FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 18, 2005
New spaces for the developmentally disabled not enough
TORONTO - Creating 390 new spaces for the developmentally disabled “is only a drop in the bucket” for the thousands of people on waiting lists who are desperate for care, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union charged today.
OPSEU President Leah Casselman said she is disappointed that so many developmentally disabled Ontarians will still go without care. “These new spaces are only a very small start,” Casselman said. “What about all the thousands of others who will remain without?”
In the Toronto area alone there are more than 2,200 people with developmental disabilities on waiting lists. Meanwhile, their aging parents find themselves unable to continue to provide care.
“Thousands of people on waiting lists have been left high and dry, and the Minister plans to place another 1,000 of the highest-needs, aging developmentally disabled people into the community from the Regional Centres she has slated to close,” Casselman said. “This short-sighted announcement is not a plan, and it won’t
work.”
Money announced for training does nothing to address the real issue of staff retention in the developmental service field.
“Agency Directors are complaining that they can’t afford to pay staff enough to keep them. If the Minister really wants to address the problems in attracting qualified staff she will start providing the money to pay them a decent wage,” Casselman said.
Proposed “Networks of Specialized Care” repeat mistakes made in health care, Casselman said. “The networks will lead to significant problems and widespread opposition, as has happened with government’s move to create regional health structures.
“If the Minister is committed to quality care and fiscal responsibility, it already exists in the Regional Centres she is shutting down,” Casselman said. “Specialists and highly skilled staff are already there. Transforming these Centres would be faster, more efficient and less costly.”
OPSEU represents more than 8,000 workers who care for people with developmental disabilities in 65 community agencies as well as the three provincially-run facilities the government has slated for closure over the next four years.
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For more information, please contact:
Sarah Jordison, OPSEU Communications: 416-453-8049
