P.O. Box 8007
Victoria, British Columbia
Canada V8W 3R7
Phone (250) 598-7154
Toll-free 1-800-619-8789
Fax (250) 595-4849
E-mail info@cfb.ca
Web site www.CFB.ca
Improving Opportunities for Blind British Columbians
Brief / Written Recommendations
For the
2006 Budget Consultation Paper
This written submission provides specific recommendations for improving opportunities for blind people in British Columbia. Members of the Canadian Federation of the Blind appreciate the attentive interest and thoughtful responses to our oral presentation made by our Vice-President, Mary Ellen Gabias On October 13, 2005.
Summary of Recommendations
1. Persons applying for public assistance disability benefits because of blindness should be presumed eligible provided they meet the legal definition of blindness.
2. The province should assign staff to evaluate all programs which serve blind people, with the objective of consolidation and co-ordination of blindness-specific services in a publicly-accountable framework.
3. The province should enter into meaningful and ongoing consultation with organized blind consumers, such as the Canadian Federation of the Blind, to develop objectives and improve services.
4. Government should report all statistics concerning disability in a manner which makes it possible to identify the impact of programs on blind people.
5. All contracts to serve blind people should be evaluated based on their outcomes.
Explanation of Recommendations
The Canadian Federation of the Blind encourages a model of service delivery in which blindness-specific programs empower and are accountable to blind people. We also believe blind people should not be required to surrender their dignity in order to receive financial assistance and that the program should be structured to create incentives for independence and self-support.
The current welfare system has an enormous impact on blind people. Although Statistics Canada does not keep specific data, the Canadian Federation of the Blind estimates that seventy to ninety per cent of blind British Columbians between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five are either unemployed or severely underemployed. Many must rely on public assistance.
Blind British Columbians receive financial support if they meet income and resource requirements and can prove that their blindness makes them unemployable. This last requirement is destructive. Society, through its government, should be in the business of convincing blind citizens that they remain worthwhile and contributing people. Instead the current system says “Convince us that you belong on the economic scrap heap.” It takes focused effort to qualify for disability benefits under the current system. Applicants must explain why they cannot work now or in the future. Helplessness must be emphasized. Deficits must be spotlighted. The mindset required to receive benefits is exactly opposite of that required to regain confidence and independence. It is unreasonable to expect someone who has just spent months convincing government officials of the hopelessness of his or her situation to begin rehabilitation with a positive, upbeat attitude.
Blindness is the only disabling condition which has been legally defined. An individual is either blind or sighted under the law. Therefore, there is no need to engage in subjective decision-making concerning the ability to work. As long as an individual remains blind, he or she should meet the disability standard with or without a work history as a blind person.
In an attempt to reduce dependency, British Columbia has chosen to provide rehabilitation and other training programs targeted for “people with disabilities.” In this “one size fits all the disabled” approach, program goals are broadly defined in order to make them applicable to everyone. They are not pinpointed to meet specific disability-related needs. Program statistics are reported without reference to specific disabilities, making it virtually impossible to evaluate program effectiveness for any particular group.
The result for blind people has been fragmentation, ineffectiveness, and enormous gaps in service. In education, job training and placement, financial assistance, and social services, ideas have been adopted haphazardly rather than as the result of careful planning. Employees of one ministry cannot accurately tell citizens what another ministry may have to offer. Eligibility criteria vary from program to program. Application procedures for public assistance are demeaning and counterproductive.
“If you do not know where you want to go, any road will get you there.”
British Columbia cannot be accused of failing to meet its obligations toward blind citizens only because the Province has never clearly defined those obligations. If circumstances are to improve for blind citizens, the province must accurately assess the current situation, determine what’s needed, and implement plans for meeting articulated goals. Through a process of broad public consultation, British Columbia must develop policies and comprehensive programs designed to coordinate services and fill existing gaps.
The first task should be to evaluate the current state of programming to determine what is being done well and what still needs to be done. Staff should be assigned to gather blindness-specific statistics and to survey present and former clients, service providers, and employees of provincial programs who currently work with blind people. Above all, the organized blind must be consulted.
Whenever the province enters into a contract with a private service provider, that contract should undergo a thorough public evaluation with consumer organizations of the blind playing a major role. Every new contract needs to include outcome-based criteria. The province should renew contracts only when there is clear evidence that the contracted services have improved the lives of blind British Columbians.
British Columbia is squandering a valuable resource by failing to maximize the opportunity for blind citizens to participate in the economic and social life of our communities on an equal basis. The Canadian Federation of the Blind calls upon our government to begin constructive change by pursuing the simple initiatives we recommend.