Canadian Social Research Newsletter
June 4, 2006

Welcome to the weekly Canadian Social Research Newsletter,
a listing of the new links added to the Canadian Social Research Links website in the past week.

The e-mail version of this week's issue of the newsletter is going out to 1617 subscribers.
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to see some notes and a disclaimer.

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IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian Content

1. Effective Practices in Sheltering Women Leaving Violence in Intimate Relationships (YWCA Canada) - June 1
2. What's New from The Daily [Statistics Canada]:
--- Residential Care Facilities, 2003/2004 - June 2
--- Foreign control in the Canadian economy, 2004 - June 2
--- Study: Canada's labour market at a glance, 2005 - June 1
--- Canadian economic accounts - May 31
--- How are Canadian Regions Adjusting to a Larger and More Integrated North American Market? - May 31
--- Employment Insurance, March 2006 - May 30
3. McGuinty (Ontario) Government Improvements for People with Disabilities (Ministry of Community and Social Services) - May 30, 31, June 1
4. Losing the Waiting Game (Unreasonable delays in establishing eligibility for the Ontario Disability Support Program) (Ombudsman Ontario)- May 31
5. Latest welfare statistics for Ontario (March 2006) (Ministry of Community and Social Services) - June 1
6. What's New from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (University of Toronto) - June 2

International Content

7. Poverty Dispatch Digest : U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs --- June 1
8. Understanding Changes in Child Poverty Over the Past Decade (U.S.) (The Urban Institute) - May 2006

Women Fleeing Violence at Heightened Risk of Being Murdered:
New Study Calls on Canadian Legislators to Make Violence Against Women a National Priority
June 1, 2006
"...a national study, the first of its kind, involving a network of violence against women shelters from coast to coast. (...)This is the first study to examine both the nature of the abuse faced by women and the vital services that protect them. The report’s recommendations call for comprehensive social supports that go beyond shelter walls."
- incl. links to all related documents

Violence against women is a national shame: now it must become a national priority
Media Release
June 1, 2006
YWCA Canada releases a national study that indicates an alarmingly high percentage of women coming to shelters are at risk of being murdered. Of the 368 women interviewed at ten research sites across Canada, 77 percent were at extreme or severe risk of homicide.
Communiqué de presse (1er juin)

Executive Summary (PDF file - 2.2MB, 21 pages)
Full Report
Effective Practices in Sheltering Women Leaving Violence in Intimate Relationships (PDF file - 3.3MB, 130 pages)
Published June 1st, 2006
Rapport complet (version française)
Pratiques efficaces pour protéger les femmes fuyant la violence dans leurs relations intimes (fichier PDF)
NOTA: si ce lien est brisé, retournez à la page principale de l'étude  et cliquez le lien pour la version française du fichier

Background information on project
- includes context + a link to the Phase I report (2003)

The study home page also includes links to:
- May 30 Media Advisory (Avis aux médias du 30 mai)
- Press Conference Panel - Biographies
- Question & Answers (Questions et réponses)
- Facts on Violence Against Women
- Violence Against Women: National News Stories

Source:
YWCA Canada | A Turning Point for Women

- Go to the the Canadian Non-Governmental Sites about Women's Social Issues page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/womencanngo.htm

June 2, 2006
Residential care facilities, 2002/2003 and 2003/2004
Women outnumbered men by a ratio of more than two to one in Canada's residential care facilities for seniors in 2003/2004. Data for all provinces and territories, except Quebec, show that nearly 103,500 women lived in homes for the aged, compared with just under 42,400 men.

Complete report:

Residential Care Facilities, 2003/2004 (PDF file - 723K, 124 pages)

June 2, 2006
Foreign control in the Canadian economy, 2004
The share of foreign control in the Canadian economy remained stable in 2004, despite strong growth in both assets and revenues of foreign-controlled corporations.

June 1, 2006
Study: Canada's labour market at a glance, 2005
Employment in Canada increased for a 13th consecutive year in 2005, the longest stretch of employment gains since the large-scale increases of the 1960s and 1970s. Over the last 13 years, employment growth has averaged 2.0% per year, according to a new report on Canada's labour market.

Complete study:

The Canadian Labour Market at a Glance 2005 (868K, 126 pages)
- Everything you always wanted to know about employment and unemployment in Canada but were unsure where to look --- charts and highlights of key trends in Canada's job market.

May 31, 2006
Canadian economic accounts, first quarter 2006 and March 2006
Economic activity picked up in the first quarter as real gross domestic product advanced 0.9% on the heels of continued strength in investment and personal expenditure. In March, monthly output edged up 0.1% from February. A more detailed analysis is available in Canadian Economic Accounts Quarterly Review.

