To establish clear communication guidelines that assist Income Support staff in accessing the information they need to make decisions.

POLICY

Communicating with Delivery Supports

Delivery Supports is available to assist Delivery Services staff in the following areas:

• Clarifying interpretation of time sensitive policy issues for complex situations faced by regional delivery staff that cannot be resolved within the region,
• Essential policy manual maintenance such as broken links and outdated contact information etc.
   

When a question or concern arises requesting clarification of policy issues, Delivery Supports conducts a thorough analysis and consults with other areas as needed. A response is then provided with references to policy and legislation that staff may considered in their decision making process.

The procedures outlined below are guidelines for communicating with Delivery Supports, including steps required before sending an inquiry to Delivery Supports.

Suggestions for improvements to policy should be raised through regional leadership. Regional Directors can review the suggestions while considering the overall impacts and escalate priority suggestions to executive leadership. New suggestions will be reviewed and triaged.  

PROCEDURES

The steps below are followed when workers require clarification on a particular issue related to ETW/BFE Income Support policies:

1. The worker researches the issue by using the online policy manual to: 
   1. Identify related Income Support policies, and
   2. Identify gaps (if any) in the information that affects ability to make a decision, and
   3. Identify specific policy/technical questions that they need to answer to resolve the situation.
2. The worker consults with the Supervisor to resolve the issue.
3. The Income Support Supervisor consults with other Supervisors, as needed.  If the issue remains unresolved, the Supervisor discusses the issue with the Manager or regional Income Support Specialist.
4. The Manager or Regional Income Support Specialist reviews the issue and provides direction or consults with the Senior Manager (as needed). If further clarification from Delivery Supports is required the following template is copied and pasted into an email. After completing all sections and attaching supporting documentation from the file, the inquiry is emailed to Delivery Supports.
    

These steps ensure that issue resolution is a shared activity between Delivery Supports and Income Support staff, promoting decision making by the appropriate delegated authority. Issues will be monitored so that policy manual updates can be considered and potential training opportunities can be identified.

Note
Essential policy manual maintenance issues such as broken links and outdated contact information can be emailed to Delivery Supports without the above template. Ensure the links where the updates are required are included within the email.