In the meantime the scars caused in 2012 and 2013 has never been forgotten / Lets get special diet reform back on the table!

 By Kendall Worth

In the meantime, as I think more about what I had written in my Blog post Dated November 17th, 2024  https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/2024/11/12-years-later-and-still-nothing-has.html I think about things like:

• Losing $27.00 for a Low Salt, High Fibre, Dialysis  or low Fat and if they had increased this special diet allowance to inflation 27 x 2.5% = $6.75 = Allowance would have increased to $33.75

• Or if those who lost the $133.00, Cystic Fibrosis Special Diet Allowance and if this allowance had increased by inflation $133.00 x 2.5% = $33.25 so this allowance would have increased to $166.25

• Then the High Calorie / High Protein Diet $66.00 x 2.5% = $16.50

Anyway, the loss of  the above amounts (meaning whether I am talking about the loss of a 27.00 special diet allowance or the loss of a $66.00 High-calorie/High Protein Diet)  may seem in the eyes of some people (especially to those who do not know the system from a hole in the ground) only a small loss. The amount they lost over the cutback of their special diet allowances may seem like only a little money (and these days some people who are believers in the stigma about people who are on income assistance are saying that they would have never gone to court about the loss of $66.00 or the loss of $27.00) But what people need to understand is that these special diet cutbacks are not only about the money income assistance recipients have lost.  

To prove my point as to what else this is about, I want to take a moment here to go back to this article  https://nsadvocate.org/2017/02/28/kendall-worth-my-caseworker-questioning-my-doctor-is-a-human-rights-violation/ in the now-folded Nova Scotia Advocate. As that article proves, is that the system in 2012/2013 is the same as the system is today in 2024,  of a caseworker approving a client for a Special Diet allowance. This reality is, the system of special diet approval, has  never changed to this day. This means that Income assistance caseworkers continue to have the right to not accept Special Diet Notes at face value,  and they continue to have to right to further question doctors if they decide to not accept a special diet note at face value.  It seemed throughout the whole time of transformation community services has never looked at what a solution can be for this whole issue.  
 

Anyway, all of the above allowances I just mentioned are just some examples of what could have happened if they had increased the special diet allowances while increasing the Standard Household Rate, in July 2024, and the New Disability Supplement that started in May 2024.   There is a lot more to what needs to happen than just an increase in special diet allowances and if  click on all the links within this BLOG post you will see what else needs to happen and why.

Remembering this BLOG post here: https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/2024/02/was-esia-transformation-since-2013-just.html, some are suggesting that these days, the special diet reform of the ESIA Transformation was just a Government hoax. Income assistance recipients today still hear about the Special Approval nonsense happening,  and that it is clear that nothing has ever been done to address it, even though the transformation was taking place from 2013 till 2021.  If the Provincial government was serious about wanting to reform Section 8.3.3 of the ESIA policy manual, increasing the special diet allowances mentioned in 8.3.3 would have been a good start to making changes.
 

In the meantime, I was recently looking at the "Diabetes section" of section 8.3.3 of the policy manual.
 Diabetes
1,000 and under kcalories No additional funds
1,001 – 1,200 kcalories No additional funds
1,201 – 1,500 kcalories $5
1,501 – 1,800 kcalories $18
1,801 – 2,000 kcalories $26
2,001 – 2,200 kcalories $34
2,201 – 2,400 kcalories $42
2,401 – 2,600 kcalories $51
2,601 – 2,800 kcalories $60
2,801 – 3,000 kcalories $68
above 3,000 kcalories $8 for each additional 200 kcalories
When I saw those Allotted amounts, seeing this section made me wonder if the Community Services Officials did their research when this part of the policy manual was created. Especially with inflation over the years, these allotted amounts do not cut what Diabetics require. These amounts speak for themselves as reasons why increasing the  Special Diet Allowance would be a great small start for changing that part of the policies.
 

To stop all the Nonsense, systemic problems and struggling... something needs to happen.