May 31, 2006
Study: How are Canadian regions adjusting to
a larger, more integrated North American market?, 1980 to 1999
All regions in Canada have benefited from North American economic integration, a new study shows. The Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) provided Canada and all of its regions with better access to the large North American market.The study found that all regions have benefited through improved productivity performance, higher wages and higher output growth. However, Ontario has been the principal beneficiary.

Complete study:

How are Canadian Regions Adjusting to a Larger
and More Integrated North American Market? (PDF file -234K, 34 pages)

May 30, 2006
Employment Insurance, March 2006 (preliminary) Previous release
-incl. national and provincial-territorial breakdowns
An estimated 502,710 Canadians received regular Employment Insurance benefits in March (seasonally adjusted), virtually unchanged from February.

- Go to the Federal Government Department Links (Fisheries and Oceans to Veterans Affairs) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fedbkmrk2.htm

From the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services:

Breaking Down Communication Barriers For Ontarians Who Are Deaf Or Deafblind
Budget Investment Means More Service, Greater Independence For People With Disabilities
News Release
June 1, 2006
TORONTO – The McGuinty government is investing in more services for Ontarians who need intervenors or sign language interpreters to assist them with daily activities. “For someone who is deafblind or has a hearing disability, communication barriers can seriously limit their access to things that most of us take for granted, such as going to the bank or visiting their doctor,” said Community and Social Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur. “By breaking down these communication barriers, we are building greater independence for people with disabilities.”

$11 Million Investment Results In Better And Faster Service
Backgrounder
June 1, 2006
The Ontario government’s $11 million budget investment in interpreter and intervenor services will help provide more service to people who need it, improve the quality of services and improve wages to attract and keep people who provide interpreter and intervenor services.

Greater Fairness For People Awaiting Disability Support
Government Eliminates Four Month Retroactive Payment Rule
News Release
May 31, 2006
TORONTO – The McGuinty government has eliminated a rule that limited retroactive payments for Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) applicants, Community and Social Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur announced today.

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Editorial Comment
May 31
Barbara Anello of Disabled Women's Network Ontario (DAWN-Ontario) adds a few marginal notes to the MCSS news release concerning the elimination of the four-month rule...
NOTE: scroll a bit further down this page for a link to the Ombudsman Ontario report ("Losing the Waiting Game") that led to the repeal of the four-month retroactive payment rule
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Removing Barriers For People With Disabilities Helps Open Doors To New Customers
McGuinty Government Partnerships Demonstrate The Benefits Of Improved Accessibility
News Release
May 31, 2006
TORONTO – The McGuinty government is working with Ontario businesses and community groups to build awareness of the benefits of removing barriers for people with disabilities, Madeleine Meilleur, Minister Responsible for Ontarians with Disabilities, announced today. Meilleur joined representatives of the Ontario Chinese Restaurant and Food Services Association (OCRFA) in Toronto’s Chinatown neighbourhood to announce the government’s seven new EnAbling Change partnership projects.

EnAbling Change Partnership Program 2006-2007
Backgrounder
May 31
The EnAbling Change partnership program builds strategic partnerships with business, broader public sector and non-profit organizations to promote accessibility for people with disabilities. The government is investing almost $300,000 in seven partnerships that will help promote strategies to break down barriers for people with disabilities.

Building Accessibility Champions
Backgrounder
May 30, 2006
Improving accessibility for people with disabilities in employment, customer service and universal design is the driving force behind the projects funded under the Ontario government’s EnAbling Change partnership program.

McGuinty Government Builds Better Access For People With Disabilities
Partnership Project Promotes the Shaw Festival to More Tourists and Theatre-goers
News Release
May 30, 2006
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE – The Ontario government, Shaw Festival and the Canadian Standards Association are changing the way patrons with disabilities are being served when they go to the theatre. Ontario Minister of Community and Social Services and Minister Responsible for Ontarians with Disabilities, Madeleine Meilleur, today joined Shaw Festival Executive Director Colleen Blake to celebrate the results of the Shaw Festival’s participation in the Building Champions program. Through this program, the Canadian Standards Association worked with seven “champion” businesses and organizations to develop and test new customer service training for businesses to use when serving customers with disabilities.

- Go to the Ontario Government Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk.htm

From Ombudsman Ontario:

Ontario’s most vulnerable are losing out (PDF file- 55K, 4 pages)
TORONTO, Ontario (May 31, 2006) – Ontario’s disabled have lost out on disability benefits to the tune of at least $6 million, as a result of delays in processing their applications for support by the Ministry of Community and Social Services’ Ontario Disability Support Program and the impact of a provincial regulation, which limited retroactive benefit payments to four months. “Thousands of Ontario’s most vulnerable citizens have become losers in a cruelly insensitive and intensely bureaucratic waiting game” Mr. Marin notes in his latest report titled “Losing the Waiting Game.”

