Program for handicapped ‘doesn’t care’

Disabled given difficult forms, others die before getting benefits: auditor

Alberta’s $1-billion income support program for people with severe handicaps is inefficient, inconsistent and favours people who are good at completing forms, the province’s auditor general has found.

In his October report, released Monday, auditor general Merwan Saher detailed a program with an intake process that’s far from user-friendly, with onerous forms and hard-to-find information.

Workers don’t get enough training to make the decisions they’re tasked with, eligibility guidelines are applied differently from case to case, and those who are denied don’t receive consistent or complete information about why.

In the case of terminally ill applicants, Saher found that some didn’t get the financial or health benefits they were entitled to, while others died before they received anything at all.

Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) is the Human Services department’s second-largest program. It provides assistance to adult Albertans who have a permanent disability that substantially limits their ability to earn a livelihood.

Speaking with reporters Monday, Saher placed blame for the program’s faults at the feet of failed ministerial and operational oversight.

“I don’t doubt the 330 staff administering the program are doing their best, but if you step back and look at the whole, it’s as if the system doesn’t care,” he said.

Saher said one need only look at AISH appeals for evidence the program isn’t working.

His review found that half of the 8,500 annual applications were denied. Half of those applicants appealed the decision, and 40 per cent ended up with AISH benefits.

The average cost of the appeal program alone is $2 million each year.

If the department fails to act on his recommendations, Saher warned that eligible Albertans may not be able to support themselves and could face unnecessary hardship as a result.

Human Services Minister Irfan Sabir said Monday his department will work to implement all of the changes suggested by Saher, adding changes to the program’s website have already been made.

“We inherited (AISH) in broken shape, but we’re making sure we’re doing whatever we can to improve this program,” Sabir said.

“Whatever is necessary, we’re committed to.”

In a statement, Wildrose Human Services critic Angela Pitt called it “shocking” that the program intended to serve people with severe handicaps instead awards those who are persistent and good at completing bureaucratic forms.

“Alberta’s most vulnerable deserve

We inherited (system to support handicapped) in broken shape, but we’re making sure we’re doing whatever we can to improve this program.

better,” she said. “Strong communities recognize that social programs like AISH need to be administered effectively, and it is stunning that both the current and previous governments have failed to ensure this program has been administered fairly.”

In his October report, Saher also found weaknesses in the oversight of the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation lending program, three legislative committees that need to pull their socks up when it comes to financial reporting, lacklustre IT processes at Athabasca University and weak processes in awarding the government’s sole-sourced contracts.