Hundreds of people gathered at the steps of the Alberta Legislature building on Wednesday to protest provincial funding cuts to Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD).
Protesters clenched homemade signs reading, "Now you see me…soon you won't" and "Don't erase my face."
Announced in the 2013 Alberta budget, roughly $42 million will be cut from community access programs for vulnerable Albertans by July 1. The programs help disabled Albertans find employment, volunteer opportunities and participate in fitness, leisure and life skills programs.
"This is beyond anything I've ever seen. This is the largest cut in the entire provincial budget this year," said Marie Renaud, executive director of the Lo-Se-Ca Foundation in St. Albert. "It's shameful."
Renaud explained the foundation expects to cut $600,000 to $700,000, or 12 per cent, from its operating budget over the next nine months, adding service providers were only informed of the changes earlier this week.
Another St. Albert agency that provides support for disabled adults living in their homes will see a cut of almost $670,000 across the board.
"A cut of this magnitude is beyond any service provider's ability to adjust without impacting the service," said Paul Fujishige, executive director of Transitions.
Of the 160 staff members that work with adults through Transitions, the funding cuts will eliminate 20 full-time staff. Similarly, the Skills Society serving St. Albert and the Edmonton area has taken a hit of $1.7 million, equivalent to 65 full time staff positions.
Representatives of all three agencies noted the majority of their staff are part-time, an average wage for a support worker is $15 per hour.
"It's not like we have a bunch of fat we can cut. We're already really lean," said Renaud, adding certain services will have to be terminated because the health and safety risk to the client – without appropriate support – is too great.
Funding model changes
Frank Oberle, associate minister of Services for Persons with Disabilities, has admitted the province's current disability services funding provides support for only 25,000 people, less than 10 per cent of the disabled population.
Oberle is currently on a speaking tour of 19 Alberta communities to discuss the PDD changes, which include a new funding delivery model based on the individual's assessed needs.
Needs are assessed using a supports intensity scale and categorized into seven levels ranging from low support needs to extraordinary behavioural support.
Keri McEachern, manager of community supports with the Skills Society, said the categories used by the assessment tool may not be indicative of what the person's true needs are.
She explained the assessment may ask if the person can make themselves breakfast such as making a bowl of cereal or frying an egg.
"(They're) not asking the question, 'does this person know how to deal with a grease fire?' The follow up question isn't there," she said.
"So, yes that person can make themselves breakfast, but with staff support."
Fujishige said the assessment also needs to involve the person's caregiver, who is familiar with the client's changing needs. As the model currently stands, the assessment is done by a third party.
"Individuals with disabilities have nowhere else to go. They can't go to another job or get funding somewhere else. It's their life we're talking about," said Fujishige.
"When you cut to the point where they can't have the necessary services they need, that creates a crisis."
Currently about 330,000 Albertans are living with disabilities and rely on community and residential support services.
According to the Alberta Council of Disability Services (ACDS), which represents 125 organizations across the province including facility-based programs, residential and respite care, the funding cuts "will have a profound negative impact on the health, safety, and well-being of the individuals and families who currently rely on these services."
