Move to Education and Early Childhood Development underway for March 1, 2010
April Ennis, mother of two children with autism spectrum
April Ennis, a mother of two children with autism spectrum, writes in her blog that her funding for Disability Supports for the boys is being shifted from one government department to the other: Social Services and Seniors to Education and Childhood Development.
Since 2006 when the government lost the case at the Human Rights Commission brought by four families of children and young adults with autism, there has been talk of reforming the services to people with autism.
Some in the autism group agree with the move and others are concerned. The stated logic is that the Department of Education is delivering services to children with autism in the school system; therefore, they are logically the ones to administer the services.
Questions remain since the government has not outlined how the transition will happen without reducing services.
The information at Education and Childhood Development says ” Autism specific services are provided for preschool and school age children and youth in Prince Edward Island. Diagnostic services are available through the Department of Health while intervention services are provided by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.”
This begs the question – what services and supports will be provided these children when they grow up and are no longer in the school system? Will they still be under the support of Education?
The person with autism may continue to live in the community, managed care or a combination of both. Is Education going to take over the provincial facilities for adults with disabilities. Logically these have been the responsibility of Health and Social Services since they naturally fall under their umbrella and these departments have the people and expertise to assist people with developmental disabilities.
The big question is will Islanders with autism receive the same level of benefits and services as other Islanders with disabilities, including developmental disabilities.
Autism spectrum is only one of the developmental disabilities. Will hiving this group off from the main disability community be practical, fair and will it result in any improvement in services?
PEI Autism funding delivery changing
I have been writing for some time that the funding for autism services on Prince Edward Island comes from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development but is funneled through the Department of Social Services via the Disability Support Program. Government has been talking about switching the administration and delivery of this funding through the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, and I received this letter today which indicates that this change will finally take place on March 1, 2010.
As a client, this letter left me with a lot of unanswered questions. As soon as the Government is ready and willing to share the answers to these questions, I will share them with you.
Is this a part of the PEI Autism Strategy we are waiting for? Who would know. We can only do what we know how to do to the best of our ability..which is Wait.
Once the Autism funding is removed, will the Disability Support Program return to income testing their clients? It was because of the Autism funding that the Disability Support Program stopped income testing families after a Human Rights ruling back in 2007.
Leave a Reply