The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Region finds new social services commissioner on staff By Tim Foran METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP 13 · Wednesday, April 28, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com The director of Halton's services for seniors division, Sheldon Wolfson, is moving up to take over the Region's entire social and community services department. Last week, council approved the appointment of Wolfson to become commissioner, one of the top positions at the municipality. In his new role, Wolfson will not only oversee services for seniors, but also public housing, welfare, employment and children's services. "Flattered, excited, I consider it a real privilege to serve the Region in a different capacity," Wolfson said in reaction to being given the promotion. The social and community services department accounts for almost a quarter of Halton's $700 million operating budget. Its budget, almost two-thirds of which is funded by the Province, is more than the combined operating expenditures of the Towns of Milton and Halton Hills and rivals that of the City of Burlington. However, being in charge of big dollars won't be new to Wolfson. The Milton resident has been director of the services for seniors division since 2002. The division, which includes the Region's three long-term care homes, is one of the largest in the municipality with a budget of $53 million and 800 employees. Wolfson said it's too early to identify his priorities in his new role. "I've got several portfolios that I really want to look into and then move after I've looked into it (them)." What he'll likely find are two major items that require attention. In December, the Region was projecting a 71 per cent increase in the amount of people applying for social assistance this year. The increase in welfare requests is expected as unemployment benefits expire for people who lost their jobs during the recession. At the same time, the Region is falling behind in the affordable housing targets council outlined in 2006. The comprehensive housing strategy envisioned the creation of 800 affordable housing units by 2015, but the Region has only managed to create about a quarter of them so far. The housing division recently lost its director, Rob Cressman, who took a position with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. As commissioner, Wolfson replaces Adelina Urbanski, who served for more than a decade before taking a position in York Region in February. Since Urbanski left, the Region's medical officer of health, Dr. Bob Nosal, had been in charge of both public health and social and community services.