#PositivelyPurple at nab to celebrate and acknowledge the economic contribution that people with disability make to our economy. #IDPWD. Our purple wall available for colleagues to take a selfie.
what I have come to learn about scale
Scale of the challenge
Disability plays a critical role in increasing the risk of poverty. Poverty is real for three in every ten (31%) for those with a disability but disability has a far reaching effect on parents and siblings too adding another one in ten for single mothers of disabled children (40%). It is conceivable that labels like disadvantaged, dispossessed or vulnerable are in the main restatements of the disability experience. One reason why they are ongoing problems is that these terms come without definitions and often no mention of disability..
Scale of the Government's response
Though the challenge is global the response needs to be local as in interventions in local labour markets and not regional as in traditional models of employment support. So often I have seen horizontal partnerships of wrap around support services struggle to connect with top down funding. So often I have seen central Government think that the challenge of disability is being met by local authority whilst local government think it is being met by central Government. Thus it is the disabled people who can be found in the policy gap when it ought to be the "Levelling UP and the Social Value strategy.
Scale of what's needed
Finally I have seen too many knee jerk responses as in we can move you up the hospital waiting list or the classroom assistant can spend more time with your child. But where is the social care fix and the national vocational rehabilitation programme or the mass localism described in the NESTA report. Let the response be at a bigger scale than the problem so we can say disability - that's being delivered. The minister will see you now.
As a witness who spoke at the Senate when the Canada Disability Benefit Bill was being studied, I feel 100% like a token.
The only thing I see in this budget - which I advocated for - was that the government foot the bill for the forms required to establish eligibility.
Outside of this, nothing in this eligibility criteria even comes close to what advocates were calling for.
So what was the point of calling me as an autistic witness?
Well… the Accessible Canada Act (along with this bill’s preamble) state “nothing about us without us.”
This means we get a seat at the table, but the government can still do what they want in the end.
Nothing has changed. It’s all a political act with no true backbone.
I wrote a thorough brief which I presented.
I called out the lack of legislation surrounding clawbacks and the then Minister’s “red line framework with provinces” comment. I knew it was naive to think that this was enough.
I called out the lack of accountability surrounding consultation. It’s naive to believe the government will do their due diligence to consult properly. In fact, to date I have seen exactly one survey asking for input on eligibility criteria since this bill passed in June 2023.
I called out that CPP with OAS max only pays just under $1800.00 a month (at least at that time). Not enough to afford to live right now. On top of this, disabled individuals have additional costs. As shown, $200/month is what we’re to be given to pay for our unique support needs. My cognitive behavioural therapy is $250.00/ hour once a month. So the amount doesn’t even cover a standard appointment like this. Across Ontario, this is a standard rate for a psychologist appointment.
And don’t even get me started on the pathetic eligibility criteria that ignores 75% of disabled Canadians. It’s already a barrier riddled roller coaster to qualify for the disability tax credit - so let’s make that the go to route to qualify for this too!
This budget - this bill - was an absolute slap in the face to every disabled Canadian in the country. My presence as a witness was truly and utterly a waste of my time. It was all an act to say they had consulted but nothing I said or wrote clearly mattered.
I watched organization after organization, individual after individual argue to get that bill through stat. Many are now in the media expressing their outrage. Yet when they had the chance to advocate, they chose to say “get the bill through now.”
I firmly advocated against this - and this is why.
Thank you Andre Picard for this important call out!
#Disability#Health
Disability isn’t inability; it’s the perception that needs to change📖
This International Day of PWDs, let’s break the chains of discrimination and open doors to inclusivity. A disability doesn’t define a person; it’s society’s responsibility to remove barriers and celebrate abilities.
Together, we can build a world where diversity is celebrated, opportunities are equal, and everyone is empowered to thrive. Let’s turn understanding into action and make inclusion the norm, not the exception🌟
#boltayhuroof#inclusivitymatters#accessibilityforall#Worlddisabilitiesday#pwds#removebarriers
https://lnkd.in/gFV5swdi
Super grateful to be able to share my thoughts on CTV Your Morning show earlier today regarding the Federal Government budget announcement for the Canadian Disability Benefit.
