Customer Service Means Giving the Disabled More Paperwork?

Ontario has an act that is meant to reduce the number of barriers to the disabled called the AODA (Accessibility For Ontarian's With Disabilities Act). The Customer Service became law for the public sector in January 2010 and it will soon become law for the private sector in 2012. The goal of the AODA is to reduce the number of barriers and level the playing field so people with disabilities can more fully participate in life in Ontario.

For this reason I find it disturbing that new trends are forming with some of the services and agencies I must depend upon as a person who uses a wheelchair. ODSP rejected a request for glasses last November even though I tried to give them the required letter to prove there was a medical need. The local office refused to accept it when I took it to their office and handed it to them. They said it wasn't needed. The issue eventually got resolved by the Social Benefits Tribunal. Since then, funding for wheelchair repairs has been rejected so an application has been sent into the Tribunal. Funding for a splint so I can continue pushing my wheelchair and prevent causing so many problems that I will eventually need surgery, was eventually approved in principal after I asked for an Internal Review, but before it can be finalized, I need to get estimates on the cost. It makes sense to want estimates, so I'm not unhappy about that.

I am, however, unhappy about the fact I can't find someone to make one for a reasonable cost. The one quote I was able to get was for $945.00. I don't know how elaborate it is because the person didn't show me a sample, but I know it's way more than is needed to serve my purposes. Getting a splint made by anyone else in Kingston doesn't appear to be an option either because, after phoning around, I can't find anyone who will write up the estimates for ODSP or who will bill them, instead of me, if they make it. I'm in a stalemate at the moment.

I also find the process for housing, getting splints, and doing the basic things that are required to look after myself, has become an unnecessary onerous task.

If you look at what subsidized housing requires as well, one would soon start to realize that, when you get a disability in Ontario it is mandatory to:

• do all the work to prove a need
  
• find a willing provider of services who can fulfill your medical need
  
• produce mountains of paperwork to show that you are accountable; that you have no hidden assets or money.
  

ODSP, the medical offices, and housing all have consent forms that we must sign so they can check up on the disabled, or make calls on our behalf and, at one point, they used to do that; we just had to get a bit of information so they could check to see if what we gathered matched what they had gathered and, if the information matched, I guess prove that we are honest.

Now, we have to spent most of our time doing all the work to prove accountability and save the systems we must depend upon money in wages to pay someone else to work.

Here's the list of what I had to produce for housing this year. It is more than I ever had to produce before and I was only given 10 days to do it. I can no longer do this in the summer, like I'd been allowed to do for 8 years because it was easier for me to get around with the wheelchair, and I can no longer send it to them by fax or with the person who works in this building and has regular contact with the office. I must hand deliver the hard copy myself. Here is the list of what we now must produce.

1. Consent to Release information
2. Three months of recent bank statements
3. Verification of Assets - to be completed by the bank
4. Income and Assets Information form
5. Household Composition form
6. Life Insurance Verification Form
7. 2009 Income Tax Summary from Revenue Canada (or 2010 if available)
   
8. Proof of Household Insurance
9. OW or ODSP stubs, including drug card portion (if applicable)
10. Employment Verification form or 8 consecutive weeks of pay stubs (if applicable)
11. Custody, visitation and support documents (if applicable)
12. Verification of school registration for any child over 16 years
13. Medical documentation for 2 bedroom (if applicable).
    

Now, for the question: If you were a bank and you were sending out bank statements, and then housing told the bank to sign a paper that says (basically) that the information on the bank statement is correct, would you not be rather frustrated if you were a bank official? The same goes for Revenue Canada. I have to hand in the statement that comes back from them, plus, at times, the working papers to file for income tax (depending on the worker who is processing the file for that year), etc. Housing also has consent to automatically contact, or be alerted by Revenue Canada about any sudden change in what is reported each year.

With these forms, one basically has to say 4 TIMES OVER that they have no new income coming in, that they have no money in the bank, and basically that they are honest.

It is ridiculous.

Both Housing and ODSP have consent to contact the bank, Revenue Canada, and a few others, so why are we having to do so much more work to prove ourselves accountable nowadays? I have no problem filling out the statement to say I have this amount in the bank, the deposits coming in from ODSP and the odd job (when I can find one) is this amount, and here are the stubs to prove it. I do, however, have a problem with having to now get papers signed by bank officials to (basically) say that the information contained on the bank statements is correct.

In fact, I'd rather just go to the bank and get a signed statement by them, about how much money comes in each month because the bank statements now give away FAR too much information about what stores we shop in, and where we spend it. I happen to use the Beer Store as a debit machine because it's around the corner. Therefore, when I go to buy one or 2 cans of beer and then take out $60 as cash back, it looks really bad.

Anyway, the purpose of this Blog is to point out that the Duty to Accommodate is NOT happening and it must. When the enforcement people come around, there will be fines levied for failing to deliver comprehensive customer service.

The disabled already get burned out just trying to accommodate for the fact we lost an ability that most others can take for granted. It should NOT mean a lifetime sentence of absorbing the impact of the service providers paying less staff, and instead expecting us, to produce the extra paperwork to prove we are honest and accountable.

There - that's my rant for the day!!

Please read my other Blogs:
Transit: http://wheelchairdemon-transit.blogspot.com
Health: http://wheelchairdemon-health.blogspot.com

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