People with disabilities at risk from Government policies

Disabled home care underfunded and unstable workforce

Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, June 8, 2009

Persons with disabilities are the “victims of a fluctuating workforce simply because of funding issues,” says Carol Furlong president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NUPGE) union.

Government programs for the disabled are underfunded in Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. Inadequate funding is a regulatory restriction on services that are already inadequate.

PEI’s Disability Services Program is limited to 1,200 on PEI’s 22,000 persons with disabilities.

Furlong is calling on Susan Sullivan, the “Newfoundland minister responsible for the status of persons with disabilities, to ensure adequate home care and support services for persons with disabilities,” in today’s press release

Prince Edward Island has a similar program that turns Disability Support Workers from Holland College by the dozens. The students don’t make enough at the prescribed rate for sponsored home care to live and pay back their student loans. Most of them try to find work at double the rate within the Provincial Government or leave the profession.

Carol Furlong calls on NL to provide stable compensation for disability home care workers

Disability support home care workers can make substantially more money cleaning private homes which is a less demanding job than providing assistance to the disabled. Home cleaners do not need a Holland College or equivalent education.

“The inability to sustain a workforce of qualified home care and support workers is of significance to many persons with disabilities and to their families,” Furlong says.

“Inconsistency in support workers due to staff turnover creates many problems and challenges for those who require assistance to deal with everything from severe medical problems to everyday living.”

Furlong says low wages and benefits offer no incentive to recruit or retain home care and support workers and this in turn causes problems for those who rely on such services.

“It is unacceptable that persons with disabilities find themselves the victims of a fluctuating workforce simply because of funding issues,” she notes.

“There has to be some stability for people who require support for a multitude and diversity of needs. The simple solution to addressing the problem is providing acceptable wages and benefits and respect for the work that home care and support workers offer. Minister Sullivan has a unique opportunity to step up to the plate to support efforts to provide a stable home care and support program for persons with disabilities. If this is about money, then the office is doomed before it starts. This is about respect, it is about dignity and it is about doing what is necessary to empower persons with disabilities.”

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