What it means:
$6.1B/6 years = $1.4B/year
$6.1 billion over six years, beginning in 2024-25, and $1.4 billion per year ongoing (includes cost to administer the program)
Maximum benefit amount of $2,400/year -> $200/month.
Government intends for CDB Act to come into force in June 2024 with objective of providing payments to eligible Canadians starting in July 2025, following the successful completion of the regulatory process and consultations with persons with disabilities.
Key Messages:
* The Government of Canada has taken an important step by creating a law that commits to lifting people with disabilities out of poverty.
* Spinal Cord Injury Ontario and its federal counterpart SCI Canada worked with others in the disability community and Government to shape the law.
* While the Government has met its promise to develop social policy to reduce poverty for people with disabilities, The monthly amount is not adequate to lift people out of poverty and more needs to be considered.
* SCIO and the SCI Community will continue working with our partners in the disability community and Government to increase the monthly allocation and develop strategies to meet this government's promise of raising people with disabilities out of poverty, starting with fulsome participation to strengthen this law in the regulatory process.
What needs to be considered:
* Greater monthly support
* Provincial contributions against CDB separate from social assistance programs
* Diversity of supports beyond monthly cheques that responds to essential needs that people with disabilities require to achieve full community participation and full citizenship. (example: Customized equipment, medical supplies, attendant services, and accessible housing)
Amidst the cacophony of fake disability certificates and calls to question and review the disability #reservations, we often overlook the dire state of disability certificates and pensions in our country, especially for the poor and already marginalised.
According to the government's own 2018 NSS data, a mere 28% of disabled individuals had a disability certificate. This figure is based on the 2011 census, which is notorious for its undercounting of disabled people.
ASTHA's #COVID report in Delhi in the year 2020, which includes data from over 1,400 #PersonsWithDisabilities, revealed that only 37% had certificates. This number drops to a shocking 12% for children under 8 years of age. In a situation where the poorest people don't receive basic #SocialProtection, what should we review? Should we review the reservations and quotas for disabled people, or should we review the injustices faced by their families?
Our work in Delhi slums with migrant families shows that families often go from one hospital to another, spending years enduring constant humiliation just to secure a pension of ₹2,500.
We must not end reservations but strengthen them!
#DisabilityRights#SocialJustice#Inclusion#DisabilityCertificate
Peak bodies and organisations across Australia are calling on the NDIA and government to take urgent action to secure the future of services for people with a disability and create a better NDIS.
Providers of quality disability services are already reaching breaking point. Recent surveys conducted by National Disability Services and Disability Intermediaries Australia found that 75 per cent of providers are considering stopping some or all of their disability services because of the price limits that came in on 1 July.
Withdrawal of services will most affect participants with the greatest need — those with complex, high-intensity or behavioural support needs and those in regional and remote Australia.
It's time for sustainable change. It's time #4aBetterNDIS
👉 Find out more: https://lnkd.in/gnuzXfzJ
🚨URGENT CALL TO ACTION for everyone in the disability community!🚨
Contact Governor Newsom TODAY (one click → https://loom.ly/uxTfpW4) and urge him to sign AB 2423 into law. This bill would require the state to review funding rates for developmental disability services every two years.
AB 2423 passed the State Legislature on August 26. Now all it needs is Governor Newsom’s signature to become law in California!
💡 Disability services funding does not automatically keep up with economic changes like cost of living and minimum wage increases. AB 2423, would require the state to keep track of the funding our system needs.
💡 Additionally, the Department of Developmental Services would be required to post updated rates to their website for better transparency, providing valuable information to lawmakers as they make funding decisions about vital disability services and supports.
After decades of underfunding, we need to protect recent investments in the disability services system and make sure we never go back.
➡️ Please reach out to Governor Newsom NOW and urge him to sign AB 2423 into law IN ONE CLICK → https://loom.ly/uxTfpW4#SayYEStoAB2423#ActionAlert#KeepThePromise#TheFutureIncludesUs#IDDPathToThrive
Building disability confidence from the inside out with high impact Employee Resource Groups and Networks
1wLove it Jenny 👏💜🤳