Some Points on the Ontario Ombudsman’s Report: “ Nowhere to Turn”

Yesterday, the Ontario Ombudsman has released a report entitled, “Nowhere to Turn: Investigation into the Ministry of Community and Social Services” in response to situations of crisis involving adults with developmental disabilities. You can read the full report here.

The report is a very comprehensive account of the situation of adults with developmental disabilities in Ontario. There are various highlights of this report that I wish raise in this post.

The first is the movement away from institutionalization of adults with disabilities. This old model has been a breeding space for violence and abuse against these people. The opening executive summary of the report mentions that:

“It is now recognized that the model of institutional care for individuals with developmental disabilities, which prevailed in this province for over a century, was a failure. The Premier, on December 9, 2013, apologized for the suffering it caused and Ontario has moved on to embrace a community-based approach for the developmental services sector, promoting social inclusion, individual choice and independence. This is a positive evolutionary policy shift.” (Ontario Ombudsman, 2016, p. 9).

When adults with disabilities are “locked in” institutions, they are physically and socially in the absent centre, not even the margins or the periphery where the public can see their suffering. The abuse or violence they experience while being “locked in” are not also highlighted, rendering no avenue for public scrutiny. Adults with disabilities become more vulnerable than they already are, being prone to human rights violations and unavailability of fair and just assistance as human persons being out of the eye of the public.

The movement away from physical institutionalization may be a positive approach, as there is a greater chance for adults with disabilities to be integrated to the society and the community. However, this movement away from physical institutionalization must not remain a symbolic form of inclusion. If the society and the community still inhibit forms of social and systemic discrimination against these adults with disabilities, even if they are physically living within the community and appears to be included in this way, there is no total integration or respect for these adults as human beings and individuals.

Apparently, there are two tiers of being “locked in”: physical and social. The ongoing efforts of the Ontario government to halt any forms of physical institutionalization is perhaps the easier tier to resolve; however, there are still social barriers that these adults need to face when they are living in a community and be forced to be integrated without any tool or device for a proper form of integration. The community and society must work together to get these social barriers resolved, otherwise, if adults with disabilities are still systemically discriminated, they still experience the many forms of institutionalization that locks them, and place them in a carceral state with hands further tied, but to endure suffering and pain. Social exclusion is also a form of institutionalization, in fact heavier and more violent than physical institutionalization that rips the humanity of these persons apart when they experience marginalization in their communities every day. It is in fact, more hurtful and intense, because unlike being confined or somewhat physically protected in a place, social exclusion comes in many forms that sometimes people with disabilities are not prepared to encounter or deal with.

The second point that was highlighted in the report was the presence of intense service gaps for these adults, with some waiting for years to be serviced, get funding or get into necessary programs to help them. I mostly attribute the service gaps to the presence of too many agencies, governmental and non-governmental but funded by the government, to service these adults. Having too many agencies in charge is sometimes sporadic and rears red tape, corruption and bureaucracy that adults with disabilities and the families should never deal with. To halt the presence of bureaucracy and the presence of having too many agencies do not only resolve service gaps, but it would channel the funds for these adults, just as they need it the most. The presence of many agencies adds up to the administrative costs and this re-routes the money and funding that should have been used directly for the aid of people with disabilities.

The third point is the waiting list that adults with disabilities queue for in order to get the services. The waiting list could be well connected with the presence of a much uncoordinated system that has layers of processes, many of which are unnecessary. In the world of people with disabilities in Ontario, children or adults alike, the words “waiting list” mean agony, the feeling of “hanging in there” till the crisis comes and the government responds, or perhaps does not respond at all. To be in the waiting list for any service that is due, is to risk one’s future because you will never know if this service will ever come in the time that you need it the most.

The fourth point from the report that I wish to discuss is the almost-already carved future of people with disabilities: ending up in hospitals or wards with inadequate healthcare services and penitentiaries. The report mentions that, “With nowhere else to turn, those in crisis can find themselves inappropriately housed in a variety of institutional settings from hospitals to jails” (Ontario Ombudsman, 2016, p. 10). While there was a move away from physical institutionalization, the lack of help and supports for people with disabilities to thrive and live meaningful lives, moves them to places like hospitals and jails. As the report pointed out, the healthcare system is not prepared to help these adults. How many times we have read or heard about adults with disabilities were improperly dosed with drugs or sedated to calm them? Their needs a persons were ignored in healthcare institutions, and this brings more health challenges to these adults. On the other hand, adults with disabilities ending in jails or being incarcerated are common stories. Many of them fall into the cycle of being criminalized because of their “deviant” behaviour. While in the realm of a punitive eye, the behaviour that an adult with disability is always-already considered “deviant”, what is unfortunate is how these people were not helped or supported when they were young children until their behaviours are considered out of control or be fully criminal. There is so much that has happened in the lives of these adults, and to a large or full extent, they were left by themselves, until their behaviours are considered dangerous to the society and they should be incarcerated.

The last point that I want to bring in this discussion is that, if the Ministry of Community and Social Services and other allied government agencies, as well as the community and society, will not come up with a socially just service platforms for people (children and adults) with disabilities, sooner and more effectively, we end up unjustly sculpting the life of these people, who must be given a chance to thrive in life, to end up in places of human suffering and in conditions of violence and oppression. This is very unfortunate and should never happen.