With Good Reason

We have all heard the rhetoric before. In the 1970’s the Ontario government (and probably the other provincial governments as well), said they were closing the mental health institutions so that the mentally ill could be taken care of in the community. And, what was that code for? First and foremost, it meant saving money. And, what were the results of this “innovation in treatment”? The results were that many of the mentally ill simply moved out of hospitals and regional centres and onto our streets and into the hostels of our major city centres — where they wouldn’t get the help they needed and where no one monitored their medications. They also ended up in our jails.

Now, here we go again. The Ontario government is going to do the exact same thing to the “severely” developmentally disabled. They are going to close both the Huronia, Rideau Regional Centre in Smiths Falls and the Southwestern Regional Centre in Chatham-Kent by March 2009. The clients who live in these centres are people who perform at the level of a toddler, who usually are nonverbal and have violent outbursts. Bluntly, they are in these centres because they need 24 hour specialized care.

McGuinty says it was a three party decision that the clients in those centres would be in the community. I am confused. Are Smith Falls and Chatham not Ontario communities? Are McGuinty, Tory and Hampton expecting elderly parents or younger siblings, who do not have the training or resources, to take care of severely disabled children and siblings? Are they trying to get rid of the social responsibility of taking care of our most vulnerable?

Don’t talk about groups homes. There is already a huge waiting list for groups homes and supervised daily living. Is the Ontario government going to be building more facilities by March 2009? Or, are they going to put violent and nonverbal clients with those who are not violent and higher functioning? In other words, are they going to endanger the lives and well being of less needy clients?

And, what platitude does the Ontario Community and Social Services Minister, Madeleine Meilleur say:

“We are closing those regional centres because the experts have told us it’s not the way to take care of those with developmental disabilities.”

What absolute and utter nonsense! Who are the “experts?” As I said above, you are talking about people who are extremely disabled who have lived in these regional centres their entire lives. Any move will be traumatic. The families of those affected want answers and they should get them now, during the Ontario election. This is not about quality care for the developmentally disabled. It’s about saving money. Closing these and other centres is a heartless decision to say the least.

And, yes, I know something of the Ontario government’s alternate “plan” because I am a special needs consultant. While the idea of crisis counsellors and short-term stays in individual apartments sounds good in theory, what about the increased staff that needs to be trained and what about the elderly parents and family members who will collapse because of the stress?

[...]

Note: C/P at Jack’s Newswatch and Crux-of-the-Matter.