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Complaints of Unfairness Shoot up from Welfare, Disability Recipients

Independent government tribunal had budget cut as appeals rose 46 per cent.

By Andrew MacLeod, 1 Feb 2010, TheTyee.ca

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Food line in Vancouver's Gastown. Tyee Flickr Pool photo by The Blackbird.

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The Employment and Assistance Appeals Tribunal is an independent government body that listens and rules when people feel they've been treated unfairly by the ministries that administer disability assistance, welfare and childcare subsidies.

Last year the number of appeals to the tribunal jumped by 46 per cent. At the same time the office dealt with a 17 per cent budget cut by shrinking the size of panels that hear appeals and by using a computer program to train new tribunal members.

The details are included in the tribunal's annual report, released in December but previously unreported in the media. The report covers a reporting period from Oct. 1, 2008 to Sept. 30, 2009.

"For the first time, panels consisting of one member were appointed to hear an appeal," tribunal chair Marilyn McNamara wrote in the report. Since 2002, when the government created the tribunal, panels had had three members.

The one-member panels are only used in cases where a complainant agrees, the report noted. "This has been a successful endeavour and assisted the Tribunal to work within a reduced budget while appeals increased 46 per cent over the previous reporting period," wrote McNamara.

'We were concerned': Tribunal chair

Housing and Social Development minister Rich Coleman was unavailable for an interview.

A ministry spokesperson sent an email on background saying the increase in appeals is "largely due to an increase in the number of income assistance recipients in B.C." and the province has increased the ministry's budget to meet the rising demand for income assistance.

The message did not address the cut to the tribunal's budget, other than to say it "is an independent appeal body which decides what action to take to meet increased appeal numbers."

McNamara said in an interview that the tribunal has been able to achieve its goals despite the budget cut. "We were concerned," she said, but it had been clear for some time cuts were coming. "I ask, as we all ask, and then we are given . . . we're not the only group to be cut. It's right across government."

Reducing the size of panels to one or two members instead of the previously standard three people allowed the tribunal to save money not just on fees but also on travel and administration, she said. Also, using computer software to train new members has been much cheaper than previous live training, she said. The computer training is "more intense" than some of what the tribunal provided before, she added, saying she would not otherwise have approved the change.

Questions about why the number of appeals has risen are better directed to the ministry, she said. "Clearly there's been an increase in the number of income assistance recipients in B.C." There has also been an increase in the number of applicants, a portion of whom would have been denied assistance and would have appealed, she said.

The HSD average caseload grew by 6.2 per cent from 2007 to 2008 and by 14 per cent from 2008 to 2009, according to the most recent statistics available from the human and social development ministry. That's significant, but still far short of the 46 per cent increase in appeals.

The government does not routinely release statistics on the number of people who apply for assistance nor what portion of applicants it helps. Of the 993 appeals entered into the tribunal's computer system, 177, or about 18 per cent, were regarding matters related to eligibility.

'Justice is decreasing'

An advocate with Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Residents' Association, Kirsty MacKenzie, said in an email that she'd read the tribunal's annual report. "The bottom line seems to be that access to justice is decreasing at the same time that the government is implementing policies that make it increasingly difficult for people to access social assistance," she said.

About 30 per cent of the appeals made to the tribunal are related to disability assistance, she said. "Advocates across the province are seeing an increase in denials of disability assistance by ministry adjudicators," she said. "It is no wonder that demands on the tribunal are increasing when the government attempts to 'cut costs' by restricting access to social assistance."

Treatment of the tribunal is consistent with what she's come to expect from Premier Gordon Campbell's government on poverty issues, she said. "It has become far too easy to highlight the gross disparities between what this government will spend on elite recreation and luxury development and the resources it extends in support of the most vulnerable members of our society," she said.

"Skyrocketing income inequality in the midst of plenty is Gordon Campbell's biggest legacy to this province."

Rising caseload, door shutting

The New Democratic Party's critic for HSD, Vancouver-Hastings MLA Shane Simpson, said there are several possible explanations for the leap in appeals.

One is the rising caseload, which has gone up as the provincial economy has shrunk and people have lost jobs. Another is that ministry offices are stretched. "There's every indication staffing has been cut back in the offices," he said. The time it takes to process a disability assistance application has gone from one month to as many as four, he said. "I'm starting to hear that from different places around the province."

