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2- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday April 30, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Agencies warned against going public about cutbacks Continued from page 1 UWO officials say the cutbacks are due to the full implementation of a new funding system -- designed to be multi-year and measurable. They say the system was several years in the making and renders the UWO more transparent, responsible and accountable to its donors. However, the new system has left many long-time member agencies scrambling for funding dollars they thought were coming from the UWO. It's hard to determine just how many UWO member agencies were hit by cutbacks because the United Way is remaining tightlipped. However, The Oakville Beaver has learned the member agencies experiencing cutbacks include: the Oakville Parent-Child Centre, Community Living Oakville, Grace House Group Home, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Halton Chapter, Halton Big Brothers Big Sisters, Community Development Halton and Halton Family Services. While some agencies are speaking up publicly, others hesitate to do so in case negativity affects donations -- which would further impede their funding struggles. "I would caution about having that discussion in front of Joe Public, as it would be hurting the organizations they are trying to help by creating doubt about our stewardship," said Carolann Barton, UWO manager of marketing and communications. The first agency to speak up publicly was Community Development Halton (CDH). CDH, a local agency led by Dr. Joey Edwardh, provides local social research to local "I would caution about having that discussion in front of Joe Public, as it would be hurting the organizations they are trying to help by creating doubt about our stewardship." Carolann Barton, United Way of Oakville manager of marketing and communications agencies, government and the public. Earlier this month, Edwardh brought the cutbacks to the attention of Halton Region's Health and Social Services Committee. The CDH has lost 30 per cent of its UWO funding for 2008 and will lose its UWO funding completely in 2009 -- a loss of $125,000, according to CDH. Edwardh told the regional committee that the loss was "considerable and alarming," and of the magnitude requiring a scaling back of services. Edwardh told the committee it received a letter from UWO that said CDH's work doesn't speak to the UWO's priority areas. According to UWO, it is now working with a board-approved focus to four specific target areas -- strengthening families; supporting independence and wellbeing in seniors; supporting those in crisis; and promoting self-sufficiency in individuals. Previously, its target areas had included: children and youth; community advocacy and planning; families and individuals in crisis; services for the elderly; and, health and rehabilitation. In the past two years, the UWO has fallen short of its annual fundraising goal each year. It fell short by $100,000 in 2007. The year before, the UWO aimed to raise $2.25 million and raised $2.15 million. To ensure agencies were not subject to unexpected funding cuts in 2007, UWO's board elected to bolster the UWO investment in the community by accessing reserve funds, adjusting its operating budget, discontinuing its community capacity grants program for 2007, eliminating its emergency fund and reducing its contribution to the Halton Healthy Community fund by $14,000. However, UWO officials say those actions are completely separate from its new system of doing business -- a change that was initiated four years ago and has been phased in, with full implementation this year. The UWO maintains its fundraising shortfalls have nothing to do with the funding losses being reported by local groups. "It has absolutely nothing to do with the funding issue we're dealing with right now, the two are mutually exclusive," said Barton. Last year, the UWO board approved a move to target funding priorities to the four specific areas. It was several years ago, that the UWO board approved a move to a new funding model. Each funding target has a criteria and result attached to it, and the targets guide the UWO's investment strategy. A move to multi-year funding over three years is designed to allow stability to recipient agencies and provide efficiencies to both the agencies and UWO, according to the UWO. What appears to be a point of contention in the funding issue surrounds outcome measurement -- not a new tool in business circles and one that has been increasingly adopted by the charitable sector. After receiving training by the UWO through an Ontario Trillium grant, agencies this year faced the full implementation of a two-step application process. All of the Halton United Ways had participated in the Trillium grant and training. Last summer, local agencies filed an expression of interest in funding with the UWO, followed by an application detailing outcome measurement and financial information last fall. Then came a detailed review process. That review began with a professional, third-party review. Then came scrutiny from panels of volunteers from the Oakville community who came up with recommendations for each program at each agency reviewed. The panel reports then went to a Community Impact Cabinet, a group of volunteers at UWO who made funding recommendations to the UWO board. Once approved by the board, agencies were notified of their funding. "For several years we have been working on improving our stewardship of donor dollars," said UWO Community Impact Director Chandra Hardeen. 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