GUELPH – Compass Community Services would like you to watch a video.
It’s short – just two minutes and eight seconds. But it could break your heart.
And that’s the goal, said Compass executive director Joanne Young Evans, who launched “The Cost of Waiting” campaign on Jan. 13.
The video captures a man with a disability waking up and wondering where he is. He’s living in a tent. The scene switches to his mother, who is worrying because she doesn’t know where her son is.
“How could they do this? They didn’t tell me this could happen,” the mother says.
Then the scene switches to a case worker looking distraught and beaten down.
“How are we supposed to help anybody?” she asks with frustration.
And then the stats: 52,000 adults are on waitlists for services in Ontario; 28,000 are waiting for housing supports; and 42,000 are waiting for community supports.
And agencies that provide support services to people with developmental disabilities haven’t seen a permanent funding increase from the province in 12 years.
“Advocacy is not working,” Young Evans said in a phone interview.
“We talk to the MPPs, they go to the Minister (of Children, Community and Social Services), they meet with him, they explain to him, but no one is getting anywhere.
“So we decided to do something graphic. Something that will make a difference. It’s not just about us. It’s the entire sector and it’s costing the province millions. It’s just not sustainable.”
Will Wycherley, director of support services at Compass, said the wait for children with disabilities to get services has grown from three months to six months, mainly because the number of cases has grown and there’s not enough staff to keep up.
The wait for adults with disabilities to receive service is even longer.
“We’re seeing an increase in the number of clients and certainly an increase in complexity of cases,” Wycherley said, adding there are many clients with a dual diagnosis of a developmental disability plus a mental health concern.
The sector has experienced a steady rise in demand for developmental services, the two said, which is creating an urgent need for emergency solutions.
But when funding is focused on short-term solutions, it neglects the core, long-term services that are really needed, they said.
“As the demand for services outpaces the system’s capacity at an alarming rate, many families are forced to relinquish care for their adult children, which no parent wants to do,” Young Evans explained.
“This crisis forces individuals into hospitals, long-term care facilities, or even onto the streets. Ontario’s system is past its breaking point.”
Agencies like Compass are also seeing more instances of older parents dying before they can find a safe place for their adult children, Young Evans said, leaving these adult children extremely vulnerable.
“Ontarians with developmental disabilities deserve autonomy and dignity,” Wycherley added.
“We need to invest in services that allow individuals to live safely and independently, with the support they need, in their own communities,” he said.
“We need immediate action and a direct injection of resources to support adults with developmental disabilities before any more of our neighbours end up on the street or worse,” Young Evans said.
Compass has sent the video to MPs, MPPs, party leaders, media and 90 different agencies and individuals to help spread the word.
“We did it on our own,” Young Evans said, adding funding came from their social enterprise stream.
“We needed to be graphic to be powerful and to increase awareness. We need people to demand change.
“With provincial and federal elections coming up, we want people to be aware, we want politicians to be aware that we need to see an increase in funding to this sector.”
To view the video click here.
