SUFA Initiative (2002)

General Information

Department

Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC)

Partners

The National Child Benefit is an initiative involving the Government of Canada, provincial and territorial governments, and First Nations.*

*The Government of Quebec has stated that it agrees with the basic principles of the National Child Benefit. Quebec chose not to participate in the NCB because it wanted to assume control of income support for children in Quebec; however, it has adopted a similar approach to the NCB. Throughout this document, references to joint federal/provincial/territorial positions do not include Quebec.

Effective Date

The National Child Benefit was launched in July 1998, when the Government of Canada increased the monthly federal benefit of the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) for low-income families with children.

Expiry Date

Not Applicable. This is a permanent undertaking.

Web Site

http://www.nationalchildbenefit.ca/home_e.html

Purpose

Federal, provincial and territorial governments designed the NCB to meet three goals:

1. Help prevent and reduce the depth of child poverty;
2. Promote attachment to the labour market by ensuring that families will always be better off as a result of working; and
3. Reduce overlap and duplication by harmonizing program objectives and benefits and simplifying administration.

Roles and Contributions

The NCB is restructuring the system of income support for low-income families with children. It is replacing child benefits delivered through provincial/territorial welfare systems with a national platform of income-tested child benefits delivered as a part of the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB).

As a co-operative effort between governments, the NCB combines the strengths of a national program with the flexibility of provincial and territorial initiatives designed to meet the specific needs and conditions within each jurisdiction.

The Federal Role:

Under the National Child Benefit, the Government of Canada is increasing the income support it provides to low-income families with children via the CCTB.

The CCTB has two main elements: the base benefit, which is paid out monthly to more than 80 percent of all Canadian families with children, (reaching 90 percent by 2004), and the National Child Benefit Supplement, which goes to low-income families with net incomes below $32,960 (as of July 2002).

The Government of Canada is committed to providing a significant, incremental and permanent federal investment in the program. The federal investment in the NCB Supplement, which is delivered through the CCTB, had increased dramatically, up to an estimated $2.5 billion in 2001-2002. Overall, the support to families with children provided by the CCTB reached an estimated $7.9 billion in 2001-2002.

Since 2000, the CCTB has been fully indexed, making sure that benefits increase with inflation.

In 2002-2003, maximum benefits for most families will reach $2,444 for the first child, $2,238 for the second child and $2,240 for each additional child.

Approximately 1.5 million families with about 2.6 million children will benefit from the NCB Supplement.

Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) delivers the benefit to families.

The Provincial and Territorial Role:

Under the National Child Benefit, provinces and territories are investing in new and expanded programs and services to help all low-income families find and keep jobs and to help support their children.

In response to the federal increase in benefits, most jurisdictions have adjusted the support they provide through social assistance or other income support programs. The funds made available through these adjustments are being reinvested in benefits and services for low-income families, known as NCB reinvestments. Some provinces and territories are enhancing their NCB reinvestment initiatives with additional investments using their own funds. The flexibility of the NCB initiative allows provinces and territories to create or enhance programs that most appropriately meet the needs and priorities of their local communities.

First Nations Role:

First Nations have also made adjustments to social assistance programs administered on reserves. First Nations communities determine how to reinvest these funds to meet the needs of their families and children within the reinvestment framework set out by Ministers Responsible for Social Services.

Reinvestments:

Under the National Reinvestment Framework, provincial and territorial governments, along with First Nations, have committed to re-allocating available social assistance funds into benefits and services for children in low-income families. Examples of NCB reinvestment initiatives include:

• Child Benefits and Earned Income Supplements
• Child/Day Care
• Early Childhood Services and Children-at-Risk Services
• Supplementary Health Benefits
• Other Benefits and Services.

How are the roles and contributions explained to the public?

The roles and contributions of the respective governments are recognized in the National Child Benefit's annual Progress Report. Moreover, periodic releases by federal, provincial and territorial Ministers Responsible for Social Services provide updates on the NCB. These documents are available to the public at http://www.nationalchildbenefit.ca/home_e.html

Tracking Public Understanding and Recognition of Respective Roles:

HRDC and CCRA have undertaken opinion research regarding the NCB and the CCTB. HRDC intends to make this information publicly available. For more information, please refer to "Evaluation/Third Party Assessments" in the Measuring and Reporting section of this document.

