Committee Charter


January 16, 2016

Committee Charter
St. Dominic Parish Refugee Care Committee

General Purpose:
 
The St. Dominic Parish Refugee Care Committee (PRCC) is the executive branch of the parish tasked with the responsibility of providing for the needs of refugees that the parish is sponsoring, and will act in co-operation with the guidelines and protocols established by the Hamilton Diocese as well as the appropriate branches of the Canadian Federal, Ontario Provincial, Halton Regional, and all local forms of governments. 

Responsibilities and Goals:

With concern both for the good of our parish and that of the people we are caring for at the heart of the committee, the PRCC is to ensure that refugees sponsored by the parish are accommodated well during their period of settlement and adjustment.  To ensure this the PRCC and its members will:

·         Be directly responsible to the Pastor of St. Dominic Parish. The PRCC is to consult the pastor on a regular and frequent basis, and immediately if there is any breach of protocol, conflict of interest, and/or sensitive circumstances that have come to light.
·         Be responsible to become familiar with and operate according to all Diocesan guidelines and protocols, especially those pertaining to The Office for Refugees and Volunteer Screening.
·         Form a Governance or Oversight Committee comprised of a Chairperson, Co-Chairperson, Secretary, and Treasurer.
·         Be responsible for fundraising projects to support the sponsored Refugees.
·         Be responsible for the declaration of any conflicts of interest.
·         Be responsible for the allocation of funds to/for the Refugees.
·         Be responsible for the organization of the Time, Talent and Treasure of all the volunteers of the PRCC.
·         Be responsible for providing all reasonable levels of care to the Refugees during their period of settlement and adjustment.
 
Resources and Budget:

 The PRCC will be given space in the Parish office, meeting rooms, centre and narthex as required and according to availability.  Access to all tools, supplies and instructions therein are included.
 
The Parish’s Administrative assistant will take calls and emails for the PRCC and forward them on to its appropriate member.

The Budget of the PRCC will be equal to the amount of money raised during fundraising.  The Parish bookkeeper will keep account of these funds and be responsible for writing cheques, paying bills, and making all necessary payments.  Requests for extra funds can be made if the need should arise.

Communication Plan:

Meetings of the PRCC should take place regularly and minutes should be taken.  The minutes should be available for review by each member and the Pastor. 


·         If the PRCC should deem the formation of various sub-committees beneficial, then regular meetings of the subcommittees are to be encouraged and minutes taken.  These minutes should also be available for review by all PRCC members. 
 
There must be a majority of members present at PRCC meetings.

PRCC is to report to the Pastor on a monthly basis.  This can be done by the Chairperson or deputed member of the PRCC Governance Committee.

·         The Pastor is to be informed of all decisions made by the PRCC that involve any member of the Vulnerable Sector (i.e. the elderly, minors, and those with disabilities), the spending of money, or if there is any conflict in the group.

Committee Membership:
 
Any person, who is a parishioner of St. Dominic and has been registered for at least a year, is eligible to be a full member of this committee.  People who do not fit this requirement can be members in a limited capacity.

The Chair, Vice Chairperson and Secretary will be nominated by PRCC and approved by the committee members by a motion and show of hands.  The Finance Lead will be nominated by the Pastor.

Meetings:

The Committee meetings will be set at the end of each meeting or as required.

Regular attendance of committee members is expected in order for the Committee to function effectively. If a committee has difficulty achieving a quorum due to the continued absence of a committee member, the committee chairperson will discuss with the member the reasons for his or her absence. If the problem persists, the committee chair can request that the Executive Committee remove the member from the committee.

The Steering Committee will hold meetings as needed to plan for the full Committee meetings.

General Principles of Collaboration:

The following general operating principles are proposed to guide the Committee’s deliberations:
 
·        The Committee’s mission will be best achieved by relationships among the members characterized by mutual trust, responsiveness, flexibility, and open communication.
·        It is the responsibility of all members to work toward the Committee’s common goals.
 
·                     To that end, members will:
o     Commit to expending the time, energy and organizational resources necessary to carry out the Committee’s mission
o     Be prepared to listen intently to the concerns of others and identify the interests represented
o     Ask questions and seek clarification to ensure they fully understand other’s interests, concerns and comments
o     Regard disagreements as problems to be solved rather than battles to be won
o     Be prepared to “think outside the box” and develop creative solutions to address the many interests that will be raised throughout the Committee’s deliberations 

Decision Making

Committee members will work to find common ground on issues and strive to seek consensus on all key issues. Every effort will be made to reach consensus, and opposing views will be explained. In situations where there are strongly divergent views, members may choose to present multiple recommendations on the same topic. If the Committee is unable to reach consensus on key issues, decisions will be made by majority vote. Minority views will be included in the meeting minutes. 

In the event of a requirement to render a decision that does not allow the time required to call a full committee meeting, the Chair will call a meeting of the Governance Committee, the Pastor  and as many Committee Members who are available to attend.  The other Committee Members, unable to attend will be asked to submit their comments by email.  The decision will be made by majority vote of the members attending the meeting with due regard of the email comments received. 

Organization: 

The Governance Committee is comprised of the following members of the committee. 

·             Chair
o   Duties:
o   set the agenda for the meeting
o   chair the regular meetings
o   manage the committee's goals and responsibilities

·             Vice Chair
o   Duties:
o   to take over the duties of the Chair whenever the Chair is unavailable. If the Chair resigns, the Vice Chair becomes Chair and a new Vice Chair is to be elected. If the current Vice Chair declines to serve as Chair, the Vice Chair will serve as Acting Chair until a new Chair can be elected.
o   to assist the Chair as needed and requested

·             Secretary
o   Duties:
o   to take minutes of the meeting
o   to submit those minutes to the Chair for approval
o   to distribute approved minutes to the committee members
·             Finance
o   Duties
Keep account of the money raised and be responsible for writing cheques, paying bills, and making all necessary payments. 

·             Administrator/Spiritual Advisor 

Other Committees: 

A.    AIRPORT WELCOME
B.     FINDING HOUSING & SCOUTING THE HOUSE
C.     SHOPPING, CLOTHING, SERVICES AND TRANSPORTATION
D.    FINANCES
E.     INTERPRETATIONS AND CULTURAL SENSITIVITY
F.      SETTLEMENT AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
G.    LANGUAGE TRAINING; EDUCATION; JOB SEARCH
H.    SPIRITUALITY, FAMILY LIFE, CHILD CARE, RECREATION
I.       HEALTH,  CRISIS, TRAUMA AND EMERGENCIES 

Settlement Plan for New Applicants:  

Revised HMC Settlement Plan 1.13.2016 

Also See: “Handbook for Sponsoring Groups”, Refugee Sponsorship Training Program, Catholic Cross-cultural Services, Toronto 


 See “Settlement Plans”, Chapter 7 of Refugee Sponsorship Training Program  for additional settlement details for above “Settlement Plan for New Applicants”.
                                                                                                                                               
Diocese of Hamilton Settlement Plan – A Copy of the Diocese Settlement Plan (converted to Office Word) is attached to the email for the PRCC Charter.

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