After almost two months of public protest, the government of Alberta is now telling the public it has badly handled PDD funding.
On Wednesday Associate Minister Frank Oberle stood in front of the people of St. Albert – the community that spear-headed protests against the province to relinquish the cuts more than six weeks ago – and said he was sorry.
“I take full ownership, we have not done a good job of listening to the people,” he admitted. “I’m owning up to it. I apologize fully for the anxiety people have felt.”
At the Wednesday meeting, which more than 100 persons with developmental disabilities, their caregivers and service providers attended, Oberle said the cuts are now off the table and the implementation deadline has been delayed.
“We’ve taken July 1 off the table and we are moving to have contracts in place by September. But that’s not a hard date either.”
Announced in the provincial budget in March, $42 million was slated to be taken away from community access programs, which provide employment and volunteer support, life skills, leisure classes and transportation to medical appointments for Alberta’s most vulnerable.
The province’s plan is to move more PDD clients into jobs and volunteer placements within the human services sector.
“We’re trying to move away from community supports which tend to be more focused on sheltering people, or protecting them. We want people to have more inclusive and more engaging lives,” said Oberle.
He added PDD will be eliminate the IQ test, a factor which determines who receives PDD funding. In order to qualify, people must have an IQ of 70 or lower and need help with tasks such as eating, dressing and reading.
Oberle also insisted the Alberta government will get people the supports they need, but cautioned provincial PDD will not provide services beyond need.
“We are providing an alarming range of services, from one individual that receives $114 per year in supports to one who receives just under $300,000 per year in supports,” Oberle said in a public statement earlier this year.
People that queued up at the microphones at Wednesday’s meeting questioned why the province couldn’t address these funding issues individually instead of making cuts across the board.
“You can’t tell one story and expect us to all say ‘Oh, that makes sense.’ There’s more to it than that,” said JoAnn Wallace, whose 23-year-old son receives supports through the Lo-Se-Ca Foundation.
Under the proposed cuts and new supports assessment criteria, Wallace said her son is in danger of receiving reduced hours, hours which he will be left on his own. Wallace said she isn’t ready to accept these changes without a fight.
“It’s hard enough to have someone in your family that has a disability, and then to have to do this – come in over and over again and plead their case.”
Cuts originally dated for July 1 have spurred an uproar among service providers and families fearing for the jobs of support workers, cut hours and the health and safety of those living with disabilities.
Although the province has extended contract negotiations and support needs assessments into the fall, people are not convinced their voices have been heard.
Paul Fujishige, executive director of Transitions, said the Alberta government is showing a concerted effort to fix the damage done by their quick approach to “transform” PDD, but the future remains “fuzzy.”
“Realistically, why don’t we try to get through this contract year (without changes), so the government can take the time to get to know and consult with stakeholders,” he said.
The province plans to re-vamp PDD by shifting funding from a model based on the number of support hours a person receives, to one based on outcomes. Oberle explained PDD will work with clients and families to set goals and build a support regime around establishing those goals.
PDD also plans to increase staff wages by 10 per cent based on the previous year’s contract. Forty-five million dollars will be allocated to top up agency staff wages and benefits; the current wage for support workers is $15 per hour.
Oberle said a direct cash contribution will be released to service providers in the coming weeks.
