Ontario Special Diet Allowance (SDA) ------------------------------------ In a nutshell: The Special Diet Allowance (SDA) is a cash allowance thats payable for special nutritional requirements in addition to basic social assistance under Ontarios two social assistance programs. The SDA came under fire for perceived abuses in the annual reports of the Auditor General of Ontario for 2004, 2009 and 2011. In March 2010, the Ontario Government announced it would overhaul the SDA (tighter controls, fewer eligible medical conditions) and move the program to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. By November 2010, though, the government changed its mind and announced that it would keep the program in Community and Social Services until the outcome of the Commission to Review Social Assistance (the Lankin-Sheikh Commission) in June of 2012. In February 2012, the Drummond Commission (Commission on the Reform of Ontarios Public Services) released its report on the austerity measures that the province of Ontario should implement ASAP to control the provincial deficit. At that time, the SA review commission will make recommendations regarding the SDA as part of its overall recommendations, and the government will take all recommendations into consideration. The purpose of this page is to present some background about, and a status update on, the Special Diet Allowance as of the date at the top of this page. Read the information below and submit your views to the Commission about its Discussion Paper #2 (this link takes you further down on the page youre now reading). Note that all comments and submissions must be received by the Commission before March 16, 2012. Special Diet Allowance : Background Social assistance in Ontario 101: Ontario’s social assistance system is made up of two programs: Ontario Works (OW) for people in temporary financial need, and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), which is intended to help people with disabilities live as independently as possible and to reduce or eliminate disability-related barriers to employment. Together, Ontario Works and ODSP serve approximately 857,000 Ontarians each month. In 2009–10, total provincial expenditures on social assistance were about $6.6 billion, about six per cent of the provincial budget. Source: socialassistancereview.ca/social-assistance-today The Special Diet Allowance - what is it? The Special Diet Allowance (SDA) provides for additional assistance to each recipient of ODSP and OW and their families who require a special diet as a result of an approved medical condition. Before such an allowance can be provided, a health care professional—such as a doctor, nurse or dietitian—must complete an official application. A special-diet payment schedule issued by the Ministry is used to determine the amount of the allowance, depending on the medical condition. The amounts generally vary from $10 to $100 per condition per month. However, the total allowance for any one member of a family may not exceed $250 per month. More information about the SDA from the OW and ODSP Policy Directives manuals: Ontario Works Policy Directives ODSP Income Support Policy Directives Ministry responsible for social assistance: Community and Social Services mcss.gov.on.ca/en/mcss/index.aspx From Jennefer Laidley of the Income Security Advocacy Centre: [ incomesecurity.org/ ] Changes to Special Diet Allowance (incl. clarification re. documentation & fact sheets) goo.gl/4xFEX March 1, 2013 Additions to the Special Diet Allowance for recipients of Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program who have: * Hepatitis C; * Prader Willi Syndrome; * Unintended Weight Loss due to renal failure Whats the problem with the SDA? The 2004 Report of the Ontario Auditor General contained two chapters on social assistance in Ontario, one for each program: Chapter 3.03 Ontario Disability Support Program (pdf 187kb) Chapter 4.01 Ontario Works Program (pdf 70kb) Both chapters deal with issues such as timeliness of the application process, eligibility issues and other admistrative concerns, although neither chapter addresses the Special Diet Allowance issue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The 2009 Report of the Ontario Auditor General raised some serious concerns about potential abuse of the SDA in both OW and ODSP. OW: Province-wide, the total spent on special dietary allowances has increased substantially since the time of our last audit. In the 2002/03 fiscal year, annual special dietary payments totalled $5 million; in the 2008/09 fiscal year, the amount exceeded $67 million, a more than 12-fold increase. A significant part of this increase may be due to a campaign by advocacy groups critical of Ontario Works allowance amounts. At least one such organization has organized clinics where health-care professionals have immediately completed special diet allowance applications that entitled each attendee to the maximum $250 monthly supplement. Recommendation #4 : ... the Ministry should review the special dietary allowance with a view to limiting its possible abuse. Source: Chapter 3.09 : Ontario Works Program (PDF - 352K, 23 pages) auditor.on.ca/en/reports_en/en09/311en09.pdf [OW chapter, page 264 ] --- ODSP: ... province-wide, the total spent on special dietary allowances has increased substantially since the time of our last audit in 2004. At that time, the payments totalled $18.1 million; in the 2008/09 fiscal year, the amount exceeded $104 million, more than a five-and-a-half fold increase. We found that many payments for special dietary allowances to purchase particular foods, which must be authorized by an approved health professional, seemed questionable. Source: Chapter 3.11 : Ontario Disability Support Program (PDF 436kb) auditor.on.ca/en/reports_en/en09/309en09.pdf [ ODSP chapter, page 232 ] --- Related comment from the Income Security Advocacy Centre: Ontario Auditor General’s Report Underlines Need for Social Assistance Reform goo.gl/ogaOH December 11, 2009 Whether he meant to or not, the auditor general’s December 7th analysis of OW/ODSP let a dysfunctional social assistance system off the hook, instead laying blame with the people who have nowhere else to turn to for basic support. (...) The auditor general states that [M]any special dietary allowances were paid under questionable circumstances and that the total amount spent on the SDA for OW cases has increased to $67 million during 2008/09, up from $5 million in 2002-2003. He does not mention that the increase in program costs were in large part a result of Ministry staff promoting what had been an under-utilized program. Furthermore, what does “questionable” mean in this instance? Innuendo rules the day over facts, debasing a program that provides vital support to people for whom nutritional treatment can mean the difference between managing a health condition or sliding into serious deterioration. Source: Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) incomesecurity.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The 2011 Report of the Ontario Auditor General contains a chapter for OW and one for ODSP, reviewing the followup for each the recommendations in the 2009 report. Ontario Works Program (PDF - 224K, 9 pages) Follow-up on Section 3.09, 2009 Annual Report auditor.on.ca/en/reports_en/en11/411en11.pdf (...) The changes to the administration of the special dietary allowance, which took effect in April 2011, included the following: • removing from the list of eligible conditions those that the expert committee found to not require a special dietary allowance; • revising the application form to require recipients to consent to the release of relevant medical information by their physician to support their application; • requiring Ontario Works recipients to reapply for the special dietary allowance, which has resulted in a drop of about 14,500 cases receiving the allowance, or a funding impact of about $2.6 million per month • more... --- Ontario Disability Support Program (PDF - 208K, 9 pages) Follow-up on Section 3.11, 2009 Annual Report auditor.on.ca/en/reports_en/en11/409en11.pdf (...) In March 2010, the government announced plans to eliminate the special dietary allowance and create a new medically based nutritional supplement program for social assistance recipients with severe medical needs that would be administered by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. However, in November 2010, the government announced that the special dietary allowance would continue, but would be revised to comply with an earlier order of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and to address the recommendations of an expert committee. Related news release: Ontario Auditor General’s Report Underlines Need for Social Assistance Reform sareview.ca/news/ontario-auditor-general%E2%80%99s-report-underlines-need-for-social-assistance-reform/ December 11, 2011 What does the Drummond Report have to say about the SDA? The Drummond Report recommendations about Social Programs: February 2012 Chapter 8 Social Programs: fin.gov.on.ca/en/reformcommission/chapters/ch8.html * Hold growth in social programs spending to 0.5 per cent per year. * Move aggressively towards a fully integrated benefits system * The Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario should examine system design options that deliver a more efficient and higher-quality service to social assistance recipients. This examination should consider combining Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program, and having the combined program delivered at the local level. * Advocate for federal reforms in two key areas: --- Work with other provinces and the federal government to establish a national income-support program for people with disabilities who are unlikely to re-enter the workforce. --- Implement the final recommendations of the Mowat Centre Employment Insurance Task Force. * the maximum level of the Ontario Child Benefit is frozen. [Click the link above for more, including changes to child and youth mental health services, children’s services, health, education, youth justice, developmental services funding, the non-profit sector, etc.] Source: Public Services for Ontarians : A Path to Sustainability and Excellence Commission on the Reform of Ontarios Public Services February 2012 By Don Drummond PDF version (5.6MB, 562 pages) fin.gov.on.ca/en/reformcommission/chapters/report.pdf HTML version fin.gov.on.ca/en/reformcommission/index.