05) B.C. FAMILIES FIGHT COMMUNITY LIVING CUTS

PV Vancouver Bureau

     The families of developmentally disabled people in British Columbia are fighting back against funding cutbacks and policy shifts which seriously jeopardize the future of many individuals. The situation is starting to make "Families First" Premier Christy Clark look like a complete hypocrite, contributing to her slide in opinion polls.

     Much of the dispute centres on Community Living BC, the crown agency which provides support to more than 13,600 adults with developmental disabilities. Provincial underfunding has seriously deprived CLBC of the money to cover urgent health and safety needs.

     CLBC cost-cutting measures include closures of about 60 group homes, often considered by families as the best living arrangement for developmentally disabled adults, in favour of private homeshare arrangements. This shift is called an "expansion of options" by the Liberal government, but the personal impact is often deeply traumatic. Many disabled adults have been deprived of close friends and trained staff support, and left instead in homes where their well-being is not a top priority.

     Students enrolled at the Consumer and Job Preparation Progam at Douglas College in New Westminster were abruptly informed in mid-September that funding for their one-year course would be cancelled effective Dec. 31. This $130,000 cut to a program which has been in place for 27 years affected 12 students immediately, and another 18 on the waiting list for next year.

     In yet another scandal, more than two dozen people employed at a Maple Ridge recycling plant were told that CLBC cuts would leave them without jobs at the end of 2011.

     Within days of these two announcements, public anger compelled CLBC and the Liberal government to retreat, promising funding would continue. But the fumbling response by Social Development Minister Harry Bloy has added to the public perception that he is utterly incompetent. Bloy was the only MLA to back Christy Clark's campaign to replace Gordon Campbell as Liberal leader, and his cabinet post is widely regarded as payment for political services.

     On Sept. 14, Bloy claimed to have found an extra $8.9 million to help developmentally disabled people. But family groups and opposition New Democrat MLAs said the money does little to help those struggling after group home and service cuts.

     "It's discouraging," said Faith Bodnar, chief spokesperson for the B.C. Community Living Action Group. "It's a start, but it is an immediate Band‑Aid rather than a solution. We need the government to give a much more substantial lift."

     A BC-CLAG analysis of CLBC projections shows that at least $70 million is needed immediately to address the existing support backlog. Each year, hundreds of youths with developmental disabilities reach the age of 19 and turn to CLBC as they age out of supports funded by the Ministry for Children and Families. Yet the CLBC operating budget remains static from 2010 through 2014 at $681 million annually.

     The increasing gap has severely strained CLBC's system of community-based residential and support services, resulting in a growing number of crises as highly vulnerable young adults and families struggle to cope. The CLBC's "service redesign" initiative has included forcibly transferring group home residents to lower cost alternatives, saving the government $20 million per year.

     For more information, visit www.clbcstopthecuts.org or http://communitylivingaction.org.

(The above article is from the October 1-15, 2011, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)