Additionally, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Chief Medical Officer of Health has shared a letter to clarify the isolation requirements that were outlined in CMOH Order 23-2020. A previous letter from Dr. Hinshaw to residents of continuing care facilities, which addresses continuing restrictions during the phased reopening of the province, has also been re-circulated.
Read CSS’ latest Q&A, released yesterday. Please continue to submit to us, or to your regional chairs, any questions you may have that CSS can address via their weekly Q&A as the relaunch progresses.
Alberta Disability Workers Association (ADWA) has launched a letter-writing campaign to advocate for wage raises for the disability support service workforce by a minimum of $2/hr. The campaign encourages disability service providers, disability support workers, and families of individuals in care to send letters with this wage increase request to provincial party leaders, as well as local MLAs.
The campaign seeks to immediately have workers' wages increased in response to COVID-19, as well as increased wages post-COVID and long term to recognize the trained, skilled and professional workforce.
Click the links below for more information on each letter request:
All supportive living and long-term care residents and families are invited to a Telephone Town Hall with Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Chief Medical Officer of Health, to discuss the next steps for Alberta’s Visitor Policy. Participants can choose one of the following Town Hall times:
Bill 24, the COVID-19 Pandemic Response Statutes Amendment Act, proposes measures to support Albertans as the province continues to reopen. The bill proposes amendments to 15 acts across seven ministries. The amendments are being proposed now that the state of public health emergency has ended. Some highlights of the bill that may be relevant to service providers are:
Extending to August 2021 the unpaid job-protected leave specific to COVID-19, which allows employees to take leave to care for a child due to school or daycare closures or to care for an ill or self-isolating family member.
Extending the maximum time for temporary layoffs related to COVID-19 from 120 days to 180 days (this change would come into force upon first reading).
Stage 2 of Alberta’s relaunch strategy began on June 12. Last week, we shared two documents to support community disability service providers with guidance and best practices on how to safely reopen services:
We encourage you to continue to share issues and challenges, so we can address these through updated resources and our advocacy efforts.
ACDS COVID-19 Contact Email
Service provider input and engagement is critical to helping ACDS advocate on behalf of the sector. Service providers can report their issues, concerns and questions to our dedicated email, and a member of the ACDS Leadership team will respond:
