September 17, 1996
(Social Services)

The following is being distributed at the request of the Social Policy Advisory Committee:

Strategic Social Plan Dialogue Schedule

Penelope Rowe, Chair of the Social Policy Advisory Committee, today announced the schedule for public dialogue for the development of the provincial strategic social plan.

The provincial government is designing a strategic social plan for the province. The plan will help establish policy direction for years to come.

"Social policy affects everyone," said Ms. Rowe. "Anyone who sees a doctor, goes to a hospital, is enrolled in school or university, uses municipal services such as roads, water and sewerage, receives social assistance benefits, attends a performance at an arts and culture centre, deals with the legal system, uses a park or sports facility is using social programs. How these services work and what services we have is determined by social policy."

The plan will set out long-term objectives, broad strategies and priorities for our social programs and services.

It will decide how best to provide the services we need, how we can afford them and how we should share the responsibility for delivering them.

Last June, government released the Strategic Social Plan Consultation Paper which serves as background information for public discussion. The paper identifies many of the issues and challenges we must confront as we move toward the twenty-first century.

"We are living in a time of tremendous social and economic change and demand for many programs is increasing. We can wait and try to cope with change when it happens or we can plan for it realistically," said Ms. Rowe. "How well we cope with change will determine how well we do in the future. We need to rethink how programs and services are organized and arranged and how our social policy can support economic development."

The strategic social plan will be a framework for policy directions for the future.

The Social Policy Advisory Committee will carry out a public dialogue to talk to people across the province. The Social Policy Advisory Committee is an independent group of private citizens from diverse backgrounds, interests, and regions of the province. The committee, made up of volunteer members, will visit 25 communities from L'Anse au Clair to Bonavista to listen to suggestions and to discuss what new approaches might be taken.

"We want to ask people what is important to them, their families, and their communities," said Ms. Rowe. "And we want to hear the public's view of the changes which they think are necessary. We have to look at the ways things are done now and find ways to improve them. We need to find innovative approaches to meeting our individual and collective needs and providing services. We have to ask questions about how people can support themselves, how we can maintain our communities, and how we secure a reasonable quality of life wherever we live in the province. We also have to find ways to ensure that all citizens have a fair opportunity to participate in our society. We must create a framework for social policy which will work for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians."

The Social Policy Advisory Committee has designed a flexible and open process to encourage the participation of individuals and groups from diverse backgrounds and to ensure that their opinions are welcome. People will have a variety of ways to present to the committee including: public forums; arranged meetings; drop in sessions; written submissions and comments; private discussions with government employees; discussions groups; a toll free line 1-800-814-5611; workbook; E-mail; and a World Wide Web site.

The committee will prepare a report and recommendations to submit to government on behalf of the people of the province.

"This is a really exciting challenge," said Ms. Rowe. "It is an opportunity for all of us to think about the big issues and the vision we want for the future."

Public dialogue schedule attached.

Contact: Doug Scott, Social Policy Advisory Committee, (709) 729-2646.

SOCIAL POLICY ADVISORY COMMITTEE PUBLIC DIALOGUE SESSIONS