By Kendall Worth!
A couple of my recent Blogs have addressed issues related to Nova Scotia’s Disability Support Program (DSP) that is delivered through the provincial Dept of Community Services. These articles have promoted conversations both within my own community of people who receive benefits through Income Assistance and Disability Support. They have also prompted questions from people who are not from that community, but probably consider themselves concerned and caring mainstream Nova Scotians.
To Recap:
In my Blog of July 17, I provided some general background on the DSP program and discussed the recently announced $300 supplement. Since then, I have heard from a couple of community members who are DSP Clients themselves yet who did not receive the supplement. They were told that they do not qualify for the new supplement because they were clients of DSP before the supplement was introduced. Indeed, these 2 individuals have been DSP clients for several years. They were particularly upset that they could not get the supplement, due to the economic context we are all living through of out of control inflation and high rents.
Their concerns were echoed in my follow-up Blog of July 31st, where I discussed the need for a much broader reform of the DSP. The perception of DSP clients is that Government policy is designed to ensure that Nova Scotians with disabilities continue to live in poverty for the rest of their lives, with all the social stigma that this entails.
I first discussed the issue of stigma in 2016 and 2017 in three articles in the since-folded Nova Scotia Advocate, that can still be found online here, here and here.
More recently, I returned to the issue of stigma in this BLOG.
Some Revealing Questions from the Mainstream
Now let me share some of the questions I have been asked by people over the past few weeks who are not actually on income assistance but are ordinary Nova Scotians, with homes and jobs. They probably are not part of the 1%, with mansions and yachts as I discussed in an earlier Blog, but they seem to be living comfortably. From the questions posed, it appears that they do not really understand the daily realities of IA and DSP recipients. You can see how the stigma I have discussed above is reflected in their questions.
The Question: Kendall, why are more of these people who are so called Income Assistance recipients or DSP clients not doing more to help themselves get out of the situation they are in?
My Answer: In my experience, the vast majority of people on IA and DSP want to get themselves out of their current situation. However, when people do not have the basic minimum amount of money to live on, the obstacles against them escaping this situation can seem overwhelming.
The Question: Kendall, does the community you advocate for understand that persons with disabilities should be living in places where they are supervised and supported like in Group Homes and Small Options Homes?
My Answer: What needs to be understood by the larger community is that each and every person with a disability is different from the next. Many persons with a disability want to live independently and are capable of doing so, if they have the necessary resources and support. This was discussed in an article I wrote in 2017. And it was illustrated by the story of Carrie Ann Bugden that I recounted in multiple blogs.
Society needs to treat Persons with Disabilities with the same respect we give others and expect for ourselves!
The Question: What about the many programs and services you listed in your July 31st 2024 BLOG post … Don’t persons with disabilities understand that these programs and services are there to help them?
My Answer: There is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding with regards to these programs, within the disability community and beyond. If the experience of Carrie Ann Bugden taught us anything, it hopefully taught us that Persons with Disabilities have many diverse needs and capabilities. And flexible programs need to be put in place that respond to these diverse needs, whether they are addressing Independent Living support, Disability Day Programs, Sheltered Employment or whatever.
The Question: Kendall, do persons with disabilities really not get enough money to live on? Or do they just not understand the concept of money?
My Answer: Let me respond with 2 questions of my own. Firstly, "Do you believe that $974, the current standard Household Rate is adequate in today’s Nova Scotia, to cover rent, food and other expenses?" Would that amount be enough for you to live on? (Remember, not everyone living with disabilities qualified for the $300 supplement.)
My second question is “Are you a Supporter of the concept of a Basic Guaranteed Income?”, as I have discussed here. If so, it is important to note that the closest thing we have ever had to BGI in Canada was the CERB benefit during COVID which was pegged for “ordinary Canadians” at $2,000. Other than CERB, this level of financial support has NEVER been extended to Persons with Disabilities in Canada!
Final Question: Are those who identify as having “invisible disabilities” just faking their condition in order to secure financial support from different government programs?
My Answer: This is an important question to me personally, because I do have an invisible disability, - a condition known as Impulse Control Disorder (ICD). I wrote about this in the Halifax Media Co-op here and then shared my experience of living with a learning disability here.
I was not using the term “invisible disability” at that time, and in a subsequent article I explained how I have tried to address these disabilities by bringing structure and meaning to my life through my work as a poverty activist and disability advocate.
The main point I want to make is that I have direct personal experience of the struggles of people living with invisible disabilities, and I understand the many difficulties they face in trying to overcome barriers to employment and live an independent life.
The fact that this question has been posed to me underlines the need for greater education, awareness and understanding of the challenges of living with disabilities, - especially invisible disabilities - in Nova Scotia. The lack of a broader understanding of disabilities is a great obstacle for those of us living with such disabilities and can become a leading cause of breakdown in social relations with family, friends and colleagues.
To some extent, this problem can be addressed through creation of support groups, as I proposed in a BLOG last year. However, as I point out in that blog, the struggles faced by people living with mental health conditions can be very challenging indeed. Such support groups could be one of the services provided by the social prescribing organization that I have proposed in a number of recent BLOG posts.
Some Closing Reflections:
My recent conversations have underlined for me the complexity of the problems faced by Nova Scotians living with disabilities. Some issues are rooted in bad policy, or inadequate applications of those policies. But many are more societal in nature and relate to how the community views persons with disabilities and how those individuals then internalize these views and the related social stigma.
In terms of making things better, I personally believe that many of the struggles of persons with disabilities would be greatly eased if only the disability living allowance was raised to the level of a living income.
The administration of this allowance could stay with the Dept of Community Services. But most other programs and services currently offered through DSP should be transferred over to the Dept of Health and Wellness or perhaps to Employment and Training and / or Workforce and Labour Development.
Either way, there is much to be done to reform Nova Scotia’s Disability Support Program and to address the social stigma which is faced by all ESIA and DSP recipients.
Kendall Worth is an award-winning anti-poverty activist who lives with disabilities and tries to make ends meet on income assistance.
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