Urgent Request: FSCD and PDD family experiences

Every Albertan is aware that the provincial government has chosen to impose financial constraints which will have future impacts on many sectors from education to healthcare, but too few are aware of the impact now on the very lives of children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families. The waiting list in Alberta for disability related supports for children and adults with developmental disabilities is the largest it has ever been, with no end in sight.

The past has taught us a powerful lesson that governments ignore – failing to support families now increases societal costs. Costs that range from parents having to quit the workforce, to the significantly increased costs that come from pushing families into crises, to the cost of lives on hold and, worse, lives wasted. No society benefits from abandoning families.

It is clear that individual families who require and rely on their existing FSCD and Family Managed Supports (FMS) funding and those applying for FSCD and PDD have been singled out by the government to bear the brunt of its budgetary decisions. To our knowledge, service providing agencies have not had their funding cut or eliminated.

It is individual families alone who have had their existing supports arbitrarily cut or entirely eliminated.

It is individual families alone who have been told no funding or supports are available.

It is individual families alone who cannot get any answer as to when funding will be available or for what.

It is individual families alone who, in the vain hope of obtaining any possible supports, are required to meet repeatedly with government workers, sometimes month after month, who have no authority to allocate resources but only the authority to deny them.

It is individual families who are left alone to consider filing appeals and confronting the weight and power of government.

It is individual families alone by the thousands who must now, on their own, watch the potential of their children languish or the very lives of their adult sons and daughters be put at risk.

With a growing waitlist of thousands it is not possible for a government bureaucracy to know exactly who is at risk, in what circumstances, and when, so its efforts to respond to those at immediate risk cannot prevent inevitable harm to others.

WHAT WE ARE ASKING

On February 27, the government budget will be announced. In order to be able to respond meaningfully and effectively communicate with MLAs and the public, we would like to have a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of the current budget on the lives of children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families. We know the negative impacts have not been the same in every region and we know some families have been fortunate in having their funding remain the same.

To have as accurate a picture as possible, we would like to hear from families who have FSCD and FMS contracts and from those who are waiting for FSCD or PDD funding or services. We would like to know if you have been impacted and how, including what you have been told by government staff. You can email us at mail@inclusionalberta.org. If you know of a family who has been impacted, please share this request with them.

This information will be vital to our efforts in representing the interests of children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families when the legislature resumes and the budget is announced.

We thank you in advance for finding the time to respond to our request.

Barb MacIntyre                                   Trish Bowman
President                                              Chief Executive Officer
Inclusion Alberta                                Inclusion Alberta