TORONTO -- Staff in Ontario's welfare and disability support offices say government memos on how to fix ongoing problems with a new computer system are causing even more issues.
The front-line staff complaints are contained in an interim report on the problem-plagued rollout of the Social Assistance Management System that was released today.
The report, by PricewaterhouseCoopers, draws no conclusions about the government's handling of the $245-million system that issues welfare and disability support payments, but highlights both ongoing concerns and government progress.
Since it was released late last year, SAMS has been experiencing issues, notably queuing up $20 million in welfare and disability support overpayments in December.
The report says the government has made "considerable efforts" to communicate with front-line staff, but the report authors heard from staff that they are so overwhelmed that even reading the memos is a time barrier and the language is too technical.
Community and Social Services Minister Helena Jaczek says SAMS is improving social assistance in Ontario, but "there's no question its implementation must continue to be improved."