Yet another is that the government may be trying to contain costs by refusing people assistance or keeping them at a lower level than they are entitled to receive, he said. "I think it is about them getting much tougher around some of those policies and driving up the appeal numbers," he said.

It has become harder for people to get help that would have been easily given a few years ago, said Renée Ahmadi, an advocate with Victoria's Action Committee of People with Disabilities. "There are now things people have to appeal for that before were not an issue," she said.

Getting classified as "disabled" is often a point of contention, she said. Disability assistance for a single person is $906 a month, compared to $610 a month for somebody in the "expected to work" category. But many people who should be entitled to disability assistance are being refused by the ministry, she said. "It's laughable [who is turned away]. People with cerebral palsy, people who are obviously disabled."

OK to work with severe pain: Ministry

According to the tribunal's annual report, it heard 830 appeals of housing and social development ministry decisions and 320 of them, or nearly 40 per cent, involved whether someone should be considered to have a disability.

In a case study, one of three included in the report, it gives an example of an applicant who was not considered disabled even though he or she was waiting for surgery for a degenerative disc disease that causes "severe, chronic and debilitating back pain."

According to the person's doctor, the report said, the person was unable to walk more than a block some days, could do no lifting and couldn't sit for more than an hour. "The physician noted that the appellant required morphine daily for severe pain," it said. "The physician report stated the appellant is restricted in all daily living activities."

And yet the provincial government considered the applicant ineligible for disability assistance, leaving him or her in the category of clients considered 'employable'. The tribunal overturned the ministry's decision. *

In another case, it backed up the ministry's decision to cut off a stay-at-home, pregnant, single parent of two pre-school aged children. She had missed ten out of 29 appointments at a job placement program, making her in contravention of her employment plan.

"The Ministry's position was the appellant failed to demonstrate reasonable efforts to participate in the employment program as she missed many appointments," the report said. "The appellant's position was that she had not failed to demonstrate reasonable efforts given her lack of child care and chronic health problems."

The panel sided with the ministry, finding it had correctly and reasonably followed the provincial income assistance laws.

Making changes to meet budget cuts

The NDP's Simpson said it sounds like a case where the ministry interpreted the law correctly, but that the rule needs to be changed. Before 2001, single parents receiving welfare weren't expected to work until their youngest child turned seven years old. The Liberal government changed the age to three.

"I think it raises questions about whether these eligibility requirements are fair," said Simpson, especially given how difficult it can be to find childcare. "Does it really make sense to be having these kinds of requirements?"

Overall tribunal panels confirmed the HSD ministry's decision in 580 cases and rescinded the decision in 246, so it backed the ministry about 70 percent of the time.

The tribunal also last year began hearing appeals of childcare subsidy rulings made by the ministry of children and family development. Of the eight cases it heard it confirmed the ministry decision in six of them and rescinded two of them.

The tribunal received a 17 per cent funding cut from $2.07 million in fiscal 2008-2009 to $1.73 million in fiscal 2009-2010.

"The Tribunal will continue to look for ways to work within a reduced budget while not compromising on the provision of an accessible, timely, fair, caring and ethical process for hearing appeals," the report said.

* Paragraph clarified. [Tyee]

Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee's Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. Reach him here.

20 Comments:

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  • Dan the socialist

    2 years ago

    Get used to it. It is only

    Get used to it. It is only unfortunately going to get worse. The Libs still have over 3 years until next election and if the dump Campbell will win again.

    BC is and always has been a right wing province. The NDP only gets in by accident when there is a 3 party split. I like the NDP but that is the reality of things in BC.

  • off-the-radar

    2 years ago

    great journaliism

    very good investigative journalism, sad that it is necessary to write about this story though

    So what happens to a single pregnant mom with two toddlers who has been cut off welfare? who's feeding the kids, do they get taken into the disastrous foster care system? And what kind of society does this?!

    It's the kids that will pay the price for government's draconian "punish the poor" ideology.

    Btw, I am happy to have my taxes supporting single parents on welfare, working or not.

    Kids should be the province's focus. Much better to end childhood poverty (and provide caring support to single parents) than spend billions on Olympic parties or rich salaries for MLAs or subsidizing business lunches.

  • dorothy

    2 years ago

    Get with the program

    "Kids should be the province's focus. Much better to end childhood poverty..."

    Only cool to do when it's in Haiti. Kids next door aren't dramatic and romantic enough to have 'people's hearts go out to them'.

