Parents of adult children with developmental disabilities are demanding swift action from the provincial government.
Around a dozen people rallied outside the Ministry of Community and Social Services on Erie St. in Windsor on Friday to ask for better services for adults living with a disability.
"We need to help these people stand on their own and the disability assistance that they do get, they can't survive on their own. They live with life long disabilities so the government just keeps them living in poverty," says rally organizer Mary Beth Rocheleau.
She says they would like the government to address three main issues; housing, education, and the transition for child services to adult services.
"When our children turn 18 years old and become adults, they lose everything. They lose their services and they have to get reassessed and then they go on an up to four to five year wait lists for this adult passport funding. It leaves families in crisis," says Rocheleau.
Rocheleau says there is currently a 25-year wait for supported living housing. She says this leaves families living in limbo, scared for the future.
"When I go to bed I'm scared to death cause if something happens to me my son will end up in a nursing home and that is not appropriate housing for him," says Rocheleau.
A statement issued my the Ministry of Community and Social Services says the 2017 budget included 2017 an additional $677-million over four years for adults with developmental disabilities. It says this will bring annual funding for developmental services to more than $2.3-billion in 2017–2018. Goals for the money include creating 375 housing spots and getting 1,000 additional people on the passport program that provides services to adults. According to rally organizers, there are 468 people in Windsor-Essex waiting to get on the program.
This is the second rally hosted by by PAD: Parents of Adult Children with Disabilities Windsor/Essex Group and OFADD: The Ontario Federation of Adults with Developmental Disabilities. The first was held at Queen's Park in May.
