Their lives have been defined by trauma. Why kick kids out of foster care and group homes when they turn 18?
Monday, July 6th, 2020
Until COVID-19, it was the rule — now suspended until Dec. 31 — that youth in care must move out of their foster or group home when they hit 18 and live independently, whether they are ready or not… “Too many young people ‘age out’ to poverty, to homelessness. It’s a pipeline to the criminal justice system for some. And it exacerbates mental health conditions,” says Ratnam, co-founder of the non-profit Ontario Children’s Advancement Coalition (OCAC).
Tags: budget, ideology, youth
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Ottawa urged to earmark billions for child care as provinces reopen
Monday, June 22nd, 2020
“It has taken a public health crisis for the essential role of child care to be widely recognized, and for the fragility of child care services in Canada to be laid bare”… “The priority is to make sure (federal) money for child care is used to ensure capacity returns to pre-COVID levels… If you do it right, you are going to build more spaces that become a platform to begin building out a public system,”
Tags: budget, child care, economy, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, women
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Why do provinces often confiscate federal benefits from people who clearly need them?
Saturday, May 23rd, 2020
Taken together, as many as 52,000 people on social assistance receive federal and provincial benefits that are subject to complete clawbacks… Those clawbacks poured about $34 million into provincial coffers in April… Ontario isn’t ready to give any of that money back to people such as Demerse by treating EI the same as CERB during the pandemic… it may be time to consider uploading social assistance to the federal level and leave provinces to continue offering supports such as employment training, prescription drugs, dental and vision care for low-income residents
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Ontario to allow people on social assistance to keep part of emergency benefits
Tuesday, April 21st, 2020
More than 960,000 Ontarians rely on social assistance, but only about 75,000 report earned income, according to provincial data. Ottawa began issuing CERB payments April 6 for workers who lost their jobs or are earning less than $1,000 a month due to the pandemic and have earned at least $5,000 in the past 12 months. Payments are expected to continue for four months… The clawback is estimated to be worth about $30 million a month, according to a provincial government official.
Tags: budget, disabilities, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, poverty
Posted in Social Security Delivery System | No Comments »
Ontario tells social assistance caseworkers to reinstate benefits to those who lost them after receiving emergency relief payments
Saturday, April 18th, 2020
On April 13, Carla Qualtrough, the federal minister of employment, workforce development and disability inclusion, urged all provinces not to claw back CERB benefits “to ensure vulnerable Canadians do not fall behind.” … Ontario has yet to say how it will treat the CERB. But Lockridge said Minister Todd Smith “had a productive discussion” with Qualtrough on Friday and will be providing more information “in the coming days.”
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, poverty
Posted in Social Security Delivery System | No Comments »
Ontario seeks more information from Ottawa on how to treat CERB for people on social assistance
Friday, April 17th, 2020
… until the province determines how to treat the CERB, case workers have been told not to record the income in Ontario’s computerized benefits system, where the extra cash may trigger automatic clawbacks and even termination of benefits, including drug and medical coverage… A coalition of more than 130 health-care workers, community agencies and Ontarians living in poverty … [are] urging Queen’s Park to boost social assistance rates and not to claw back the CERB from those on OW and ODSP.
Tags: budget, disabilities, ideology, jurisdiction, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Ottawa to the provinces: Don’t claw back CERB for workers on social assistance
Tuesday, April 14th, 2020
“Our government believes the CERB needs to be considered exempt by provinces and territories in the same way as the Canada Child Benefit to ensure vulnerable Canadians do not fall behind” The statement comes as some Ontarians on social assistance who have lost their poverty-level jobs are receiving as much as $3,500 in CERB payments to cover wages lost in March and April… While Ontario considers what to do, the B.C. government on April 2 exempted EI and CERB from social assistance clawbacks…
Tags: budget, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | 2 Comments »
Activists fear for safety of people with disabilities after funding for mobility and medical devices deemed non-essential
Tuesday, April 14th, 2020
Those living in the community who need mobility equipment repairs, upgrades or new equipment will be put at increased risk of falls, pressure injuries and other loss of independence if they can’t access ADP financial support… the ministry has been working to ensure “expedited” funding approval for patients being discharged from hospital who need seating and mobility equipment.
Tags: disabilities, Health, mental Health, participation, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
Ontario bans fees for daycares closed during COVID-19 shutdown
Saturday, April 11th, 2020
The province is now “temporarily preventing child-care centres from collecting payments from parents, while also ensuring that their child-care spaces are protected… We need to support our parents who may be facing reduced income or layoffs during the COVID-19 outbreak.” The province said the order “immediately prevents any child-care operator from charging parent fees where care is not being provided,” exempting those that recently opened to provide care for the kids of front-line workers.
Tags: child care, economy, jurisdiction
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Open Letter urges Ontario to boost support for people on social assistance
Wednesday, April 8th, 2020
A coalition of more than 130 health care workers, community agencies and Ontarians living in poverty is urging Queen’s Park to increase benefits immediately to almost one million residents on social assistance struggling to survive during the COVID-19 crisis… the coalition says in an open letter to Children, Community and Social Services Minister Todd Smith… “If we are to weather this storm together, we must ensure that nobody in Ontario is left behind”
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, housing, ideology, participation, poverty
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
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