Moreover, there are ongoing efforts with provinces and territories to enhance communications on the NCB to the general public and to clients of NCB initiatives. For the first time, a pamphlet targeted to a general audience was released with the 2001 NCB Progress Report in May, 2002.

The Federal/Provincial/Territorial Working Group on the NCB completed an Experts' Review to determine whether the annual NCB Progress Report is meeting the requirements set out in the NCB Governance and Accountability Framework; meeting the needs of its audiences; and is it presented in a clear and concise format. In addition to this Experts' Review, the Working Group continues to develop government and stakeholder relations around the NCB initiative.

Resources

Funding

As of July 2001, the Government of Canada has invested $1.875 billion per year in the NCB.

The Government of Canada is committed to providing a significant, incremental and permanent federal investment in the program. The federal investment in the NCB Supplement, which is delivered through the CCTB, had increased dramatically, up to an estimated $2.5 billion in 2001-2002. Overall, the support to families with children provided by the CCTB reached an estimated $7.9 billion in 2001-2002.

Provinces, territories and First Nations estimated that approximately $735 million was spent on NCB initiatives in 2001-2002. This figure includes funding made available as a result of adjustments to provincial social assistance child benefits as well as additional investments of provincial and territorial funds in National Child Benefit initiatives.

Tracking and Reporting

Actual federal spending on the CCTB is tracked by Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, the agency responsible for the delivery of the National Child Benefit. The annual NCB Progress Report includes information on the level of spending by all jurisdictions. There is a data collection process to which all participating jurisdictions contribute in order to present comparable information by jurisdiction on NCB initiatives. The data submitted by each jurisdiction is reviewed jointly to ensure consistency in reporting.The NCB Progress Report 2001 is available at http://nationalchildbenefit.ca/ncb/NCB-2002/ncb-report2.pdf

Measurement and Reporting

Outcomes

What are the key outputs and outcomes?

The delivery of the NCB Supplement is the most important output associated with the NCB. The NCB is designed to bring about outcomes related to three objectives:

1. Help prevent and reduce the depth of child poverty;
2. Promote attachment to the labour market by ensuring that families will always be better off as a result of working; and
3. Reduce overlap and duplication by harmonizing program objectives and benefits and simplifying administration.

How are key outputs/outcomes monitored, measured and assessed?

CCRA is responsible for the delivery of the NCB Supplement and the agency tracks federal spending on this initiative. The NCB Progress Report includes information on the level of federal spending.

Program monitoring, evaluation and reporting are essential to ensuring government accountability for the funds invested in the NCB and to determining whether the initiative's goals are being achieved.

The Ministers Responsible for Social Services are committed to focusing on program outcomes as the primary goal of reporting. The NCB evaluation will be a key feature in the next NCB Progress Report: 2002, scheduled for release in May 2003.

See the discussion of indicators below for a more detailed description of how outcomes are measured.

Indicators

In Progress

There are two types of indicators used to track the goals of the NCB. General Outcome Indicators show the level of certain conditions that the NCB is trying to affect, such as the rate of child poverty and labour market attachment. They refer to the final impact or broad consequences for the targeted group. Direct Outcome Indicators show the degree to which NCB initiatives are responsible for the changes measured using general outcome indicators.

The set of general and direct outcome indicators developed to annually track the degree to which each of the NCB's three goals is being achieved are as follows:

1. Help prevent and reduce the depth of child povertyGeneral Outcome Indicators

General Outcome Indicator

1. Reduction in the depth of low income:
   • Dollar and percentage gap between the average income of poor families and the low-income line.
2. Incidence of low income:
   • Depth of low income among families with children (number and percentage that family income is below low-income thresholds).
   • Number and percentage of families / children on social assistance.
3. Duration of low income:
   • Number and percentage of families and children who have been on low income during all four previous years.

Direct Outcome Indicators

1. Depth of child poverty:
   • The change in the aggregate amount of income that low-income families would need to reach a predetermined line, due to NCB benefits, within a year.
2. Incidence of child poverty:
   • The change in the number of families and children that fall below the low-income line, because of the NCB, within a year.
3. Not applicable

2. Promote attachment to the labour market by ensuring that families will always be better off as a result of working

General Outcome Indicators

Labour market participation:

• Number and percentage of earners in families below the low-income line.
• Average earned income as a percentage of the low-income line.
• Average earned income of low-income families, over time, expressed in constant dollars.

