What Changes Are Being Made to Social Assistance Benefits: A Community Perspective on the Impact of these Changes. pdf

Background on Provincial Budget Cuts to Social Assistance The Ontario Provincial Budget 2012 contains the largest reductions in benefits to people on social assistance since the Liberals

What Changes Are Being Made to

Social Assistance Benefits:

A Community Perspective on the

Impact of these Changes

Table of Contents

I Background on Provincial Budget Cuts to Social Assistance ……… 3

Cap on health and non- health related discretionary benefits.……… 4

Community Start-Up and Maintenance Benefit (CSUMB)….……… 5

Home Repairs Benefit……… 6

Schedule A: list of discretionary benefits currently available……… 7

II Community Meeting on June 21, 2012……… 8

III Potholes or People: What the changes mean for people on Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program……… 10

Group Discussion Report……… 10

Health Benefits………10

Children and Families……… 12

Travel and Transportation Benefit……… 14

Housing Supports/ Community Start-Up and Maintenance Benefit… 15 IV Conclusion……… 17

V Next Steps……… 17

I Background on Provincial Budget Cuts to Social Assistance

The Ontario Provincial Budget 2012 contains the largest reductions in benefits to people on social assistance since the Liberals first formed the government in 2003 While an extra $55 million is being added to monthly benefit rates, approximately $133 million annually is being removed from direct benefits to people on Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Sup-port Program (ODSP):

 $20 million as a result of the new overall cap on discretionary health and non-health related benefits, to take effect July 1, 2012;

 $110 million through the elimination of the Community Start Up and Maintenance Benefits (note: while 50% of CSUMB money is being transferred to municipalities, there is no guarantee that these funds will continue to be administered as direct benefits; in addition, the funds may be used to provide services to all low-income people, not only people on Ontario Works and ODSP);

 $3 million from the elimination of the Home Repairs Benefit

This means a net reduction of $78 million in direct benefits, which will have serious implica-tions for people on OW and ODSP It will undoubtedly mean that the government will not meet its target of reducing child and family poverty by 25% by 2013, as promised in Ontar-io’s Poverty Reduction Strategy

“Cutting these benefits will push people further into poverty,

isolation and segregation.”

-quote from Community Meeting, June 21, 2012

Cap on health and non- health related discretionary benefits

Budget 2012 announced changes that will replace the previous provincial funding formula for health and non-health related discretionary benefits delivered through Ontario Works and the

ODSP Those health-related benefits that are currently provided to people on ODSP will

continue to be delivered as a mandatory benefit without change Health-related benefits are

costs like basic dental services, eyeglasses, and hearing aids for adults, as well as funerals and burials Non-health related benefits are for items like transit subsidies and recreational subsidies for children (See Schedule A on page 7 for a complete list of discretionary benefits currently available in Peterborough and the projected 2012 budget amount for each)

The new cap on the amount of money the province gives to municipalities means that municipali-ties will either have to dramatically increase their own financial contribution to benefits or reduce the benefits that are provided The provincial government expects to save about $20 million annu-ally with the new funding cap

The effect of the cap will be different depending on what each municipality decides to do in re-sponse Joint Services Committee of Peterborough City and County has recommended that that the two municipalities pick up the $314,000 short fall in provincial funding through to the end of the

2012 Furthermore, as part of their budget decision-making in the fall, local municipal govern-ments will have to deal with the estimated cut of $920,000 in provincial funding for discretionary benefits going forward in 2013

The effect of the cap will be different depending on what

each municipality decides to do in response

“I’m diabetic and on ODSP I needed discretionary benefits to

pay for a special boot because I have ulcers The boot costs $600

and is not covered by ODSP health benefits If I didn’t have the

boot I would lose my foot, and then the costs to the health care

system would be ridiculously high.”

-quote from Community Meeting, June 21, 2012

CSUMB has been important for families on Ontario works and ODSP in Peterborough City/County In

2011 local families on Ontario Works received $1.97 million in CSUMB A further $0.83 million in CSUMB was paid to ODSP recipients Of the total $2.8 million provided in CSUMB, $270,000 was funded by the Municipality The Municipality has not decided what it will do to replace the CSUMB, or

what it will do with the savings that it will have ($270,000) as a result of the elimination of the benefit The Provincial government has said that half of the $110 million that currently goes to CSUMB (or about $55 million) will be moved to the Ministry of Housing and folded in with funding from five other

programs, which were already slated to be consolidated under the government’s Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy The new consolidated money will be given to municipalities to fund housing and homelessness programs for all low-income people New criteria for the way

municipali-ties will deliver these programs have not yet been created The reduced funding will not be part of

the social assistance program, and so decisions denying funding will not be appealable

“Rates are too low to cover even rent and food The term

‘discretionary benefits’ is misleading - really they should be called

‘necessary benefits’.”

