Dear Premier Wynne, I echo the concerns outlined in Chris Kenopic’s letter below. For many years, CHS has advocated for more resources to dedicate to mental health services for our consumers who are culturally Deaf, deafened, oral deaf and hard of hearing. We have met with many government officials to advocate for the needs of our consumers and the value of specialized services, such as mental health programs, that serve people who cannot be served appropriately at other agencies. To date, we have not received the necessary support to ensure the right care, at the right place, at the right time for our consumers. Many of our consumers are not able to access mental health services because we are unable to offer them at all of our offices across Ontario due to inadequate funding. While we strive to be innovative and inventive in managing our resources, we continue to operate with insufficient resources to meet the needs of our consumers. The systemic barriers that our consumers face are overwhelming. Consumers are often left without services because mainstream organizations have overtly or covertly denied our consumers services due to ASL interpreting fees, access costs or recognition that their staff has limited cultural and linguistic knowledge and communication adaptation skills for successful service provision. I have attached a summary sheet that outlines our mental health services, the issues CHS and our consumers face, and how the government can help. The situation is critical, not just for Chris Kenopic and his wife, but for many people like them. I would be happy to meet with you to discuss this further. I look forward to your response and hope you will commit to meeting with me soon. Sincerely, Stephanus Stephanus Greeff, CPA, CGA Interim Chief Executive Officer VP Finance and Chief Financial Officer Canadian Hearing Society Tel: (416) 928-2507 Fax: (416) 928-2536 E-mail: [email protected] chs.ca
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 13:07:39 +0000
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