With the right resources, reviewing services should help uncover and fix challenges faced by Islanders with disabilities
The Guardian
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Those people interested in the plight of the disabled on Prince Edward Island no doubt welcomed last Friday’s announcement by the province that it plans to put the Island’s disability services under the microscope. Those Islanders not particularly interested should also welcome the new initiative.
As Stephen Pate, an activist for persons with disabilities, puts it: “We know from the statistics that the baby boom bulge is coming — disability is a factor of aging — and so we know that the percent of the population that are disabled is going to rise.”
In other words, just because you don’t think ability issues are something you need to be concerned with now doesn’t mean they won’t become so in the future. So for purely selfish reasons, all Islanders need to pay attention to this issue.
But it’s the Islanders dealing with disability issues that the new initiative is specifically aimed at. A Disability Services Review Committee will review and get public input on the current legislation and services and see what needs to change.
The review committee will hold public hearings during the coming months while reviewing all aspects of disability services, including the Disability Support Program, which is administered by the province for Islanders with a qualifying disability. That program replaced the Family Support and Employability Assistance for People with Disabilities (EAPD) program and has come under attack from advocacy groups who feel the qualification criteria isn’t as accommodating as it should be.
The Disability Services Review Committee is expected to submit its final report in the fall of 2008 to Health Minister Doug Currie. In announcing the review committee and its mandate, the health minister pointed out that there are almost 22,000 Islanders reporting disabilities of some kind.
The review committee consists of people with first-hand knowledge of the challenges faced by persons of disability in the province and is setting forth on its voyage with a fair bit of goodwill.
Barry Schmidl says the new Liberal government seems to be more open to listening than the previous government was. Schmidl, a committee member, is also the executive director of the P.E.I. Council of the Disabled so it stands to reason he is in favour of the review. It also stands to reason that committee members like him will fight for the rights of persons with disabilities when it comes to the committee writing its final report.
While announcing the review Currie conceded that it was fulfilling an election promise made by the Liberals during the spring election campaign.
Let’s hope the review is a comprehensive one will and result in positive changes in the lives of persons with disabilities. No one should prejudge the intentions of the new government, but if the past is any indication studying issues is rarely the problem.
The problem is usually finding the money and political courage to act.
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