Training

UPCOMING TRAINING

None scheduled at this time

SOUTH ISLAND TRAINING INITIATIVE SOCIETY (SITI)

Memorandum of Agreement between Boys and Girls Club Services of Greater Victoria,
Greater Victoria Child and Family Counselling Association, Phoenix Human Services, Pacific Centre Family Services Association and the YM/YWCA

The South Island Training Initiative Society (SITI), a consortium of local community social services agencies, was created in 2003 as a response to training requirements set out by accrediting bodies. Agencies receiving at least $500,000 of funding for the provision of services under contract with the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) were required to become accredited by either the Council on Accreditation (COA) or the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). The impetus to create SITI stemmed from a number of considerations including:

training standards arising from accreditation were considerably more extensive than what was previously required under contract with MCFD.
adequate training funds to meet these requirements were simply not available.
pooling resources and avoiding duplication was both an economical and cooperative response to the issue

The initial six agencies were represented by either directors or management staff and met as often as was necessary to develop a training curriculum that would encompass all of the core training areas required. SITI planned, organized and administered monthly training events from September 2003 to June of 2005. The training events were funded through a number of initiatives including;

Annual membership fees for SITI member agencies
Modest fees for staff attending an event that was subsidized by their member agencies.
Reserved seats at each event for non-member community agencies set at a higher rate.
Annual fundraisers
Significant volunteer hours
In kind contributions of member agencies

By 2005, SITI had grown to 7 member agencies. During this year, the group changed tactics from small-scale monthly trainings to multi-day, conference style events in order to make the training more widely available to its staff as well as non-member agencies and organizations that were expressing an interest in attending SITI-sponsored training. The group hired and cost-shared a part-time training coordinator at this time to plan and organize the conferences. Three such conferences were delivered over the next 12 months and were largely successful in terms of accommodating larger numbers of member agency staff. Feedback from attendees however was mixed. A substantial number of staff felt that some of the workshops were rather rudimentary while others stated that some of the workshops outright missed the mark in their opinion. At the same time, there was plenty of praise for events that either featured dynamic speakers or an interactive style with enhanced opportunities for staff input. In addition, SITI was being lobbied by other community social services organizations for membership consideration.

As a result, SITI decided to engage in an introspective strategic planning process to reorganize itself to better meet the training needs of its staff members and create a structure that could better accommodate new member agencies. After a full day strategic planning session in January of 2007, the following was determined;

A renewed commitment to the shared/collaborative construct underpinning the creation of SITI.
SITI members agreed that their pooled funding, resources and volunteer activities were simply not adequate to undertake the kind of quality and professional training initiative that they believed would be more successful.
A decision to seek incorporation as a non-profit society in order to respond to the growing popularity of SITI within the Social services sector (In April of 2007, the South Island Training Initiative Society became incorporated.)
The development of a more organized and accountable governance model
The creation of a vehicle that would represent the needs of the member agencies and allow for SITI to accommodate membership requests of outside agencies

In response to the unanimous decision of the future direction of SITI, SITI applied to Volunteer Victoria for assistance from REALNet (Retired Executives and Leaders Network) in formulating a business case with which to approach potential funders/resources. From an extensive list of applicants, Volunteer Victoria in partnership with Org-Aide, a non-profit society consisting of skilled leaders with a passion for improving community through service to non-profit organizations, accepted SITI’s application for assistance. Between May and December of 2007, consultants with Org-Aide and REALNet worked with SITI’s Board of Directors to develop of a business case that would assist the group with developing its long-term potential and sustainability as a professional training consortium. The business case includes;

A comprehensive service delivery model
A long term sustainability plan
A 3 year budget projection
A governance model and terms of reference
Determination of appropriate funding sources and proposal preparation.

For further information, please contact us.