AUPE says support for kids with disabilities already in crisis, can’t handle new cuts

By ANNA SMITH Local Journalism Initiative on January 14, 2025.

asmith@medicinehatnews.com

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees is criticizng the stagnancy of services for children with disabilities, following an announcement from the province.

At a press conference on Jan 7, Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon told Alberta families and persons with disabilities that the services they depend on would not suffer despite job cuts in the Family Support for Children with Disabilities and Persons with Developmental Disabilities programs.

This lack of change, said AUPE, is precisely the issue, and as such, assurance is the last thing that those who depend on these programs want to hear.

“The FSCD and PDD programs are already in crisis and have been for a long time,” said AUPE vice-pesident Sandra Azocar. “Albertans with disabilities are crying out for help and access to these programs; they desperately want changes to how these programs are accessed and maintained.”

Azocar continued on that currently, roughly 12,000 Alberta families are on the waitlist to access the FSCD program, with it being unclear when any new applications will be reviewed should a new family become in need of aid.

According to AUPE members working on the front lines, these programs desperately need increased staffing and budgets to solve the access issue facing Albertans with disabilities.

It was explained during the conference that mentions of layoffs within the department were incorrect, however that there are contract workers who have had their contract come to an end, while the budget for the department remains the same, as does the number of permanent staff.

“The 30 or 40 temporary case workers the government is in the process of letting go were brought in as a band-aid solution,” said Azocar. “To make matters worse, Minister Nixon is enforcing a hiring freeze. The government has ripped off the band-aid with no long-term solution.”

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