Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’ll be talking about the Yellowknife Association for Community Living’s respite program and the support it provides to residents of Yellowknife.
Last night I had the honour of attending a YACL family networking meeting. This meeting is a regular meeting of families who have children and adults with intellectual challenges. Parents met last night to discuss the respite funding cuts and the impact it would have on their families. It was a powerful meeting, Mr. Speaker.
Today I would like to tell you about the respite program. The program has been in effect since 2002. Approximately 30 families access this service on a weekly basis. The goal of the respite service is to provide safe, individualized and flexible support to families and primary caregivers who are responsible for the full-time care of children and adults with intellectual challenges. It also provides individuals with these challenges the opportunity for inclusion in their community. Without this service, many families would be unable to do small but important daily tasks that are required to manage a family, such as grocery shop, pay bills, clean their houses, attend meetings, et cetera.
On September 13, 2010, Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority informed the association that they would not receive funding beyond March 31, 2011. The authority informed the association that the Territorial Health Access Fund through the federal government would not be renewed and, therefore, the authority would not have the funds for the program.
On Thursday, October 14th, the federal Minister of Health released a statement that the fund would be provided to the GNWT until March 31, 2012. However, when the authority and the department were approached by YACL with this information, they were told that this funding for the respite services would not be renewed for the 2011-2012 year. This is a travesty and for the families that attended this meeting last night, many are unsure about how they will be able to cope without this service.
We are not talking about a lot of money here. YACL is asking for around $250,000. Surely this is a small enough amount that it can be found within the department’s budget.
Later today I will have some questions for the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services on this issue.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to express my very grave concerns with a recent action by the Department of Health and Social Services also referenced by Mr. Abernethy. It’s over the cancellation of the respite care program run by the Yellowknife Association for Community Living, a local NGO.
The respite program provides much needed relief to 29 families in Yellowknife. Some of these families have moved to Yellowknife from other NWT communities to access services available here; services like specialized health care and the respite program.
What began as a very small pilot project in 2003 has grown into an essential service and it has been administered very successfully for the last five years by the Yellowknife Association for Community Living.
Now, as you know, a few months ago the association was told that as of the end of March 2011 all funding for the respite program would be cut.
What are these 29 families expected to do then? There is no other option for respite. The association’s program is it, and parents are justifiably concerned. The support they derive from the respite program impacts their lives in a very positive way and they fear losing the serenity just a few hours a week of respite brings to them.
We’ve just finished reviewing GNWT business plans for budget year 2011-2012. The Department of Health and Social Services plan was reviewed in detail by the Social Programs committee, of which I am a member. At no time during our review of that business plan did we hear anything about changes to the respite program. In fact, the business plan suggests that the respite program will be expanded in 2011-2012.
Since I learned of the cancellation of this program I have tried to get confirmation of that business plan information from the Minister and the department. So far I have been advised that there is no change to funding for respite services. In fact, they’ve confirmed that a strategic initiative, an increase of $75,000 for the respite program for 2011-2012, is correct. But the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority who receives funding from the GNWT for this program has advised that funding ceases in 2011.
What’s really going on here? The Minister and the department tell me one thing and then the Health and Social Services Authority contradicts that information. I can’t get a clear answer about this funding cut and, once again, it’s a case of the right hand of the Health and Social Services department not knowing what the left hand is doing.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
