Full Citizenship:
A Manitoba Strategy on Disability

The Challenge
Action Plan 2001

Disability Supports

- The Challenge

The term disability supports describes any good or service that assists a person in overcoming barriers associated with a disabling condition to carrying out activities of daily living, or social (includes political and cultural) activities and economic participation. The goal is independent living as opposed to the older medical model goal of curing or rehabilitating a person with disabilities. As a result, there are no fixed sets of disability-related goods and services. A good or service becomes "disability-related" when it is used to assist a person or persons in overcoming barriers associated with a disabling condition. The list of disability supports can include, but is not limited to:

• Technical aids;
• Transportation;
• Support for Independent Living;
• Job Coaching;
• Attendant support;
• Home making assistance; and
• Training, respite and back up for family care givers.

Without disability supports, people with disabilities are prevented from fulfilling their social and economic potential.

• One-half of the 44 per cent of people with disabilities who are not in the workforce cite barriers and disincentives as the reason (1991 HALS);
• 25 per cent of Canadians with disabilities on income support programs cite loss of supports as a reason for not looking for work;
• A majority of complaints to human rights commissions deal with a failure to accommodate; and
• 36 per cent of people with disabilities had non-reimbursed out-of-pocket disability-related expenses.
  

The questions of access and affordability are inter-linked, since the costs of many of these services restrict their accessibility. Many persons with disabilities require supports for which they receive no economic assistance. According to the 1991 HALS report, 33 per cent of adults face costs related to their disability that are not reimbursed by any public or private plan. This is a question that must be addressed as a part of an ongoing action strategy.

Currently, many supports are not portable across sectors. Supports that are provided in the home are not provided in the school or workplace - making it impossible for a person to pursue training or employment options. In other cases, supports are attached to specific forms of residential care, such as nursing homes or group homes. This creates problems for residents who wish to seek independent living arrangements. If benefits were made portable they would be attached to the individual, and would travel with that person from one setting or region to another.

One method of achieving portability is through individualized funding. This approach allows services to be individually tailored based on needs. This approach can improve the system's responsiveness. Several programs in Manitoba, such as the Self-Managed Home-Care Attendant Program, the Self-Managed Respite Program, and the "In the Company of Friends" program, already employ this form of funding to meet disability needs. However, in some cases, where a service is not available in the market place, this approach may not be effective. Additional investments in selected disability supports may be required to expand the available supply.

Portability may also be approached through the tax system. In this regard, the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Council of Ministers of Social Services have recently announced their intention to determine the feasibility of implementing a national disability supports tax credit option.

- Action Plan 2001

The Action Plan proposes that in 2001, community consultation be undertaken to develop policy recommendations for implementation in 2002. Such consultations would focus on how to strengthen disability supports in the following areas:

• Access to disability supports;
• Portability of disability supports;
• Affordability of disability supports; and
• Consumer control, flexibility and responsiveness in the provision of disability supports.

back to top