-quote from Community Meeting, June 21, 2012

Community Start-Up and Maintenance Benefit (CSUMB) ends

January, 2013

The Provincial government will end the CSUMB as of January 1, 2013 This is going to have a serious impact on families who rely on social assistance for income support

CSUMB is a mandatory benefit that is used to help families pay for the initial costs of establishing a

new home (last month’s rent deposit, heat/hydro deposits, moving costs, furniture and other necessities) and/or to pay costs to prevent eviction or disconnection of heat or utilities Currently,

about 16,000 Ontario Works and ODSP recipients across the province rely on CSUMB every month

to pay for costs like these CSUMB is a mandatory benefit Because CSUMB is a mandatory benefit, a decision denying CSUMB funding can be appealed to the Social Benefits Tribunal

CSUMB funds are intended to help families either set up a new home or keep the home they have

It makes sense that any decision to deny these funds should be subject to review

Home Repairs Benefit ends January, 2013

The Home Repairs Benefit will also be cut as of January 1, 2013 It helps people pay for things like emergency plumbing repairs, patching a leaky roof, or repairing damage from fire or floods, but only if there’s no other source of funds that people can use The $3 million for this benefit is not being moved into the Ministry of Housing

“I have bedbugs and it is horrible I can’t throw out my bed

because I am still paying on it.”

-quote from Community Meeting, June 21, 2012

Schedule A

Benefit and/or Service 2012 Projections

Basic Dental Services for OW adults and ODSP dependent adults

$579,431

1

2

Vision care for OW adults and ODSP depend-ent adults

$160,591

3

4

5

6

Basic funeral and burials services $213,011

7

8

9

10

11

Home repairs for OW families who own their own homes

$3,790

12

13

14

Replacement or repair to fridge or stove $18,658

15

Replacement of household contents in an emergency situation

Combined with #15

16

17

Heat and Utility deposits or payment to prevent eviction or disconnection of services

$5,779

18

19 Recreation and social activities subsidies for children

$162,699

II Community Meeting on June 21, 2012

Reducing and alleviating poverty has been the focus of collaborative initiatives by the Peterborough Poverty Reduction Network (PPRN) and its partners, the Peterborough Community Legal Centre (Legal Centre), the Peterborough County-City Health Unit (PCCHU) and the Peterborough Social Planning Council (PSPC), among others

These partners have investigated the implications of the 2012 budget cuts to provincial funding of social assistance on Peterborough City and County One indisputable implication is that over the upcoming months municipal governments will need to make key funding decisions for the balance of

2012 and going forward to 2013

Peterborough has a higher percentage of people on assistance than other

municipality in the region, with 8.5% of local residents relying on social

assistance compared to a provincial average of 6.9%

One of every 11 residents relies on social assistance for food, shelter and other important benefits relating to health care, dental care, transportation, and housing There are relatively high levels of poverty in Peterborough City and County The area has historically had a high percentage of house-holds below the low income cut off (LICO)

Given the critical importance of the benefits in question to the poorest residents in the community, it is essential that people who rely on Ontario Works and ODSP be asked how the cuts will affect them Accordingly, any interested member of the public and agencies who serve people on social assistance were invited to attend a community meeting on June 21, 2012 to:

 hear how the province has reduced funding for important benefits;

 learn what the City and County of Peterborough are considering doing in response to the changes, and about the process for municipal decision-making;

 discover what provincial and local actions are taking place in response to the changes;

One of every 11 residents relies on social assistance for food, shelter and other important benefits relating to health care, dental care, transportation, and housing

Community Meeting on June 21, 2012, Cont’d:

Seventy-five people attended the meeting at the Peterborough Public Library, representing 19 local agencies and various individuals with lived experience of Ontario Works and ODSP