Complete report:

Losing the Waiting Game-May 2006 (PDF file - 1.7MB, 38 pages)
May 2006
Investigation into Unreasonable Delay at the Ministry of Community and Social Services' Ontario Disability Support Program's Disability Adjudication Unit.

- Go to the Ontario Government Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk.htm

March 2006 Welfare Statistics for Ontario Released - June 1

Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) Statistics
"ODSP was designed to meet the income and employment support needs of people with disabilities. The program provides income support and health-related benefits to people with disabilities who are in need of financial assistance. The employment supports component of the program offers a range of goods and services to help people with disabilities to look for, obtain or maintain jobs on a volunteer basis."

ODSP Program Information

Ontario Works (OW) Statistics
"OW provides employment and financial assistance to people who are in temporary financial need. The employment assistance helps people become and stay employed and includes job search support services, basic education and job skills training, community and employment placement, supports to self-employment, Learning, Earning and Parenting, addiction services and earning exemptions that allow participants to earn income as they move back into the workforce."

OW Program Information

- Go to the Ontario Government Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk.htm

What's New - from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) - University of Toronto

Each week, the Childcare Resource and Research Unit disseminates its "e-mail news notifier", an e-mail message with a dozen or so links to new reports, studies and child care in the news (media articles) by the CRRU or another organization in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC). What you see below is selected content from the most recent issue of the notifier.

2-Jun-06

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Child care in Chile
Hats off to President Michelle Bachelet!
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The election of Chile's first female president, Michelle Bachelet, on January 16, 2006 promises to become significant for child care in this country. Bachelet is making child care a high priority and has committed to opening 800 new child care centres this year, 200 of which she has promised to open during her first 100 days in office. (...)

Related Links:

Care for every child
Jen Ross/Toronto Star, 27 May 06

"If things are going so well in our country,
we ought to be able to offer our children more opportunities" (PDF file - 83K, 3 pages)
Government of Chile press release, 19 Apr 06

Early childhood policies in the Bachelet administration (PDF file - 47K, 1 page)
Government of Chile, 30 Mar 06

NOTE: CRRU provides links to recent excerpts from the House of Commons Hansard on the subject of early learning and child care.
See http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=89366

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What's New
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CARE WORK AND SHIFT WORK, CAN IT WORK? $7/DAY CHILD CARE IN PONTIAC COUNTY, QUEBEC
by Albanese, Patrizia
Presentation for the 2006 Congress of Humanities and Social Sciencesdiscusses findings from qualitative interviews with parents and child care providers.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER. MINISTER REID NEEDS TO PUSH HARD FOR CHILD CARE
Press release from the BCGEU says "90 percent of British Columbians, whether they personally need it or not, support child care for families who do."

EDUCATION FOR ALL GLOBAL MONITORING REPORT 2007
The theme of this upcoming UNESCO report is EFA goal 1: "Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children."

THE ROLE OF CHILD CARE SETTING IN OBSESITY PREVENTION
by Story, Mary; Kaphingst, Karen M. & French, Simone
Article from the Future of Children (US) describes child care centres as "untapped opportunities for developing and evaluating effective obesity-prevention strategies to reach both children and their parents."

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Child Care in the News
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B.C. to push Ottawa for more child care dollars [CA-BC]
by Rudd, Jeff / Victoria Times Colonist, 1 Jun 06

Waterloo day care shutting [CA-ON]
by Etherington, Frank & Davis, Brent / Record (Kitchener, Cambridge and
Waterloo), 31 May 06

Trying to build bigger families [CA]
by Goar, Carol / Toronto Star, 31 May 06

Provinces, feds squabble over child-care funding [CA]
by Greenaway, Norma / Ottawa Citizen, 30 May 06

Daycare debate (Mike Duffy interview with Mary Anne Chambers) [CA]
CTV News, 29 May 06

Child care funding heads agenda as federal, provincial ministers meet [CA]
by Brown, Jim / Canadian Press, 29 May 06

Social Development minister's riding hurt by child-care program cut [CA-ON]
by Ditchburn, Jennifer / Canadian Press, 29 May 06

Care for every child [CL]
by Ross, Jen / Toronto Star, 27 May 06

Shouldering the burden [AU]
by Wade, Matt / Sydney Morning Herald, 27 May 06

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This message was forwarded through the Childcare Resource
and Research Unit e-mail news notifier. For information on the
CRRU e-mail notifier, including instructions for (un)subscribing,
see http://www.childcarecanada.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Related Links:

What's New? - Canadian, U.S. and international resources
Child Care in the News - media articles
Links to child care sites in Canada and elsewhere
CRRU Publications - briefing notes, factsheets, occasional papers and other publications
ISSUE files - theme pages, each filled with contextual information and links to further info
New Issue File:
ELCC and the federal budget 2006 - May 2006
On May 2, 2006 the Conservative government presented its first budget since the election of January 23rd. This ISSUE file provides links to budget documents pertaining to child care, as well as responses from opposition parties, child care and other civil society organizations, and a selection of media coverage.

