THUNDER BAY -- A new system at the District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board is getting better but there's more work to be done, says its CAO.
The DSSAB needed to hire extra security earlier this month after some clients threatened staff as a process that used to take a little more than an hour for Ontario Works was now leaving people waiting three-and-a-half hours under the new province-wide system.
CAO Bill Bradica said staff have now brought that number to around two-and-a-half hours.
"Still it's taking longer than it was under the old system," he said. "Still not to where we'd like it to be but there has been some progress."
Nearly 50 service managers across the province demanded that the old system be implemented but Bradica said that's not an option.
"The province made it very clear that they cannot roll back to the old system," he said.
The new system, created by a subsidiary of IBM, also saw delays in Ontario Work cheques and wrong amounts. Bradica said the latest round has been sent out and should be in clients' hands in time for Christmas.
The province and IBM are working through the weekend to try and improve the system more.
"There's really not much we can do. We just have to wait until fixes are implemented and improvements are made," he said.
As for frustration, Bradica said staff have told him it's been better lately. There haven't been any threats since DSSAB hired extra security.
"People in general are very respectful. We did have some unfortunate isolated incidents," he said.
