Policy Options to Improve the Adequacy of Income Supports for Albertans Living with Disabilities

In Alberta, the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program is a provincially funded income support service for adults living with disabilities. AISH is administered by Alberta’s Ministry of Community and Social Services. The AISH program provides services to over 50,000 Albertans, providing $1 billion in benefits annually. Alberta’s traditionally conservative, neoliberal political environment has tended to conceptualize “disability” as an incompetency, or a “deformation of an individual’s intellectual, physical, sensory, communication or psychological characteristics.” By this “individualistic” definition, persons with disabilities have been deemed in need of support only because they would never be able to participate fully in society. Progressively, disability has come to be seen through a more “social” lens; as an outcome of the interaction between a person’s functional limitations’ and their environment. In 2010, the federal government ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), demonstrating a commitment to protecting the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities without discrimination, and on an equal basis with others. In June of 2018, the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, reiterated that it is within her mandate to work with provincial governments to ensure greater accessibility and opportunities for Canadians with disabilities, which includes as one of its top priorities, the development of new accessibility legislation. Over the years, transformative shifts in the conceptual framework surrounding disability policy have brought about changes to the structure and delivery of the AISH program. Unfortunately, despite progressive changes to AISH policy in recent years, some AISH recipients are unable to meet their basic needs because the amount of financial support they receive is not enough to cover their living costs. Those who rely on a monthly living allowance from AISH are often forced to seek out further social supports such as subsidized living arrangements, or subsidized low-income bus passes. As the cost of living in Alberta continues to rise and basic necessities such as food and shelter become more expensive, those relying on monthly AISH payments face a higher risk of living below the poverty line. Additionally, the AISH program currently faces significant challenges as a result of the consistent growth in the number of cases year to year. An over-reliance on disability related income supports may create serious problems for program beneficiaries, for the government providing these benefits, and for Alberta’s taxpayers. The purpose of this capstone is therefore to provide policy recommendations to improve AISH by ensuring that the program is accessible and inclusive, and that it provides adequate levels of support and accommodation to people with disabilities, while also addressing the soaring number of AISH caseloads. The question posed for examination is: How can the Government of Alberta implement policy changes to make sure the AISH program embodies values and assumptions of inclusion consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), and ensure people with disabilities have access to adequate levels of income in a cost-effective manner? First, this capstone begins with a brief background on the conceptual framework and political environment surrounding disability policy in Alberta. Descriptions of both the individual model and the social model of disability demonstrate how the conceptual framework surrounding disability has shifted over time. A continued shift from the individual model towards the social model of disability is seen as necessary in order to promote more inclusive policy outcomes and therefore, the social model will provide the conceptual framework for this capstone. Second, this capstone utilizes a historical analysis to understand how shifts in the conceptual framework surrounding disability policy have led to changes in the structure and delivery of the AISH program over time. By analyzing the evolution of AISH in response to changes in the social and political environment, we are able to understand how the program has come to currently conceptualize what it means to be disabled in contemporary society. Third, a Disability and Inclusion Based Policy Analysis (DIBPA) framework will guide an analysis of the AISH program. DIBPA involves analyzing existing and proposed policies and programs to ensure they “maximize the potential for people with disabilities to be fully included.” A DIBPA framework will be used in this report to assess the adequacy of the AISH program in terms of promoting inclusion and addressing the poverty and marginalization experienced by people with disabilities. The following questions were gathered from the DIBPA guidelines. They were selected to guide this analysis because they address the adequacy of the AISH program in terms of inclusivity and accessibility in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The following questions will be used as evaluative criteria in order to ensure that Alberta’s disability policy aligns with the federal government’s commitments to improve disability legislation. 1. Does the AISH policy framework (in terms of goals and objectives) recognize the needs of and barriers faced by people with disabilities, and is it consistent with the values and assumptions of inclusion? 2. Is the AISH program (in terms of eligibility criteria and benefits) designed to enable equality of opportunities and outcomes consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)? 3. Does the AISH program enable access and outcomes consistent with the UNCRPD? Ultimately, as a result of the DIBPA, it was found that the AISH program may actually lead to increased feelings of social exclusion and isolation because benefit levels are simply not enough to live on. The AISH program was formed based on an individualistic model of disability; therefore, AISH policy has historically ignored the structural burdens experienced by people with disabilities, such as such as employment discrimination, higher medical costs, and hidden costs like more expensive transportation. As a result, many people with disabilities who rely on a monthly allowance from AISH remain in poverty. Additionally, restrictive asset limits and earned income exemptions clearly demonstrate that the AISH program on its own is not properly suited to support the income earning potential of its clients. If Alberta’s disability support programs were modernized and properly coordinated, they would serve to encourage persons with disabilities who are able to work to earn an employment income to supplement what they receive from social assistance. An attempt should be made to address the issue of people with disabilities choosing not to earn an employment income or increase their assets for fear of their monthly AISH benefits being clawed back. Another problem identified through analyzing the AISH program has to do with the consistent growth in caseloads from year to year. Given this issue, it is important to consider how the program can be adapted in a way that is sustainable and affordable. Caseload and expenditure data from both the AISH program and the Alberta Works program were analyzed in order to understand ways to improve the cost-effectiveness of AISH. It was found that policy changes which will address program inadequacies and simultaneously control the rate at which AISH caseloads are increasing will improve the efficiency, affordability and sustainability of the AISH program for years to come. This capstone concludes with the provision of policy recommendations to help improve AISH by ensuring that the program is inclusive and provides adequate levels of support and accommodation to people with disabilities, while also addressing the soaring number of caseloads and budget restrictions. The status quo is not an option; the AISH program must continue to adapt to changes in the conceptual framework surrounding disability policy. In order to reduce the experience of poverty among persons with disabilities– while ensuring that AISH caseloads do not continue to grow at an unsustainable rate – the Ministry of Community and Social Services should consider the following policy recommendations: 1. Improve the coordination between Alberta’s income support programs. Currently, a lack of coordination between Alberta’s provincially funded benefit programs represents a missed opportunity for increased efficiency and adequacy of supports. The fragmented delivery of services from Alberta’s disability support programs results in inconsistent policy and program development, variations in services and supports, and unnecessary bureaucracy and expenses. In order to enable people with disabilities to have equal and efficient access to mainstream programs, services or benefits that result in equality of opportunities and outcomes consistent with the UNCRPD, it is recommended that the Ministry of Community and Social Services initiate an intra-departmental process to ensure that the provision of income supports is a coordinated effort between all provincially funded services that support the population of Albertans living with disabilities. 2. Increase the asset limit and earned income exemptions in the AISH eligibility criteria, coupled with improving regulations to guide director training to ensure the consistency of approval and denial decisions. To be consistent with the UNCRPD, disability income support programs must serve to empower and encourage persons with disabilities who are able to work to earn an employment income to supplement what they receive from social assistance. However, policies such as restrictive asset limits and earned income exempti

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