Ontario Ministry of Health reverses course on guardianship requirement for disabled woman who does not want to be institutionalized
Friday, 14 April 2017
The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has reversed its position on a long-standing requirement that people requiring residential placement for disability be allowed to live in their own home or receive personal care services in their existing home, instead of living in a facility.
The change in policy was made in November 2015, after a resident living in her Toronto home challenged the decision.
The change in policy had been anticipated after the resident who challenged the policy told her story to the Ontario Society for Persons with Disabilities, which later became the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
Ontario’s previous requirement was to house people requiring residential placement in the least restrictive available facility that met their needs, but with access to “personal care supports” such as personal care supports or personal care assistants. The requirement applied even if a person refused to be institutionalized.
The personal care supports included things like personal care aides, private duty nurses, care workers, and others, who provided personal support to an individual or group. The personal care aide or personal care assistant was considered a personal care support. The policy of requiring personal care supports for people who do not want to be institutionalized, was widely supported by disability advocates.
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care said that “the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has now clarified eligibility criteria for the use of personal care supports and has published a final policy to allow their use when a person (or their family members or caregivers) believe that the person will not need such supports in their own home.”
A resident at the time of the policy change told the story of her story to the Ontario Society for Persons with Disabilities, which later became the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (OMHLTC).
The