Family thrilled, disappointed with discrimination ruling

Carolyn Bateman

Last Updated: Thursday, June 28, 2007 | 11:15 AM AT
CBC News

A P.E.I. family hopes that a Human Rights Commission ruling will lead eventually to increased government support for families caring for disabled adult children.

The P.E.I. Human Rights Commission ruled Wednesday that the province favored people with physical disabilities over those with mental disabilities in the way it determined need and that income testing for families caring for children under 18 but not for adults was discriminatory.

But it did not agree with complainants that a cap on support payments should be removed.

“We’re both thrilled and disappointed all at the same time,” said Carolyn Bateman, who went to the commission on behalf of her 26-year-old son Adam Bateman, who is severely autistic.

Bateman said the ruling against means testing would be a welcome development for families with younger disabled children.”The harder these parents worked, the more they made, so the next year they got less support,” she said.

“It didn’t matter how hard you tried to provide for that child. The more you tried, the less support you got. For those children who are under 18 this is going to be a huge difference for them.”

No help for Batemans
The Batemans, however, are already getting the maximum disability payment of $36,000 a year, and the challenge they brought along with another family to the cap was rejected.

The Batemans documented expenses of close to $60,000 a year in care for Adam.

While the commission recognized those expenses, it ruled the province was was within its rights not to pay all of them.

“It’s going to be very tough,” said Bateman.

“What it means is that families are trapped at home with these adult children. You have situations where you have 80- and 90-year-olds taking care of a 60-year-old person with a mental disability because they have no option.”

While the cap isn’t discriminatory, according to the Human Rights Commission, Bateman hopes the province will recognize how much caring for adult children costs and increase the support payments.