ODSP Does NOT Accommodate the Disabled

This is the total income I received from ODSP and Federal Tax credits in 2012. Total expenses are shown below. These amounts can all be proven with receipts. 

The thing is, I'm lucky. I live in subsidized housing and I get some financial support from my family. What do people do who aren't so lucky? After all, no new affordable housing has been built for years. Also, not everyone is lucky enough to have a family member or friend who is ABLE to give them the legal amount of $500 extra dollars per month.

It is because I receive this amount from family that I'm still able to survive.

It is out of care and compassion for others who aren't so lucky, that I am writing this Blog.

	Annual	Monthly
Revenue
ODSP	$9,950.15	$829.18
Federal	837.36	69.78
Total	$10,787.51	$898.96
Expenses
Shelter
Rent	$1,044.00	87.00
Hydro	905.63	75.47
Phone – basic rate (mandatory for bldg security)	406.08	33.84
Insurance (mandatory)	306.06	25.51
Food* (inc toiletries, personal,  & household cleaning supplies)	2,400.00	200.00
Laundry (2 loads per week, $2/machine)	384.00	32.00
Medical Supplies	1,020.00	85.00
Phone (less basic rate), Internet,	607.22	50.60
Cell Phone (mandatory for safety and accessibility)	812.92	67.74
Transit	$2,212.50	184.38
Total Expenses	$10,098.41	$841.54
Monthly/Annual Balance after mandatory expenses	$689.10	$57.42

* lower than published “real-cost” amounts (see: “Cost of Eating Healthy (in Kingston) 2012”

This begs the questions:

1. What does a person do who does NOT live in subsidized housing? How do they afford to survive?
2. What does a person do who does not receive outside financial help from family or friends?
3. What does a person with a disability do who literally cannot work in a community filled with barriers?

Does this make sense?

Remember, for a person to get ODSP they must be declared medically disabled. Here is the definition given in the ODSP Act:

Person with a disability

4.  (1)  A person is a person with a disability for the purposes of this Part if,

(a) the person has a substantial physical or mental impairment that is continuous or recurrent and expected to last one year or more;

(b) the direct and cumulative effect of the impairment on the person’s ability to attend to his or her personal care, function in the community and function in a workplace, results in a substantial restriction in one or more of these activities of daily living; and

(c) the impairment and its likely duration and the restriction in the person’s activities of daily living have been verified by a person with the prescribed qualifications. 1997, c. 25, Sched. B, s. 4 (1).

 Under the AODA (Accessibility for Ontarian's With Disabilities Act), the definition is:

“disability” means,

(a) any degree of physical disability, infirmity, malformation or disfigurement that is caused by bodily injury, birth defect or illness and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, a brain injury, any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical co-ordination, blindness or visual impediment, deafness or hearing impediment, muteness or speech impediment, or physical reliance on a guide dog or other animal or on a wheelchair or other remedial appliance or device,

(b) a condition of mental impairment or a developmental disability,

(c) a learning disability, or a dysfunction in one or more of the processes involved in understanding or using symbols or spoken language,

(d) a mental disorder, or

(e) an injury or disability for which benefits were claimed or received under the insurance plan established under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997; (“handicap”)

If one is disabled and feels like they're ready and able to work, they can apply for jobs. They can even get support from ODSP Employment Supports. But what does one do when there are too many physical or attitudinal barriers in their community that prevent them from being able to work?

Employers look for candidates who have work skills, the ability to be flexible (i.e. get to work when scheduled, not when public transit can get them there), and who won't cost extra money to accommodate if they are hired. It is illegal to discriminate, but it's not always easy to enforce the Human Rights Code. If one were to rely on the new Integrated Accessibility Standard Regulation created under the AODA (Accessibility for Ontarian's With Disabilities Act)m they may be waiting awhile. The timeline for the

Employment Standards to become enforceable is January 2013 (for provincial government jobs) to January 2017 for all jobs (public and private). 

How does the new plans to merge ODSP with OW and download the responsibility for delivering these two programs onto the municipalities, help those who have a disability, and by circumstance, not by choice, can't work?

Our new Premier, Ms. Kathleen Wynne has promised to immediately implement the recommendations set out in the Don Drummond Report and the Social Assistance Review: Brighter Prospects by downloading the responsibility for delivering ODSP to the municipalities. 

In these reports it is also recommended that the rates for people on OW be immediately increased by $100. This raise is not recommended for people who are disabled and currently receive ODSP.

I'm trying to figure out how this makes sense.  

To read more factual information on what the impact of all this will have on people with disabilities, please visit: http://sareview.ca/

It’s hard to fathom that, in a country as rich as Canada, we still must face these barriers and, worse, endure the indignities of being forced to live in extreme poverty on an ODSP income just because we're disabled.

If you agree this is a problem, please contact your MPP and voice your concerns. Thank you.

Please read my other Blogs:

Transportation: wheelchairdemon-transit.blogspot.com

Health Care: wheelchairdemon-health.blogspot.com

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