- Go to the Non-Governmental Early Learning and Child Care Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ecd2.htm

Poverty Dispatch / Digest
As of June 1, 2006, the Institute for Research on Poverty at the U. of Wisconsin is posting to its website a copy of each Poverty Dispatch, containing links to Web-based news items (predominantly American) dealing with poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, education, health, hunger, Medicare and Medicaid, and much more. Before that date, the Poverty Dispatch was available only by e-mail.

Poverty Dispatch - June 1, 2006 <====the first online issue
IRP compiles and distributes Poverty Dispatches, , twice a week. Each Dispatch lists links to current news in popular print media. If you wish to receive Poverty Dispatches by e-mail, send a request to povdispatch@ssc.wisc.edu

Today's subjects include: Health Coverage * Living Wage * Community Development Grants * Poverty and Disaster Preparedness * Fatherhood Study * Minimum Wage * Poverty and Obesity * Food Banks and Hunger

POVERTY DISPATCH description/archive - this is my own archive of weekly issues of the digest back to August 2005, 50+ links per issue
NOTE: this archive is part of the Canadian Social Research Links American Non-Governmental Social Research page.

POVERTY DISPATCH - May 30
Institute for Research on Poverty - U. of Wisconsin
(click the link above to read all of the articles)

May 30, 2006
Today's subjects include: Teaching Poor Children - Editorial // Universal Preschool // Problems with Privatized Social Services - Texas // Privatizing Social-Services Eligibility Operation - Indiana // Problems with Computerized Welfare-Benefits System - Colorado // Help from State's Welfare Surplus - Ohio // Economic Impact of Immigrants - Minnesota // Education as a Path out of Poverty - Mississippi // Health Care Reform - Vermont // Health Care Plan for Low-Income Residents - Tennessee // Tax Breaks for Charity Hospitals - Chicago // Food Assistance - Detroit // Minimum Wage - North Carolina // Homelessness - Minot, ND

Each of the weekly digests offers dozens of links or more to media articles that are time-sensitive.
The older the link, the more likely it is to either be dead or have moved to an archive - and some archives [but not all] are pay-as-you-go.
[For the current week's digest, click on the POVERTY DISPATCH Digest link above]

Source:
Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP)
[ University of Wisconsin-Madison ]

For the current week's digest, click on the POVERTY DISPATCH Digest link at the top of this section.
Recently-archived POVERTY DISPATCH weekly digests:

- May 25, 2006
- May 18
- May 11
- May 4
- April 27

- Go to the Links to American Government Social Research page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us.htm
- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (A-J) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us2.htm
- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (M-Z) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us3.htm

Understanding Changes in Child Poverty Over the Past Decade
May 2006
"Child poverty dropped dramatically from 1993 to 2000 and increased from 2000 to 2004; both trends were even more marked for black children. While work, education, and family structure, together with macroeconomic conditions, are all significant determinants of child poverty over the last twenty years, macroeconomic conditions dominate the explanation for the dramatic changes of 1993 to 2000 and 2000 to 2004. Specifically, the state unemployment rate and real minimum wage (especially interacted with educational attainment) explain most of the fall in child poverty during the 1990's and the more recent rise."
Summary - HTML

Complete report:
Understanding Changes in
Child Poverty Over the Past Decade - PDF file (112K, 32 pages)
Austin Nichols
May 2006

Order Online (free)

Source:
The Urban Institute (Washington)
("A nonpartisan economic and social policy research organization")

- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (M-Z) Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us3.htm

Disclaimer/Privacy Statement

Both Canadian Social Research Links (the site) and this Canadian Social Research Newsletter belong solely to me, Gilles Séguin.

I am solely accountable for the choice of links presented therein and for the occasional editorial comment - it's my time, my home computer, my experience, my biases, my Rogers Internet account and my web hosting service.

I administer the mailing list and distribute the weekly newsletter using software on the web server of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
Thanks, CUPE!

If you wish to subscribe to the e-mail version of newsletter, go to the Canadian Social Research Newsletter Online Subscription page:
http://lists.cupe.ca/mailman/listinfo/csrl-news

You can unsubscribe by going to the same page or by sending me an e-mail message [ gilseg@rogers.com ]

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Privacy Policy:
The Canadian Social Research Newsletter mailing list is not used for any purpose except to distribute each weekly issue.
I promise not share any information on this list, nor to send you any junk mail.

Links presented in the Canadian Social Research Newsletter point to different views about social policy and social programs.
There are some that I don't agree with, so don't get on my case, eh...

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http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/news.htm

Please feel free to distribute this newsletter as widely as you wish, but please remember to mention Canadian Social Research Links when you do.

Cheers!
Gilles

E-MAIL:
gilseg@rogers.com