Posts Tagged ‘disabilities’

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‘It breaks my heart’: Ontarians on social assistance are struggling even more amid inflation

Tuesday, September 20th, 2022

ODSP recipients recently got a 5 per cent rate increase. But advocates say that doesn’t make up for decades of neglect — or account for sky-high inflation… The PCs have repeatedly said that they will tie future rate increases for ODSP to inflation in law — each rate increase would, therefore, in some way keep up with the actual buying power of what recipients get in each cheque… At time of publication, no legislation to this effect is before the house. 

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Ontario Ministry of Health reverses course on guardianship requirement for disabled woman

Wednesday, September 14th, 2022

Ontario will stop requiring disabled people who are unable to manage their own finances to have a court-appointed guardian to receive home-care funding as adults. The policy change comes just weeks after the Star reported on the case of Maggie Hickey, a 19-year-old Kingston woman whose parents were told they would lose funding for Maggie’s personal support workers unless they imposed formal guardianship on their daughter.

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Supporting dementia patients and caregivers is a moral imperative

Tuesday, September 13th, 2022

On average, caregivers provided 26 care hours a week… The toll this takes on caregivers is profound… 45 per cent of caregivers exhibit symptoms of distress. And 21 per cent say they’re unable to continue their care duties due to stress.  And we have only seen the tip of the iceberg… all levels of government must help to make delaying dementia a reality.

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Liberals to announce plan to double GST tax credit, launch youth dental care and top up housing benefits, NDP sources say

Thursday, September 8th, 2022

The New Democrats say they have inked an agreement with the Liberals… that would double the GST tax credit for a period of six months. About 12 million Canadians could be eligible… Both parties also reached consensus on a plan that could see low-income youth under 12 receive a cheque for dental services by the end of the year. The plan is intended to be a temporary solution until a permanent dental care plan can be implemented by the end of 2023 and extended to those under 18, seniors and people living with a disability.

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Ford government plans more low wages for women health care workers

Friday, August 12th, 2022

Ontario continues to pursue a low-wage strategy for the female health care workforce, a strategy that is quickly demolishing health care in Ontario… Everywhere, women health-care workers are quitting. It is even worse in the home care sector. We have had enough of the violence, the irregular work weeks, the unpaid time between clients, the lack of pensions, and the low wages.

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Rebuilding from Canada’s Senior Care Disaster

Monday, August 1st, 2022

Elder-care policy must include a focus on wellness, education, adopting healthy lifestyles, literacy with new technologies that can support health and fostering a sense of community. To achieve this, it will be necessary to… engage organizations that have the ability to impact the social determinants of health, such as not-for-profit groups, seniors’ advocacy groups, community service organizations and other human services ministries within government.

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What are the key trends in Social Assistance Summaries, 2021?

Monday, July 25th, 2022

The analysis in this policy brief provides a first set of pathways for governments to improve the human right to an adequate standard of living of some of the most vulnerable people in Canada… federal, provincial, and territorial governments have long neglected [unattached singles], often preferring to focus on families with children and seniors. Because of this, welfare incomes of unattached singles have become highly inadequate, falling well below the deep poverty income threshold in almost every province.

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Social Assistance Summaries, 2021

Monday, July 25th, 2022

On average, there were over 595,000 cases (families and single adults) in Ontario’s social assistance programs during 2020-21. Over 36 per cent (217,234) were recipients of Ontario Works and 64 per cent (378,145) were recipients of the Ontario Disability Support Program… In 2020-21, on average, 7.6 per cent of people in Ontario under 65 received Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), which is 1 in 13.

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How do we ‘fix’ Canadian health care? Not by forcing patients to pay

Thursday, July 7th, 2022

While we undoubtedly need to invest more public funds in our health care system, we need to do it transparently and strategically… Those looking to hand our health care system to corporate investors see a lucrative opportunity in private pay health care. It’s a seemingly simple and neat solution — but it’s wrong. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we need our publicly funded health care system to be there for all of us.

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Why we need to care about single adults living in poverty

Friday, July 1st, 2022

… single adults made up more than 60 per cent of OW cases and nearly 80 per cent of ODSP cases in 2021. Together, they equal the population of Ontario’s fastest growing city… The social assistance system was intended to be an emergency system – a last resort when all else failed. Well, all else is failing. Our other social systems are not preventing single adults from living in poverty. Rather, these systems are pushing people into poverty and holding them there… our social safety net is a relic of another era, as is our notion of who needs it.

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