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         BACKGROUNDER--SOCIAL ASSISTANCE DELIVERY SYSTEM
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Nova Scotia is one of three provinces in Canada with a two-tier
social assistance delivery system, in which the responsibility
for social assistance program delivery is shared by the
municipalities and the province.

Provincial programs currently fall under the Family Benefits Act
and municipal programs fall under the Social Assistance Act.

Many advocacy groups, clients and municipalities have favored
changing the system to a single tier since the early 1980s. A
two-tier system is seen as inherently inconsistent and confusing
to clients and the public.

Creating a single-tier system, consisting of one provincial level
of administration, will require new legislation.

Development of a single-tier

The 1993-94 Provincial Municipal Service Exchange reduced
municipal costs for social assistance by approximately $52
million, or one-half. Municipalities now pay a net remaining cost
of approximately $43 million.

The province took over the responsibility for operating municipal
social assistance service programs in the Cape Breton Regional
Municipality on Aug. 1, 1995. This is an ongoing pilot project to
test and develop the concept of single-tier delivery in Nova
Scotia.

The province took over responsibility for delivery of municipal
social assistance programs in the Halifax Regional Municipality
and Queens Regional Municipality on April 1, 1996.

The initiatives are in various stages of integration toward a
single tier.

These negotiations

Premier John Savage committed in October to the current round of
discussions between the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities and
the provincial government.

The purpose of the negotiations was to reach a consensus on the
amount of the municipal contribution to social assistance, and to
develop options as to the appropriate distribution of the total
among municipalities.

Community Services Minister John MacEachern, UNSM president
Steven Stoddart, and table officers of the UNSM tentatively
reached an agreement on April 4, 1997, which was later endorsed
by the UNSM executive.

The agreement defines a formula for sharing the municipal costs
of social assistance among all 55 municipal units. The maximum
total municipal contribution is not to exceed $42.8 million
annually once the single-tier system is created.

The province will now be seeking agreements with individual
municipalities, within the terms of the UNSM agreement.

The province is committed to having the single-tier system in
place provincewide by April 1, 1998.

Welfare reform

A single-tier delivery system will set the stage for provincewide
reform of the Nova Scotia's social assistance system. A welfare
reform project team is now in place to develop the improved
programs, with implementation planned for fiscal 1998-99.

The reforms will be developed with consultation and input from
all stakeholders. Planning is being harmonized with federal
reforms such programs as Employment Insurance and the proposed
Child Tax Benefit.

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trp                      Apr. 11, 1997 - 9:45 a.m.