Families with special needs kids rack up debt as federal funding delayed

Scores of families who have children with special needs are speaking out about a provincially run program that has become more of a financial burden.

Parents with children with special needs in Ontario may be familiar with the Special Services at Home (SSAH) program, meant to provide financial relief for caretakers to take a break, or obtain extra support.

Meghan Maynard’s family has been enrolled in the program for two years.

“I submit a request for reimbursement, and according to their projected timelines, I’m expected to receive it by September,” said Maynard. “So I am fronting that money to pay our respite provider.”

Typically, payments are sent out within a 30-day window, but this year families are seeing much longer waits.

“My office is receiving calls of upwards of 80 days or more, for families trying to get reimbursed for services they qualify for,” said Sandy Shaw, the MPP for Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas.

The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services told CHCH News that due to an increase in the volume of submissions, there has been delays in some reimbursements, and expects wait times to return to normal by the end of September.

“When we don’t receive it back, we’re ‘pay, pay, pay, pay’ and it goes onto our lines of credit, our credit cards, and then we accumulate interest on that,” said Natalie Daniel, who is suffering from the significant delays with SSAH. “Then that maxes out, and then we’re stuck.”

With bills stacking up, many people are turning to their MPPs for help.

“I spoke with Jeff Burch [the MPP for Niagara Centre] a couple of weeks ago, and he is working with me to draft a letter to the minister to really help promote some larger system changes,” said Maynard.

“I had one constituent have to cancel and make difficult choices – both her auto insurance and her cell phone – to cover the bills for the special services she had been approved for by the government,” said Shaw.

Shaw said despite her inquiries, the reason behind the delays has gone unanswered.

“We’re not getting clear answers from the government on why these issues are happening,” said Shaw. “We’re not getting clear answers on when they’re going to correct this.”

Meanwhile, at a news conference in Thornhill Wednesday, Premier Doug Ford said, “we’re funding autism like no other government in the history of this province.”

Families say the reality on the ground tells a different story.

“It’s not just SSAH, you know, when we think about my kids on the waitlist for the Ontario Autism Program,” said Maynard, “we’re looking at a five-year wait time for a kid to be able to access these supports and services they need.”

READ MORE: Ontario parents, advocates call for more supports for special needs students