This Really Should Be No One's British Columbia

AllTheCostCuttingThatMustNotStand

PreyingOnTheVulnerableVille

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Update at bottom of post

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Last week we mentioned an excellent bit of investigative digging from Lindsay Kines of the Victoria Times-Colonist.

Essentially, Mr. Kines reported that developmentally disabled adults are being forced out of their group homes with very short notice and little or no consultation with their families.

Based on numerous reports I have read, many of these folks can and do thrive under the constant care, attention, and nurturing they receive in these homes as opposed to, say, the large institutional warehouses they used be placed in or the 'shared living arrangements' they are now being forced into.

So, given all this, Mr. Kines tried to find out what was driving the group home closures.

First off, he found out that the companies that run the homes are being 'asked' to sign new contracts at a lower rate of compensation.

These 'requests' are coming from Community Living British Columbia, the provincial government agency that oversees the care of adults with disabilities.

And, when the companies 'refuse' to cut costs, what happens?

Well, it would appear that CLBC swoops in, closes the homes involved, and uproots the residents pretty much immediately.

In a specific example cited by Mr. Kines, one of the soon to be uprooted is a 46 year old disabled man who has very successfully lived in the same home for 15 years.

And as early as August 31st (ie. in less than two weeks) this fellow will no longer have that home to live in.

And his elderly parents, Connie and Ken Greenway, as you might expect, are devastated:

..."We are absolutely shocked at how fast this has taken place [within a matter of a few weeks] and at no time were we consulted before the decision was made," the Greenways wrote in an email to Premier Christy Clark, who ran for the B.C. Liberal leadership promising to put "families first." The residents do not have a choice," the Greenways said. "Darrin's service providers' contracts are terminated, forcing residents to move. This is against Darrin's wishes and our wishes as his family."...

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In the comments to the post I originally wrote noting Mr. Kines's story, a regular reader and contributor, 'lynx', who I know has experience with the system, stopped by to say:

"... This government and CLBC is moving so swiftly on so many fronts it has left parents, caregivers and support workers reeling.

This is the dismantling of the structure that supported developmentally disabled adults.

It is such a heartless and ruthless move. No consultation. No compassion..."

Now, based on the way my mind works, I immediately wanted to know the 'why' of CLBC's need to act with utmost speed and total lack of consultation.

Was it purely operational, or was it something more sinister, like, say an effort to make sure that they did not take a PR hit?

'lynx' was good enough to respond further with this:

"...There is a move afoot (actually for some time now) to distance government responsibility and accountability from the lives of people with developmental disabilities. It is being set up in a way that responsibility will be re-directed away from government and unto the caregiver alone.



Most people don't know that much of the foster system has been re-created into a 'service provider' and 'client' model. That's how dehumanized this new business model of care has become. Funding and support worker job cuts have resulted in those in care losing treasured services once provided to them. At the same time increasingly more responsibility is being down-loaded onto the shoulders of caregivers, who are being 'positioned' to have to account for any failure of the system. 



That's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, Ross. What is quite evident is that CLBC seems in a bigger hurry than usual to initiate and wrap these changes up as soon as possible. Few details are being provided to either parents or caregivers..."

And then Mr. Willcocks weighed in.

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In a follow-up to Mr. Kines' story, Paul Willcocks recently put up a devastating post that, in my opinion, demonstrates that CLBC is no longer working in the best interests of the most vulnerable of our fellow citizens.

First, Mr. Willcocks noted the evasiveness of the people running the CLBC and the obfuscatory lies* being spouted by the Campbell-Clark government Minister responsible, Mr. Harry Bloy.

Then Mr. Willcocks got right to the heart of the matter:

"...The closures aren't isolated. Community Living B.C. closed more than 40 group homes last year, forcing the residents to move and - often - reducing the support they received.

And the closures are not driven by revelations of waste, or innovations in support.

This is about cutting costs. The government has chosen not to put these families first.

According to CLBC, the amount of funding per client has fallen every year since it was created by the Liberals six years ago, under Christy Clark's watch as children's minister.

In 2006-07, the first full year of operation, funding provided an average $51,154 per client. This year, funding will be $45,306. And by 2013, according to the government projections, it will be cut to $41,225 per client.

If you factor in inflation, by 2013 the funding available for each client will be 30 per cent less than it was in 2006..."

Did you get that?

By digging out the hard rock numbers, Mr. Willcocks' actually demonstrated that 'lynx' was, indeed, correct.

Because this is clearly systematic, and it has clearly been going on for a long time.

Worse, and for this, as a British Columbian, I feel nothing but shame, it also means that the most vulnerable amongst us have already done their part and, despite this, are still being forced to do more to cut my government's costs.

But here's the real thing.

These folks are not just the high cost of a ferry ride...

Or a freeway interchange...

Or a government website...

Or a media consultancy contract...

Or the fancy lighting in a convention center ballroom...

Or a bolt of cloth on top of a stadium that will sit idle 300 days per year...

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What am I really saying here?

Well.

Regardless their individual points of view, political affiliations, or ideological leanings, every single British Columbian who now knows and understands what is really going on with CLBC thanks to the work of people like Mess'rs Kines and Willcocks also knows that it must stop.

Because there are other places we can cut.

And some people in this province, including people like me, can afford to pay more if it is required to stop the slashing and burning of real programs like this that matter.

Because we have to make sure that we help our fellow citizens, especially those fellow citizens that have already done their part to bear the brunt of government cost-cutting, who need our help most.

OK?

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Mr Willcocks prefers to call Mr. Bloy's utterances on the matter 'flat-out false statements'....Given that those statements are demonstrably false, I choose to call them, again in my opinion, what they really and truly are.

Update: Mr. Willcocks, in the comments, clarifies his choice of words thusly: "I choose my words with care, but there seems something beyond callousness or indifference, something close to evil, in treating people this way...."

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