Sticks and Stones: Are words really that important?

The government of Ontario is revising the Developmental Services Act ,

www.ontla.on.ca/bills/bills-files/39_Parliament/Session1/b077.pdf

that relates to the provision of services for individuals with developmental disabilities.

The new Act provides a new framework for the provision and funding of services to , or for the benefit of, persons with developmental disabilities. The Act addresses:

• the elimination of allowing the Ministrry to operate institutions
• a guideline for the provision of services
• the creations of application centers for people to access funding and services
• the option for traditional funded services or direct funding
• outline to service agencies for the operations of services
• allowing the Ministry to inspect services
• data collection

The Standing Committee on Social Policy is hosting consultations for the proposed Bill during the week of August 5-8th and the Ensemble team shared their perspective to the committee on August 6th in London, ON. Here is what we talked about:

Random inspections do not respect the privacy of individuals in their homes. Although the homes may be operated by an agency, they are considered to be the homes of the people who live there. A random inspection is an invasion of privacy.

The provision of services for individuals who have disabilities should be an essential service and therefore waiting lists should not exist. All persons should automatically receive funding for support according to their individual request. All funding should be flexible and respond to changes in a person’s life accordingly.

While direct funding is an appealing option and may be appropriate for some individuals, we should keep in mind that we don’t want to set up a support system that may isolate people and become "we vs they" in nature. We believe that each person should direct their own lives but also realize that they don’t have to do it on their own and that agencies and organizations are there to offer their support, experience and assistance.

Although The Act states that is providing services that are "a benefit" to people, this still reflects dependency. We would rather see the government become "responsive" to people which would encourage independence and empowerment.