N.B. public advocate pitches non-profit co-ordination unit to fix social services

New Brunswick’s public advocate says the province should create a new unit to bridge the gaps between its social services and the community organizations that deliver them.

Kelly Lamrock says the unit would co-ordinate the province’s social services strategy while leaving service delivery to the government’s partners in non-government organizations.

In a report published today, Lamrock proposes the establishment of a Non-Profit Opportunities Unit that would measure success by human results, such as vulnerable people receiving housing.

He says the current system heavily depends on social services workers following manuals and checklists rather than tracking whether a person’s life actually improves.

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The new body would also work to connect the bureaucratic dots for the community organizations by streamlining grant applications.

In two separate reports released earlier this year, Lamrock blamed the deaths of a 16-year-old boy and an elderly woman on systemic failures by the province’s Department of Social Development.

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In the 50-page report released Tuesday, Lamrock criticizes the department for being too rules-bound in its approach to social services.

The proposed non-profit unit, he says, would track human quality-of-life outcomes as a new way of measuring the value of taxpayer-funded programs.

He says the unit should use “social entrepreneurship contracts” that could provide savings for government by focusing on preventative measures.

Lamrock suggests in his report that spending more on social services can lead to savings later by preventing crises.

For example, he says investing more in programs for at-risk teenagers, such as those who are recovering from addictions, can decrease costs down the road by reducing the number of youth who enter the justice system.

“By reinventing the relationship between government and the non-profit sector, New Brunswick can move from crisis management to prevention, from bureaucracy to partnership, and from charity to essential service,” Lamrock writes in the report.

“The Non-Profit Opportunities Unit and Social Entrepreneurship Contract framework offer a roadmap for action — one that rewards outcomes, empowers communities, and sustains innovation.”