  • jim1966

    2 years ago

    Problems With Social Assistance

    Well this is no surprise. Depsite the so called "spin" on this subject the BC Liberals are not doing all that well with this ministry. There needs to be sweeping changes to this ministry, people who recieve disability assistance should not even be catagorized with the employables, the Liberals in my view don't care all that much for social programs, they have made it so difficult to get help, like rent, food clothing etc. This is a complex and challenging issue,it could be fixed if both sides would listen to each other a bit.

  • SicPreFix

    2 years ago

    A Titanic Mess

    The Canadian government's, and Gordon Campbell's government's, individual wars on the poor are such a clear and heartbreaking example of how Canada has faltered, sunk, and died as a caring and respectful democracy. I despair that we will not be able to turn things around before it's just too late -- if it's not already.

    Gordon Campbell, Stephen Harper, and the Western world's corporate behemoth: damn you all to a long and fiery hell. You're killing the rest of us.

  • gassyandy

    2 years ago

    Love & War

    Well in the BC Liberal party all is fair in Love and War. Get used to it folks, This is just the beginning of the end. BTW, do you all get that photo from one of the 1000 security cams?????

  • Bob Watts

    2 years ago

    "Tribunals"

    Tribunals, I’m a disabled person and advocate. I think the biggest reason for all the tribunals happens in the reconsideration phase. Let me put this in English.
    1) A client asks a front line welfare worker “a EAW” to be designated as a person with disabilities and the worker says no.
    2) The client can now ask for reconsideration, to be reviewed by an “Adjudicator” from the welfare’s Health Branch.
    3) If the Adjudicator says no, then the next level is a “Tribunal”.
    4) If the Tribunal says no, then in some cases the next level is a “Judicial Review” AKA Provincial Court.
    Here is the big problem that no one knows except me and maybe a few others, and now you will know to. The Adjudicator’s only need to be grade 12 grads, and they have the power to over rule Doctors and other Medical Professionals! I wonder how many Doctors know a grade 12 student makes the final medical judgement? Thus forcing the disabled to the Tribunal phase. The Tribunals don’t even know a grade 12 grad is the real judge!!!
    We have also found that in about 80% of the cases, the Adjudicators never bothered to read the Reconsideration’s in the first place! That’s a fact!!!
    I’ve been to 20 tribunals just for myself and was granted all of them. Cost of tribunals about $2k each times 20 equals $40k, the total value of the medical stuff I requested was about $2,500 so that was a waste of tax dollars in the amount of $37,500 for all those tribunals. I only ever request medical stuff that is covered under the welfare’s Legislation.
    SO HERE IS WHAT WELFARE IS REALLY DOING!!!
    They are playing the odds, and winning, and here is how it works.
    95% of clients walk away and give up when a front line EAW says no to them. The other 5% file reconsideration’s, now 75% of these clients don’t meet all the time line restrictions and lose by default. Now out of this last 25% another 90% of them give up when told no to their reconsideration. Half of the people that go on to the tribunals, go by themselves and are run over by not knowing all of their legal rights.
    Get an advocate, take your minister with you. Campbell got rid of legal aid, most advocates are no longer funded, those that are funded are restricted to who they can help, which in most cases is not your average person.
    I just heard of a man that was burned head to toe, had one arm amputated and only one half finger on his other hand. He can’t dress himself, feed nor use the bathroom by himself. He was denied Disability status. All the Doctors and Therapist reports where ignored by the Welfare’s Grade 12 Adjudicator.

  • StaceyT891

    2 years ago

    point of clarification.

    There seems to be some confusion around Disability Benefits.

    "welfare" disability has nothing to do with employability. It has everything to do with daily living assistance. Anybody denied for PWD based on the fact that they are employable should head straight to Judicial Review with the Supreme Court of BC if the tribunal denies them. As a PWD receipient you are entitled to earn up to $500 a month from employment, therefor employment is a non-issue.

    CPP Disability is designated whether you are able to work or not. And entitled you to FAR less benefits (aren't you glad we are all paying into that.)

    We need serious reform of our Social Assistance programs not only in the province but in this country. The ministry denying everybody access is just costing more money for reconsiderations and tribunals.

    The entire Ministry of Housing and Social Development is a mess. 16 weeks + for PWD application approvals. More than 3 months wait for Residential Tenancy dispute resolutions... This needs to be fixed, this is not a way to treat anybody, let alone our most vulnerable.

