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The way Ontario cares for developmentally delayed adults and their families is “deeply flawed”, says Ontario’s ombudsman, whose four-year investigation revealed “shocking systemic problems” in the province’s treatment of the disabled.
Ombudsman Paul Dubé released his 140-page report, Nowhere To Turn, on Wednesday at Queen’s Park. The report makes 60 recommendations, all of which have been accepted by the Ministry of Community and Social Services, Dubé said.
“When we first began this investigation, we encountered the same roadblocks many of these families had faced for years: A fragmented, overly complicated system of service agencies and funding programs, and a baffling lack of flexibility from officials at the top,” Dubé told reporters.
The investigation was launched in 2012 by former ombudsman André Marin, but over the course of the probe he inherited, Dubé said he noticed significant improvements in the system.
“At times, our own staff had a taste of the futility that so many families experienced — finding help seemed impossible. But persistence paid off and, one case at a time, working with Ministry officials and agencies, we found it was possible,” he said. “Suitable homes were found. Funding flowed. Placements were created. And ultimately, after several months of working collaboratively, we saw a culture change at the Ministry.”
Of 18 cases highlighted in the report, half are from Ottawa or Eastern Ontario, including high-profiles cases such as Amanda Telford, who in 2013 dropped off her then 19-year-old son, Philippe, at the provincial social services office saying she could no longer look after him. Another case was that of Cindy Gibson who was desperately searching for a home for her disabled adult son as she was herself dying of cancer.
Dubé thanked those who came forward for sharing “their frustrations and heart-wrenching experiences.”
“Their dedication and devotion to their loved ones has finally given way to constructive changes that will ensure thousands of other Ontarians will not have to endure a similar ordeal,” he said.
Amanda Telford dropped her 20-year-old son off at a government office because she could no longer take care of him.
Telford, who was in Toronto for the press conference, said she was pleased with the report and the ministry’s response.
“I see a lot of recommendations that would have helped our situation and the response would have been better,” Telford said.
But others criticized the report for focusing too much on crisis cases rather than on helping families before their situations deteriorated.
“I think it falls short,” said Brian Tardif, executive director of Citizen Advocacy. “There are 62,000 people in Ontario with intellectual disabilities and this report really only addresses a fraction of those. It’s focused on people in crisis, in urgent need, in long-term care, who are homeless, or in alternate care beds in hospital. I don’t want to diminish the needs of that group, but that’s only a small percentage of those 62,000.
“The reason people are in crisis is that when they turn 18 or leave the school system, there is nothing for them. Families are left with having to do it all. And they fall apart. That’s what causes crisis.”
Some of the cases outlined in the ombudsman’s report are heartbreaking. These cases — Dubé called them “extreme and egregious” — include an Ottawa woman who was removed from her home after being abused by her mother and was shunted among 20 different residences in 34 days, a 36-year-old man from Eastern Ontario with an intellectual age of 18 months who lived for 12 years in a psychiatric hospital while he waited for a spot in a group home, and a Toronto man who spent 73 days in a $2,000-a-day hospital bed because of miscommunication among government agencies.
Dubé found inconsistent policies across the province and a confusing mishmash of agencies and government services.
“Families were often bewildered by the confusing web of service providers or oblivious to the distinctions between the various service agencies, Developmental Services Ontario offices and Ministry officials,” the report says. “Many were discouraged by interminable wait list delays and desperate for help. Some were on the brink of crisis, others firmly in its midst.”
Of his 60 recommendations, Dubé said the most important was the first, which calls on the Ministry of Community and Social Services to monitor and audit agencies to ensure they’re doing their job.
“I think the first is the most important — that the ministry acknowledge its role in taking the lead in this field and not just being hands off and directing money to development services agencies. But taking the lead, establishing definitions, developing programs and making sure that there is movement on this file.”
Other recommendations include making more emergency beds available in cases of abuse or neglect, that police establish special units to address cases of abuse of adults with developmental disabilities, that there be specialized services for those with developmental delays who are in court or in jail; that the ministry proved resources in cases with a high risk of abandonment or homelessness, and that there be a better system to match the disabled with appropriate group home vacancies.
The full report is available on the Ombudsman’s website ombudsman.on.ca.
Telford, who along with other families met with Community and Social Services Minister Helena Jaczek on Wednesday, said she was pleased with the ministry’s response, which two years ago boosted funding for adults with developmental disabilities by $810 million..
“There was definitely a shift in attitude from government. She did seem to be very emotional and quite compassionate. She really did seem to want to make things right and that in itself has been a huge change. Acknowledging that things have not worked and need to be improved. That cultural shift has been huge,” Telford said.
Tardif of Citizen Advocacy, however, said that more needs to be done.
“It talks about fixing a system. It doesn’t talk about transforming it.
