Adult disabilities support system in midst of ‘crisis’
Supporters say long wait lists and lack of services have been obvious for ‘long time’
With long waiting lists and other concerns, a system that is supposed to help adults living with developmental disabilities is in “crisis,” says a director of Community Living Ontario.
“Community Living has been telling the government for a long time now that there is a crisis coming in respect to supports and services and we are now well within that crisis,” said policy director Gordon Kyle. “It’s been obvious to us for a long time that the system we have in place is broken.”
Kyle delivered his message at a rally Friday at the Ministry of Community and Social Services office on Erie Street. The Nowhere to Turn rally, protesting the lack of support and services for adults living with developmental disabilities, was organized by Mary Beth Rocheleau of Parents of Adult Children with Disabilities Windsor/Essex.
Rocheleau said the rally was meant to highlight three main concerns, including a 25-year wait list to get a room in a supported living group home. That wait list forces many adults to live in homeless shelters and nursing homes.
Also, when children turn 18, they have to apply and qualify for the Passport Program which has a five-year wait list. The third issue is the Ontario Disability Support program which only provides adults with a maximum monthly allowance of $1,128 for expenses, including shelter, food and drug and vision care.
Shirley Knight knows the struggles of dealing with the wait lists. Her two sons Max, 21, and Josh, 19, both have cerebral palsy, and both were on the Passport Program wait list for almost two years.
“My boys had workers since they were four, so it’s tough when all of a sudden the funding is cut off,” she said. “It really becomes a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. So we made a lot of sacrifices and there was a lot of financial strain on our family. It really takes a toll.”
My boys had workers since they were four, so it’s tough when all of a sudden the funding is cut off.