The provincial Transitional Employment Allowance (TEA) program is supposed to provide financial assistance to people who are unemployed, but Vincent Charest believes it is broken and needs fixing.
Charest, 21, moved to Saskatchewan from Ontario with his girlfriend a year ago and applied for the program this past May. He joined two weeks later and things seemed to go well, but his first cheque had the wrong name on it.
“After that, it was a complete (crap show) from there on,” he chuckled.
Charest lives in Moose Jaw, but the call centre is in Regina, so most business with TEA officials was conducted by phone and fax.
Officials began playing games that kept him from receiving his money, including asking him four times for paperwork, Charest recalled. He would send it in by fax and would then be told three days later the paperwork hadn’t arrived. He doesn’t believe that, since the fax machine confirmed each time it had gone through.
Program staff finally told him he was ineligible to participate since his girlfriend worked part-time — she made barely enough to support herself, let alone him, Charest noted — and her paycheque should cover both of them.
“The entire time, all of these women are on the phone with me and they are being the most condescending people in the world to me,” continued Charest, who felt insulted by the call centre’s comments. What’s worse, he waited on hold for two hours every time he called, while it was two more months before he saw another cheque.
Program staff at the Moose Jaw office were better in comparison, he added.
The Ministry of Social Services was unable to speak to Charest’s case specifically, nor could a ministry official speak in an interview. However, a spokeswoman provided a statement to the Moose Jaw Express about the process.
Ministry staff works with applicants to determine their service and income-support needs, the statement said. All applicants must provide information about their income, assets and needs, which prevents delays in initial benefits being issued. If clients need help completing paperwork, they can call the client service centre or visit their local office.
If a benefit payment is issued incorrectly, the ministry works with clients to make the necessary changes and reissue the benefit immediately.
Charest says Saskatchewan’s TEA program is “very, very outdated and broken.” He doesn’t believe call centre staff care about the people since they seem to want to get rid of callers quickly.
“I want someone to care about it … ,” he chuckled. “If nobody cares about it, nothing is ever going to happen.”
He compared his employment assistance experience in Saskatchewan with that in Ontario, where a year ago, he received his first cheque and the help of a social worker 48 hours after registering with the program. His social worker later helped him find a job.
Charest’s social worker in Moose Jaw barely helped him, he said. He visited the Moose Jaw office every Wednesday for employment training, but didn’t receive much help. Office staff handed him job printouts from SaskJobs.ca, but he had already applied for those or reviewed them at home.
“I’m lucky enough I don’t need the TEA program now … ,” he continued, adding he is joining the Canadian Armed Forces. “(However), I feel so bad for the people on the program.”
The ministry is phasing out TEA and replacing it with the Saskatchewan Income Support (SIS) program, which focuses on helping people overcome their challenges and moving them to employment or participation in their communities, said the statement. Using a new approach called motivational interviewing, staff works with clients to make positive decisions, manage their benefits and accomplish their goals.
SIS also includes increased earned income exemptions so clients can keep more of what they earn before their benefits are reduced.
