Social Coops
Description
John Restakis:
"Over the last two decades, federal and provincial governments have continued a policy of cutbacks to social care for Canada’s most vulnerable populations. As a consequence, many of these services have been downloaded onto municipalities that then have to deal with the social fallout from reductions in such essential programs as affordable housing, home care, and assistance for those with physical and intellectual disabilities. In turn, charitable organizations, non-profits and social enterprises have been stretched to their limits in their attempt to address the increased demand for services. While it is clear that the role of government remains central to the funding and provision of social care programs, it is also true that municipalities must take on a new role in the design and delivery of social care. By utilizing social co-ops as a tool not only for the development of new services, but also for the improvement of social care itself, the City of Vancouver can use its ambitious green city program to pilot employment and training programs that go hand–in-hand with the implementation of many of the ideas outlined above - particularly in the energy and food sectors.
Social co-ops are a recent innovation of the co-op model. Pioneered in Italy in the early 1980s, social co-ops were formed by caregivers and families of people with disabilities to provide services to the disabled that were not available from the state. They are now the fastest growing use of the co-operative model in Europe and increasingly, in Canada. Municipalities have been a key factor in their growth and success.
In the city of Bologna, over 87% of that city’s social services are delivered via service contracts between the municipality and social co-ops. As a result, the city has experienced a dramatic growth in the number and variety of health and social services available, an improvement in the quality of care offered, and a lowering of the cost of providing these services. At the heart of this success is a unique partnership between the municipality and the broader co-op sector. The key to the partnership is the combination of preferential contracting policies for selected public services and the use of social co-ops that have a specific mandate to provide employment and support to marginalized groups. This includes people with physical and intellectual disabilities, seniors, youth-at-risk, former prisoners, and recovering drug users.
As described in Italy’s Law 381, social co-ops have as their purpose “to pursue the general community interest in promoting human concerns and the integration of citizens.” In this sense, social co-operatives are recognized as having goals that promote benefits to the community and its citizens, rather than maximizing benefits solely to co-op members. Moreover, Italian legislation acknowledges the affinity between public bodies such as municipalities and social co-ops in the promotion of public welfare, and emphasizes the possibility of collaboration between them.
Typically, the membership of social co-ops is composed of either the workers who are employed by the co-op, or the recipients of the service, or a combination of the two. For services to people with disabilities for example, it is the service users or their families that are co-op members.
The type and volume of services provided by social co-ops are determined at the district level within a municipality by boards set up to analyze a district’s needs, negotiate budgets, and then offer service contracts on the basis of competitive bids. These contracts are restricted to non-profits or social co-op providers. The municipality and associations representing the social co-op organizations monitor quality standards and service targets jointly.
The results of this unique, civil approach to the design and delivery of social care has been one of the great success stories in the reframing of how social services are provided in Europe. In Italy alone, over 6,000 social co-ops employing some 125,000 people provide a wide range of services to their communities. Fifteen thousand of those employed are people with disabilities. In Canada, the social co-op model has now established an important presence in Quebec, where social co-ops (known as “solidarity co-ops”) play a major role in the provision of home care services in that province. There are now 51 solidarity co-ops in Quebec that service approximately 14% per cent of the home care market in that province"
Examples
John Restakis:
"Here are some examples of how social co-ops contribute to the delivery of public goods in partnership with local municipalities.
Recycling
Piazza Grande is a social co-op in Bologna that started out as a service to provide assistance to the homeless. Its members originally earned money by selling the organization’s newspaper, but the co-op expanded to operate a house and apartment cleaning service that was paid with donations of repairable items. The city provided the co-op with a warehouse space to collect and sell these items. Piazza Grande also refinished old furniture, repaired and resold appliances, motor scooters, and bicycles, and now operates the city’s largest bicycle rental business.
An example of an enterprise that operates a similar service, although not structured as a co-op, is United We Can in Vancouver.
Grounds keeping and landscaping
Bologna’s city parks employ social co-ops to assist in the upkeep of public parks and the grounds surrounding public buildings. Many of those employed in these services are people with disabilities.
Rehabilitation
Altercoop is a social co-op whose members are former prisoners. It operates a stationary business specializing in the production and sale of items made from recycled materials. It has long-term contracts with a number of municipalities and public agencies for the supply of their stationery needs.
We propose that the City of Vancouver explore the use of social co-ops as a component of its sustainability agenda by identifying projects in which social co-ops could provide a source of meaningful employment for marginalized groups. The following examples illustrate areas where this might take place:
a) Building and supporting the operation of community and school gardens
b) Removal of graffiti and the improvement of public spaces
c) Provision of services for the organization and staging of city-sponsored public events (e.g. music festivals).
d) Expansion and maintenance of the city’s greenways and parks.
e) The planting of trees and orchards.
f) The restoration and protection of wetlands, streams and riverbanks.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the City can greatly advance the social inclusion of marginalized groups by reviewing its procurement policies with a view to targeting those purchases of municipal goods and services that might be supplied by social co-operatives, as is currently done in many European cities."