in a household to report income, providing incentives to work. We will also review and update a cost-of-living rent reduction.
Other actions will be identified through ongoing work of the policy working group and through the continued joint efforts of all parties who play an important role in the delivery of public housing supports to people in need, namely the Department of Education, Culture and Employment; the N.W.T. Housing Corporation; and the Local Housing Organization.
I am pleased with the amount of work that has been done on this review in the past few months. I know that we still have some work to do to continue to make improvements where needed. The review has helped identify the areas that require short-term and long-term actions.
I will be reporting back to Members on the progress that we make in our identified actions at the next sitting of the Legislative Assembly in June 2008.
