Consultations: Will They Listen?

On March 21st Minister Lisa MacLeod made a surprise announcement listing some “enhancements” to the new OAP. There were some positive steps, including:

• Elimination of Income Testing
• Widening the services eligible through the Childhood Budgets, including SLP, OT, and physiotherapy
• 6 month renewal of services for kids currently in the OAP

Although steps in the right direction, there are still some major hurdles to overcome. The age cap remains, and there’s still no consideration for individual needs — apart from this comment from MacLeod:

“I’ll take their input for the next several months to assess how we better support those with more complex needs and provide additional sources of support to them.”

The huge takeaway here is that the Ministry is opening the door to consultation (which should have been done BEFORE announcing a huge program shift, but that’s a whole other story).

The Ontario Autism Coalition’s statement (full statement found here) states the OAC will “ continue to advocate for a program that is needs based and does not discriminate based on a child’s age.”

So in the coming months MPPs Amy Fee, Lisa MacLeod, and hopefully even Jeremy Roberts in an official capacity, will meet with families to collect concerns and recommendations, and HOPEFULLY announce further changes to the OAP to help better meet the needs of all children on the spectrum.

I worry the Ministry will be unable to part with their promise to #ClearTheWaitlist in 18 months. I worry that age caps will remain. Unless they’re prepared to make major changes, to shift towards a needs-based model, we might still be fighting the fight for a long time to come.

My hope for this consultation process, which I think is shared by many, is transparency on the part of the Ministry, as well as anyone involved. It won’t be enough for them to claim they consulted. We want to know who they’re meeting with, and what was discussed. Will they meet with ONTABA? The OAC? Members from the adult autistic groups? Will they reconvene the Clinical Expert Panel and OAP Implementation Committees?

I encourage everyone to try and get meetings with their MPPs, especially those ministers directly involved in the file, and voice their concerns. Let’s hope they’re able to #StopCollaborateAndListen and work towards a sustainable program based on NEEDS and not on age.