Direct Outcome Indicators

Not applicable.

3. Reduce overlap and duplication by harmonizing program objectives and benefits and simplifying administration

General Outcome Indicators

Level 1: Use of federal income tax platform.

Level 2: Participation rates in NCB programs, examples of expanded information-sharing agreements.

Level 3: Surveys of managers and other key informants (monitored as part of the NCB evaluation).

Direct Outcome Indicators

Not applicable.

Comparable Indicators

Have comparable or common indicators been developed and used to measure outcomes?

Yes. The development of the above listed indicators has been done collectively by federal, provincial and territorial governments via the NCB Working Group.

What indicators of societal performance are being monitored to provide a context for interpreting performance?

Beyond the goals for the NCB, governments also have an interest in monitoring the well-being of children and families. This is an exercise beyond the scope of the NCB and will be pursued in the context of federal/provincial/territorial work on the National Children's Agenda.

Evaluation / Thrid Party Assessments

In progress

Federal, provincial and territorial governments are committed to the joint evaluation of the National Child Benefit to help determine program effectiveness and have agreed to an initial two-year plan for 2000-2002. A co-ordinated approach to evaluation is essential to provide a rich information base for learning about what works and for sharing effective practices. The three objectives of the NCB evaluation are to review how the NCB was implemented, assess how well the stated NCB objectives have been met, and assess, where possible, which of the NCB program components has been responsible for making progress on each of the three objectives.

For the first time, the NCB Progress Report 2001, released in May 2002, provided information on how successful the NCB has been on meeting its goal to help prevent and reduce the depth of child poverty in Canada. As a direct result of the NCB, in 1999:

• An estimated 1.2 million families with about 2.1 million children saw an increase in their income.
• Overall, the low-income gap, i.e., the distance between the average income of low-income families with children and the low-income line, has decreased by 6.5 per cent, or $400 million. That is, due to the NCB, low-income families are closer to the low-income cut-off line.
• Low-income families with children saw an average increase of $775 in their income.
• The number of low-income families with children was reduced by 2.4 percent or 16,500 families with 33,800 children.

In addition, the federal, provincial and territorial collaboration of the NCB has established a fundamental improvement to the way children's benefits are provided to low-income families with children. This suggests that the NCB is meeting its objectives of reducing overlap and duplication. For further discussion of these impacts, please refer to the NCB Progress Report 2001 at http://nationalchildbenefit.ca/ncb/NCB-2002/ncb-report2.pdf

Third party evaluation of the National Child Benefit is looking at the combined impact of its two major components: enriched federal child benefits, and the broad range of provincial, territorial and First Nations reinvestment programs. Evaluation and research are examining the combined effect of preventing and reducing child poverty and promoting labour market attachment and will assess progress toward harmonization. Third party evaluations are being conducted, and results are being finalized. Results from the evaluation are expected in Fall 2002, and will be reported on in the next NCB Progress Report in Spring 2003.

An Evaluation Framework for on-going and periodic evaluation of the NCB for First Nations was developed and was overseen by Indian and Northern Affairs. The scope of reinvestment programs and the unique circumstances of First Nations communities within Canada required a separate reporting and evaluation framework for the NCB.

An interim evaluation of the First Nations reinvestment component was completed. The purpose of the interim evaluation for First Nations was to assess how well the reinvestment programs have been implemented, level of satisfaction with the program among participants and to assess, to the greatest extent possible, the short-term impacts. Results from the First Nations interim evaluation are expected in Fall/Winter 2002.

With respect to third party assessments, feedback from stakeholders and the public and flexibility to adjust the NCB over time are important characteristics of the initiative that will ensure it remains relevant to changing economic and social circumstances.

The Federal/Provincial/Territorial Working Group on the NCB completed an Experts' Review to determine whether the annual NCB Progress Report is meeting the requirements set out in the NCB Governance and Accountability Framework; meeting the needs of its audiences; and is presented in a clear and concise format. Stakeholders, subject matter experts, communications experts, performance measurement experts, First Nations issues experts and others participated in this Review.

As a result of suggestions made in the Experts' Review, for the first time a pamphlet targeted to a general audience was released with the 2001 NCB Progress Report in May 2002.

In addition to this Experts' Review, the Working Group continues to develop government and stakeholder relations around the NCB initiative.