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two related videos from TVOntarios Steve Paikin on The Agenda: Laurel Broten: Tackling Youth Poverty (video interview, duration 15:47) ww3.tvo.org/video/164089/laurel-broten-tackling-youth-poverty Steve Paikin February 2011 Ontarios Minister of Children and Youth Services Laurel Broten joins The Agenda for a progress report on the governments plan to reduce child poverty. She highlights the Ontario governments work to date on poverty reduction, and she notes in passing that the special diet issue is part of the ongoing review of social assistance in Ontario. --- The Special Diet : Mary Kelly (video interview, duration 25 min.) ww3.tvo.org/video/163770/web-exclusive-special-diet Steve Paikin January 27, 2011 ODSP recipient Mary Kelly and others like her may be on deathwatch after the upcoming Ontario budget. She makes a compelling case, based on her personal situation, why the Ontario government shouldnt cut the Special Diet under the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and Ontario Works (OW) in its upcoming provincial budget or its social assistance review. Source: TVOntario ww3.tvo.org/home Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario The Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario is examining the social assistance system. As part of its review, the commission will look at the Special Diet Allowance. Heres what the February 2012 Discussion Paper (#2) of the Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario had to say on the subject of special diets: The Special Diet Allowance (SDA) is somewhat different from other special benefits. For some people, the SDA is linked to adequacy and fairness. Some have suggested that the dietary needs of people with certain medical conditions could be managed more easily without a special benefit if a more adequate social assistance rate were provided. Others have asked whether it is fair to provide a supplement to support dietary needs related to medical conditions only for people receiving social assistance and not for all low-income Ontarians. We are also aware that, as a separate social assistance benefit, the SDA is not necessarily aligned with the broader provincial health policy frameworks that address the medical needs of all low-income Ontarians. This raises the question of whether it may be appropriate to eliminate the SDA as a special benefit in social assistance and address the dietary needs of all low-income people, including those receiving social assistance, through the programs and policies delivered through the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care. Source: Excerpt from p. 34 of Discussion Paper #2 Discussion Paper 2 : Approaches for Reform (PDF - 1.2MB, 77 pages) February 2012 goo.gl/RyvnX Source: Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario NOTE: This paper provides opportunities for further discussion, as opposed to final recommendations. The Commission would like to receive your input by Friday, March 16, 2012. The Commission’s Final Report is due to the government in June 2012. NOTE: See page 35 of the above discussion paper for five discussion questions on the issue of the Special Diet if you wish to submit your views to the Commission. Wed like to hear from you. socialassistancereview.ca/wed-like-to-hear-from-you Join the discussion by providing your feedback. You can do this by: * Making a short comment socialassistancereview.ca/make-a-comment-english?language=en_CA& * Filling out the online Workbook socialassistancereview.ca/workbook * Sending in a submission by regular mail socialassistancereview.ca/send-a-submission The following is an excerpt about the Special Diet Allowance from a summary of the input received earlier by the Commission through written submissions (workbooks, short comments, longer submissions), community conversations, stakeholder meetings and discussions with First Nations: Many people commented on the Special Diet Allowance (SDA). Recommended changes included returning the SDA to its previous rules, raising the amount of the benefit, and paying eligible recipients a flat rate to simplify administration. Some argued that the SDA should be delivered through the health system, not social assistance, to all low-income people who require medically prescribed special diets.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 22:01:02 +0000
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