  • Ermott

    2 years ago

    Kids should be the Focus

    Perhaps we ought to focus as well on irresponsible "adults" who insist on having children when they are financially unable to do so.

    When I hear the phrase "stay-at-home, pregnant, single parent of two pre-school aged children" it sets my teeth on edge. I hear "Irresponsible idiot who cannot or will not manage their most private affairs and expect the rest of us to happily pay for it all.

    Help the less fortunate yes, but let's not encourage procreatory stupidity.

  • mmphosis

    2 years ago

    The Best Place on Earth

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HALzrqE7l4k

  • Bob Watts

    2 years ago

    PWD and the Hudson Judicial Review.

    I've attached a copy of the Hudson Judicial Review.
    This orders Welfare Tribunals to be fair and opened minded. Anyone filing a reconsideration should include a copy of the Hudson Judicial Review.
    I hear cases are starting to be won, just because a Judge ordered tribunals to listen, to open their minds to what is fair, to just use common sense.
    The attached can found on Google, "Hudson Judicial Reveiw".
    PWD eligibility criteria: Judicial Review sets standards In Hudson ...

  • G West

    2 years ago

    What sets my teeth on edge - is when I read

    This kind of 'blame the victim' sort of thing:

    "Irresponsible idiot who cannot or will not manage their most private affairs and expect the rest of us to happily pay for it all." Ermott

    My mother has a saying when she hears someone spouting that sort of aphorism - 'Until you've walked a few miles in someone else's shoes, you'd do well to not pretend you know how sore their feet are or how they got that way. Judging others personal lives is a very slippery slope.'

    Those who think public policy should be based upon weeding out the 'irresponsible' would do well with taking a cold hard look at their own behavior and beliefs.

  • carfreed

    2 years ago

    me too

    I am 64 with scoliosis and now very disabling arthritis.
    I was supporting myself by seasonal housekeeping at a resort, for $12/hr.And some homecare but patients die, and then you have to find a new client.
    Last winter, I was` screaming in pain, everyday.
    The muscles and nerves go into spasms.
    I cannot lift the beds anymore.
    I couldnot get EI and I applied for welfare disability.
    The forms were tedious.
    The doctor was to fill out the form. He agreed but he didnot fill out the 2nd part which is to be done by a professional or nurse, or homecare attendant.I am too proud to have an attendant and can manage on my own, with difficulty for some aspects.
    Weeks went by before I was informed that the 2nd part was not filled out. Doctor's office said they routinely donot fill out that part, just the medical.
    I had to find someone. At community services, the person who can do this,wouldnot be able to get to it for atleast 3 weeks. Then I was referred to
    a social worker. This person stood me up twice, and then did the intake form.
    He neglected to sign it.Form returned.Again. Another 2 week delay.
    I left it at community services for him to sign. When I checked a few days later, he had not signed it.
    I contacted him, he said that I had not left the form. Fortunately, the receptionist remembered me and confirmed that I had left it.
    He was paid $75 to fill out a form that took about 20 minutes.
    Finally, I received an answer from welfare, that my application was rejected. My degree of disability was not enough to qualify.
    I began the appeal process. The rigamarole was so complicated, I gave up and felt that I would just have to get by on the $610 per month.Knowing that I would soon qualify in 5 months for OAS I thought I would just let it go and when I turned 65, I would feel very well to do on about $1200 per month.
    However, teeth problems are serious. On regular welfare, only an emergency is paid for.
    I know how to be frugal and get by on rice, beans,veggies and I know how to shop, having raised children on my own but, for others, one would have to have a rent less than $200 to get by.

  • off-the-radar

    2 years ago

    what sets my teeth on edge . . .

    is punishing kids for their parents' mistakes or lack of ability.

    But hey, wait, it's okay to spend BILLIONS making good on private sector mistakes like in banking, car companies, Fortress, Intrawest, Vancouver convention centre over run, and on and on.

  • greengreen

    2 years ago

    Priorities?

    Recent headline in the Province: Stadium roof to set world record. B.C. Pavilion Corp. chair David Padmore says he's "very excited" about the new roof for B.C. Place Stadium. At a cost of at least $500 million I would get excited if we decided to spend the money on building housing for those in need. Gee, we could even help people with disabilities. Somehow, the roof just doesn't do it for me...revulsion, not excitement.
    I am not even excited by the Olympics....embarassment, not excitment.

