An Emerging Framework

By Cameron Crawford

The new Employment Insurance framework has replaced the federal system of programs that once operated under the Labour Force Development Strategy.

The Vocational Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons (VRDP) program is being phased out, beginning in April of 1998. Through VRDP, the federal and provincial/territorial governments have shared the costs of many employment-related programs and services since 1962.

The Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST) has replaced the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP). For decades, under CAP, both levels of government shared the costs of welfare and a range of social services on which many persons with disabilities rely. Poof!

It’s all a bit dizzying. What are some of the implications for persons with disabilities?

First, let’s look at the Employment Insurance (EI) framework. The new federal act allows for the provision of federal income support -- EI cheques instead of UI cheques-- to eligible workers who become unemployed. The eligibility rules are a little complicated, but essentially people eligible for EI are people who were recently attached to the labour force.

Unfortunately, this excludes from EI many thousands of working-age Canadians with disabilities who have some work experience but don’t meet the federal eligibility criteria.

Claimants who do qualify for EI may have access to Re-employment Benefits or Support Measures. Re-employment benefits include targeted wage subsidies (i.e., financial transfers to employers), financial assistance for self-employment, targeted earnings supplements and job-creation partnerships for work experience in community projects. Persons with disabilities enjoyed some successes in work placements and on-the-job training under Employability Improvement programs of a bygone era.

The catch here is that responsibility for delivering such benefits is being transferred from the federal government to the provinces. Federal and provincial/territorial Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs) formalize the transfer of responsibilities -- and more than a billion federal dollars annually.

Persons with disabilities, like other designated groups, receive only passing mention in the LMDAs. Whether the provinces will ensure their generic labour-market services will be available to and tailored to the needs of people with disabilities remains to be seen.

The provinces have the option of making a range of labour-market services available to people who don’t qualify for EI. The provinces wouldn’t qualify for federal reimbursement to recoup the costs, however. The LMDAs of B.C. and Manitoba make no mention of provincial intent to deliver targeted earnings supplements.

Now is probably a good time for disability organizations to position themselves and make themselves heard, while the new programs are being designed.

The federal government is getting out of the business of purchasing "seats" in colleges and other training institutions for unemployed persons-in-training. Instead, a system of loans and grants will be used. The Canada Student Loan system will be the major funding source. People who want to train but don’t have the necessary funds could be looking at a new or increased debt load.

EI Support Measures include funding for organizations that help unemployed people find jobs. Organizations that can show provincial authorities that their services result in competitive jobs for people with disabilities may have a chance of qualifying for these funds.

If we shift focus to VRDP as it fades away, we can see some positive developments, but also a few concerns. The federal and provincial ministers responsible for social services recently signed a Multilateral Framework on Employability Assistance (EA) for People with Disabilities. It will serve as the basis for separate federal and provincial/territorial agreements that will replace VRDP agreements.

The essential thrust of the EA initiative is to help people with disabilities get jobs in the regular labour market. The federal funding commitment has been set at $168-million annually for the foreseeable future. These dollars will cover 50 per cent of provincial/territorial costs of programming, up to a prescribed limit.

The EA"toolbox" will be worked out as the federal and provincial/territorial governments negotiate their agreements. Measures that could be included are counselling, training and assistive devices currently available under VRDP. New tools could include supported employment, support for self-employment, and individualized funding needed for employment.

Pretty good news so far. However, as with the LMDAs, exactly which programs and services will be available under EA will depend on the "fit" that gets worked out between a) what consumers with disabilities want and need, b) what is eligible for federal cost-sharing under the framework, and c) what the provinces are prepared to make available.

It is not likely that EA will provide tuition and basic living-expense funding that is otherwise available through the Canada Student Loan system. Medical treatment services will not be funded through the EA program; nor will services provided in sheltered workshops or work activity programs that do not "demonstrate preparation of people with disabilities for economic participation or entry into the labour market."

The latter point should serve as a wake-up call. What will become of the thousands of people in VRDP-funded sheltered workshops in parts of the country where employers aren’t interested in hiring them? They likely won’t have the option of biding their time in the residential services system (e.g., group homes and privately run, approved homes) during the day. That system is already short-staffed and has been feeling the financial pinch for years.

Understandably, more than a few aging moms and dads are getting a bit squeamish about the possibility of having to look after their family members with disabilities full time during the day. Will the provinces commit new provincial dollars for life skills and other non-employment programs? Time will tell.

Also, it’s not clear whether EA will serve as the only federal-provincial mechanism to fund employment-related services for persons with disabilities, or whether it will work in tandem with the programs delivered provincially under the LMDAs. The former could come to pass if people with disabilities aren’t successful at leveraging the generic programs and services they need under the LMDAs.

As proof that the new flexibility of the CHST can be put to good use, the ministers responsible for social services recently made a joint commitment to fasttrack people with disabilities back into income support (e.g., welfare) if their jobs don’t pan out. This should serve as an incentive and support for people to look for employment. It remains unclear, however, what will happen to the people who are in the welfare system because it is the only way they can get the attendant services, medications and other supports they need for their disabilities.

We live in interesting times.

(Cameron Crawford is Vice-President of The Roeher Institute in Toronto, Ontario.)