“You have to do more than research and track and analyze. You can track all you want the numbers you want, but if you’re not addressing why they’re there in the first place, what are you doing?”
bcrawford@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
Related
查看原文...
Ombudsman Paul Dubé released his 140-page report, Nowhere To Turn, on Wednesday at Queen’s Park. The report makes 60 recommendations, all of which have been accepted by the Ministry of Community and Social Services, Dubé said.
“When we first began this investigation, we encountered the same roadblocks many of these families had faced for years: A fragmented, overly complicated system of service agencies and funding programs, and a baffling lack of flexibility from officials at the top,” Dubé told reporters.
The investigation was launched in 2012 by former ombudsman André Marin, but over the course of the probe he inherited, Dubé said he noticed significant improvements in the system.
“At times, our own staff had a taste of the futility that so many families experienced — finding help seemed impossible. But persistence paid off and, one case at a time, working with Ministry officials and agencies, we found it was possible,” he said. “Suitable homes were found. Funding flowed. Placements were created. And ultimately, after several months of working collaboratively, we saw a culture change at the Ministry.”
Of 18 cases highlighted in the report, half are from Ottawa or Eastern Ontario, including high-profiles cases such as Amanda Telford, who in 2013 dropped off her then 19-year-old son, Philippe, at the provincial social services office saying she could no longer look after him. Another case was that of Cindy Gibson who was desperately searching for a home for her disabled adult son as she was herself dying of cancer.
Dubé thanked those who came forward for sharing “their frustrations and heart-wrenching experiences.”
“Their dedication and devotion to their loved ones has finally given way to constructive changes that will ensure thousands of other Ontarians will not have to endure a similar ordeal,” he said.
Amanda Telford dropped her 20-year-old son off at a government office because she could no longer take care of him.
Telford, who was in Toronto for the press conference, said she was pleased with the report and the ministry’s response.
“I see a lot of recommendations that would have helped our situation and the response would have been better,” Telford said.
But others criticized the report for focusing too much on crisis cases rather than on helping families before their situations deteriorated.
“I think it falls short,” said Brian Tardif, executive director of Citizen Advocacy. “There are 62,000 people in Ontario with intellectual disabilities and this report really only addresses a fraction of those. It’s focused on people in crisis, in urgent need, in long-term care, who are homeless, or in alternate care beds in hospital. I don’t want to diminish the needs of that group, but that’s only a small percentage of those 62,000.
“The reason people are in crisis is that when they turn 18 or leave the school system, there is nothing for them. Families are left with having to do it all. And they fall apart. That’s what causes crisis.”
Some of the cases outlined in the ombudsman’s report are heartbreaking. These cases — Dubé called them “extreme and egregious” — include an Ottawa woman who was removed from her home after being abused by her mother and was shunted among 20 different residences in 34 days, a 36-year-old man from Eastern Ontario with an intellectual age of 18 months who lived for 12 years in a psychiatric hospital while he waited for a spot in a group home, and a Toronto man who spent 73 days in a $2,000-a-day hospital bed because of miscommunication among government agencies.
Dubé found inconsistent policies across the province and a confusing mishmash of agencies and government services.
“Families were often bewildered by the confusing web of service providers or oblivious to the distinctions between the various service agencies, Developmental Services Ontario offices and Ministry officials,” the report says. “Many were discouraged by interminable wait list delays and desperate for help. Some were on the brink of crisis, others firmly in its midst.”
Of his 60 recommendations, Dubé said the most important was the first, which calls on the Ministry of Community and Social Services to monitor and audit agencies to ensure they’re doing their job.
“I think the first is the most important — that the ministry acknowledge its role in taking the lead in this field and not just being hands off and directing money to development services agencies. But taking the lead, establishing definitions, developing programs and making sure that there is movement on this file.”
Other recommendations include making more emergency beds available in cases of abuse or neglect, that police establish special units to address cases of abuse of adults with developmental disabilities, that there be specialized services for those with developmental delays who are in court or in jail; that the ministry proved resources in cases with a high risk of abandonment or homelessness, and that there be a better system to match the disabled with appropriate group home vacancies.
The full report is available on the Ombudsman’s website ombudsman.on.ca.
Telford, who along with other families met with Community and Social Services Minister Helena Jaczek on Wednesday, said she was pleased with the ministry’s response, which two years ago boosted funding for adults with developmental disabilities by $810 million..
“There was definitely a shift in attitude from government. She did seem to be very emotional and quite compassionate. She really did seem to want to make things right and that in itself has been a huge change. Acknowledging that things have not worked and need to be improved. That cultural shift has been huge,” Telford said.
Tardif of Citizen Advocacy, however, said that more needs to be done.
“It talks about fixing a system. It doesn’t talk about transforming it.
“You have to do more than research and track and analyze. You can track all you want the numbers you want, but if you’re not addressing why they’re there in the first place, what are you doing?”
bcrawford@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
Related
查看原文...