Shared Information and Best Practices

Ongoing

Under the NCB Governance and Accountability Framework, federal, provincial and territorial Ministers Responsible for Social Services have committed to sharing data on re-investment initiatives and beneficiaries and reviewing results and outcomes achieved in order to identify best practices.

The NCB Governance and Accountability Framework is available at http://www.nationalchildbenefit.ca/ncb/geston3_e.shtml

Public Reporting

Through the NCB Governance and Accountability Framework, Ministers Responsible for Social Services have made a commitment to annual public reporting on the performance of the NCB initiative.

Important steps have been taken to fulfil the Ministers' commitment to public reporting, such as the release of the first NCB Progress Report in May 1999, the second NCB Progress Report in April 2001, and the third NCB Progress Report in May, 2002. The 1999 NCB Progress Report can be found at http://nationalchildbenefit.ca/ncb/NCB-99/bkchap.pdf

The 2000 NCB Progress Report can be found at http://nationalchildbenefit.ca/ncb/NCB-progress2000/ncbenglish.pdf

The 2001 NCB Progress Report can be found at http://nationalchildbenefit.ca/ncb/NCB-2002/ncb-report2.pdf

Involving Canadians

Provisions for Citizens to Participate in Developing Social Priorities and Reviewing Outcomes

Limited consultation was conducted with key stakeholders in the design and development stages of the NCB.

Through the NCB Governance and Accountability Framework, Ministers responsible for Social Services have expressed their commitment to continual improvement and a learning focus.

A new NCB website was launched in November 2001. This website provides information on the NCB to Canadians, describes NCB programs by jurisdiction, provides a library of on-line resources, and shares NCB program success stories. Visitors to the website can submit their comments to fpt@hrdc-drhc.gc.ca.

While no formal mechanism currently exists for citizen participation, stakeholders are consulted on a needs basis to assist in developing priorities and reviewing outcomes related to the NCB. For example, stakeholders participated in an evaluability assessment of the NCB, and will be consulted on the NCB Evaluation preliminary results that are expected in Fall 2002. In addition, as mentioned earlier, an Experts' Review was conducted to allow stakeholders an opportunity to provide feedback on the annual NCB Progress Report.

The NCB is still a young initiative, it is only in its fourth year of existence. Continued feedback from stakeholders and the public and flexibility to adjust the NCB over time are important characteristics of the initiative that will ensure it remains relevant to changing economic and social circumstances.

The NCB is one component of a larger strategy called the National Children's Agenda to help Canadian children.

Another component is the early childhood development initiative that was agreed to by federal, provincial and territorial governments (except Québec) in September 2000. As part of this initiative, governments will improve and expand early childhood development programs and services over time. Governments will work with families and communities to help meet the needs of young children and their families. Governments will report regularly on their progress and will continue to build knowledge and disseminate information to parents, communities and service providers to help them to give children the best possible start in life. Governments will also ensure effective mechanisms for Canadians to participate in developing early childhood development priorities and reviewing outcomes.

Feedback Mechanisms to the Public

Through the NCB Governance and Accountability Framework, Ministers Responsible for Social Services have agreed to produce annual reports on the performance of the National Child Benefit initiative.

Service Commitments

Public Availability of Eligibility Criteria

http://www.nationalchildbenefit.ca/ncb/govtofcan4.shtml

Benefits are calculated automatically by Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, based on a family's tax returns. Payments for the year begin in July, based on information from the previous taxation year.

Existence and Availability of Service Commitments

Not applicable

CCRA is responsible for the delivery of the CCTB.There is no mechanism in place to verify whether CCRA is meeting its service commitments. CCRA's service commitments do not relate to the NCB, but rather to the CCTB as a whole, a program reaching 80% of Canadian families.

Measurement and Public Reporting

Not applicable

The public reporting of performance against service commitments is done by CCRA.

Appeals and Complaints

Existence, Availability and Communication of Mechanisms

Not applicable

CCRA is responsible for determining the eligibility for the benefit, and appeals are handled by the agency.

See above discussion of CCRA service commitments.

Tracking and Public Reporting

Not applicable

Appeals and complaints are handled by CCRA.

Mobility

Existence of Measure

There are no residence-based barriers to mobility under the Canada Child Tax Benefit, the federal component of the initiative.