  • sicntired

    2 years ago

    disability

    I have the entire lumbar section of my spine degenerated by a virus plus a whole range of other health problems.I was lucky enough to be placed on disability before the crash but have tried three times to receive other dietary necessities because;"there is no immediate chance of death".That is the wording on the rejection.So my health continues to deteriorate and I will be a senior in 31/2 years which will probably finish the job.I was forced to apply for an early pension which cuts my check by a third and the money is taken by the government as it is somehow not a deductible benefit even though I am supposed to be able to earn up to $500.00 a month.The office for disabled is now joined with all recipients so that appointments that used to take minutes now take anywhere from an hour to who knows.I would,however,like to remind the NDP that it was them who first cut benefits by $100,which the Liberals have only just reinstated.Social assistance is now at the same rate as it was in the 90's.Try to find a roof,food and pay the bills on $900 a month.How it's done on $610 is totally beyond me.A room in this town costs over $400 and it's more if you don't like mice and roaches.Most of these places don't allow cooking so you eat cold beans or risk eviction.Every time I hear that ;"Do you believe?"I feel like throwing up.Fortunately,my stomach is usually empty.I have taken in the receipts for the uncovered medications that I have to have on three occasions only to be told that that is what the extra dollars I get are for.We live in the most expensive city in N.A. and haven't had a raise in at least 10 years.The little extras that were once attainable are no longer available unless you're on your death bead.The best place on earth?For who?

  • VivianLea Doubt

    2 years ago

    thanks...

    for your stories carfreed and sicntired.
    Yes, that "procreatory stupidity" sets my teeth on edge too. We have reason to be grateful that Ermott's parent(s) could afford to feed him/her...but apparently when it came to sensitivity and compassion they could not afford those extras. Pity.

  • edh

    2 years ago

    I got Rhumatoid Arthritis in

    I got Rhumatoid Arthritis in my late 40's. I learned about my disabilitating disease and fought it as hard as I could. I am still fighting it and winning with available medicines and other remedies. I continued to work until I had set aside enough for retirement. My wife has MS and is quite disabled but refuses to let that disease do her in. We support each other in our battle and are quite happy. We don't feel sorry for ourselves.
    I believe our key was to not give up.
    What about the rest of you, have you given up?

  • circle A

    2 years ago

    They`re pretty tough...

    when it comes to beating up on single moms, disabled and anyone else without money and power but you have to know these gordon campbell liberals are spineless cowards that would be on their knees to anyone with corporate connections. It just makes me want to puke to have to listen to that lisping dimwit dejong blab on about protecting the publics interest as justification for not extending that pittance of compensation to a portion of the poor wretched riverview survivors. these vicious pricks have no honuor or decency and anyone who voted for them ought to be very sorry they did.

  • FightForYourRights

    2 years ago

    Less Talk, More Rock

    We've seen how it's done in other parts of the world. Massive, loud, prolonged protests. You know as well as I that letters, petitions and so forth are slow means to dreaming of changing a government's quick actions on cutting budgets and programs often without consultation.

    Remember how it's done: mass prolonged public show of disagreement or need. Sure PWD and others being maligned by a cold-hearted elite are the least able to fight, but show up with a loud hailer.

    So many small social groups and contractors and agencies are afraid of losing what little funding they now have, so they likely will not organize or lead a mass outcry. Who ultimately will step forward? Who will get others who are able to organize to do so? Does anyone have the courage and hope to stand forward? Can anyone NOT afford to stand up and say "No More!"? Or will you let your rights and freedoms continue to be quietly and incrementally pulled out from under you?

    I am a person with a severe disability and I think we folks need to do two things:
    1) Organize all disability and welfare individuals, groups and agencies into a cohesive fast response team with a single hotline number.

    2. Develop a province wide co-op of employment information and opportunities for people who find themselves on the outskirts of real employment. Build--from existing job oriented databases and particularly from those approprate to people with employment challenges--a research team to put together options and make it available online at a single website. This could include lessons on how one determines their abilities, however limited, answers some questions, then is directed to a list of options for things to work at to generate income. 5% of each persons earnings (honor system at first) will go to fund the co-op and all civic activities.
    This will be a grassroots operation and non-political. In other words, it doesn't matter what party is in power: if they show contempt for the vulnerable the hotline/website will fire into action.

    At least we will be working as a big voice with a sense of cohesion and purpose.

    My dad used to say "Cheer up. You're not dead yet!"

    Come ON grassroots...it's time to grow!

    Email your thoughts to

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