NDP will review $853M program for vulnerable Albertans

Families, advocates say comprehensive look at system, with user input, overdue

The provincial government is launching a full review of an $853-million program that helps some of the most vulnerable Albertans.

It’s welcome news for beneficiaries of the persons with developmental disabilities (PDD) program, their families and advocates, who have long pushed for the system to be scrutinized.

Detailed figures of PDD wait lists have only been kept since 2015, but the amount of people waiting has steadily increased, despite a $55-million bump in funding.

In December, 376 were waiting on services — including home living, employment, community access and specialized supports — up from 261 in June 2015.

Almost 12,000 Albertans use PDD services. That number has grown by close to 400 each year.

Disability activist Leah McRorie has two daughters who qualify for the program. News of a review after years of public pressure set her heart racing with excitement Thursday.

“This feels like such a long time coming,” she said. “To be heard, understood, for there to be some compassion. Any action this government is taking to review PDD can do nothing but good.”

VOICES AT THE TABLE

Community and Social Services Minister Irfan Sabir will meet with the PDD community in the coming weeks to help shape the timeline and scope of the review. At this point, he’s eyeing program access, measuring and reporting outcomes, and community engagement.

“It’s important for me and for the community that we hear from them,” Sabir said Thursday.

“It’s not about us. It’s about what they think their issues are, their needs are and what would work best for them. We will work with them to make sure we get this right.”

Bruce Uditsky, head of Inclusion Alberta, said it’s imperative a review be driven by the community.

They don’t need another group of accountants to determine what life should look like for people with developmental disabilities, he said, as happened in 2011 when the government enlisted KPMG to analyze the PDD system and figure out changes.

Instead, Uditsky said, the folks directly impacted should be an integral part of figuring out the program’s direction — and that doesn’t mean just throwing more cash at it.

“In health and education, we have an expectation it’s going to move forward and improve, and we’re not just funding the same thing from year to year,” he said.

“Nobody wants outdated medical care. The same should be true with respect to people with disabilities.”

‘FINALLY BEING HEARD’

McRorie is a realist. She doesn’t expect the review to be a magic wand, “but what it says is we’re finally being heard, and somebody’s going to look at this complex mess.

“Ideas generated by disabled people and non-disabled people and families of how we can make it better, hopefully they don’t leave those ideas sitting on a desk,” she said.

“It needs the action behind it. And I promise, great things will come from it.”

Nobody wants outdated medical care. The same should be true with respect to people with disabilities.