As part of background presentations made at the beginning of the meeting, Martha Macfie, staff lawyer with the Legal Centre, told those in attendance that “Municipal government must make hard choices in the upcoming months about funding priorities for 2013 given the cuts.” She outlined how the ongoing upload of the municipal cost share of OW to the province has resulted in municipal sav-ings that will increase each year until the upload is complete in 2018 Ms Macfie pointed out that there is currently an estimated $3.5 million in the social services reserve fund, and asserted that the savings from uploading and the social services reserves could be used to offset the drop in funding from the province for social assistance benefits

John Coreno, Social Services Coordinator for the City of Peterborough, outlined the “Discretionary Benefit Report” that was presented by the City staff to the Joint Services Committee on June 14th,

2012 According to Mr Coreno, the Committee’s recommendation was to continue the current range of Discretionary Benefits through to the end of 2012, which would require an increased cost

to the City of $300,140 and $14,368 from the County

Joanne Bazak-Brokking, Co-chair of Peterborough Poverty Reduction Network’s (PPRN) Income Security Work Group, told those in attendance that the cuts “are plunging people deeper into pov-erty.” She also encouraged those in attendance to get involved in provincial campaigns aimed at refocusing the provincial government on its 2009 commitment to poverty reduction

“Municipal government must make hard choices in the upcoming

months about funding priorities for 2013 given the cuts.”

- Martha Macfie, staff lawyer with the Peterborough Legal Centre and Co-Chair of the Income Security Work Group

III Potholes or People: What the changes mean for people on Ontario Works and ODSP

“We have to tell Council what to decide and not have them

decide for us.”

-quote from Community Meeting, June 21, 2012

Health Benefits:

 Cuts to these discretionary benefits will hurt families on Ontario

Works the most

 Current coverage of some health items for people on ODSP is

limited, and so getting discretionary benefits can be critical

 A person who is poor may also be hungry, sick or homeless and

bouncing from crisis to crisis Expecting that person to go around

and beg service clubs for money to cover health costs is not

realistic It is cruel

 The charity model does not work

 A lot of minimum wage workers don’t have drug or dental benefits

That is wrong But it doesn’t help them to take these away from

people on assistance who are even poorer and sicker

 Dental, Vision, Hearing, Orthotics, Other: Loss of basic dental

services for adults on Ontario Works will have a devastating effect

on people People won’t be able to find work, pay taxes or stay

healthy

 Good dental hygiene is important for healthy pregnancies

These important health benefits should be covered because this will re-sult in significant future savings to the healthcare system

“My doctor said I need a blood pressure cuff ODSP would not cover it and sent

me to Ontario Works First OW said no, but they finally did cover

it This was very stressful.”

-quote from Community Meeting, June

Group Discussion Report:

In small groups people talked about what the impact would be of the

various proposed changes to social assistance benefits These were

grouped into the themes of health, children and families, travel and

transportation, and housing benefits Each of these themes is

presented separately

 Not having glasses or a hearing aid is a safety issue, both for the

person who needs the appliances and for other members of the

community A person who cannot see or hear well will become

isolated, insecure and depressed

 Dentures: Without dentures, peoples’ health will deteriorate

When people can’t eat properly they have poor nutrition, and lack

energy Then they can’t look after themselves or their children

properly They can’t look for work

 Right now there is only partial funding for dentures One woman

could not make up the cost and was going without teeth/dentures

It was affecting what she could eat and her overall health was in

decline

 Funeral and Burial Services: Removal of this benefit would be

de-humanizing for poor families, who would be forced to leave

bodies unclaimed so that the cost would be minimally covered as

required by law Even families of people who have plots

pur-chased won’t use them, because of the cost of a funeral service

 Prescription Drugs: Some people are only able to buy critical

medications through discretionary benefits because they are not

covered by the Ontario Drug Plan

 Removing this benefit will raise the cost of other forms of health

care that will result from inadequate treatment in the first place

 Mothers won’t be able to get the prescribed, specialized formulas

they sometimes need for their babies to thrive

 How Will People Cope with the Cuts?: People who are

re-sourceful will go to other agencies and services (e.g churches,

the Hearing Society, service clubs), and compete for scarce

re-sources, but others will become more isolated and sick

“I’m diabetic and need eye care by taking that away

they are sentencing me to blindness.”

-quote from Community Meeting, June 21, 2012

“It seems like the government doesn’t think low income people care about how they look.”

-quote from Community Meeting, June 21, 2012

“I am getting den-tal work done now

No one will hire

me if I have rotting teeth.”

-quote from Community Meeting, June 21, 2012

“OHIP should be covering dental.” -quote from Community Meeting, June 21, 2012