Interview, Paul Gauthier, Executive Director, BC's Individualized Funding Resource Centre Society
Paul Gauthier is the Executive Director of
B.C.'s Individualized Funding Resource Centre
Society (IFRCS) which was established to help
people succeed on the Choices in Support for
Independent Living (CSIL) Program and other
individualized funding programs in British
Columbia. The Centre supports individuals and
families of people with disabilities and
seniors whose funding is received from the
province for home care. For more information:
https://www.ifrcsociety.org/. He spoke to Workers'
Forum on March 22.
Workers' Forum: What is the
impact on people with disabilities of both the
pandemic and measures taken by government?
Paul Gauthier: This is an
important discussion. There are many vulnerable
communities; Indigenous people, women in abusive
situations, seniors and others. Government is
responding to some but there has not been a word
about what's happening for people with
disabilities. People with disabilities have
specific needs, including the needs of younger
people with disabilities, different needs of
people with physical and developmental
disabilities, but at the end of the day there's
a lot of common components around physical care,
emotional supports, and others. We are concerned
about the recent announcement by government that
workers who are working in a facility are not
allowed to work in any other facility, without
any real clear direction of what that means. I
am concerned that all of a sudden someone who
would be maybe working with me because I happen
to be somebody in a wheelchair myself, means
that if they happen to be working in a facility
and they get their greater hours there,
ultimately they're going to have to say "Paul,
I'm sorry, I can't come to you." All of a sudden
my morning person isn't available any more. And
it's happening at a snap, right? Also what's
happening is for people with disabilities if
you're getting funding from CSIL [Choice in
Supports for Independent Living], where the
funds come to you directly, as an employer we're
not even getting a chance to react. We're
getting a phone call, many people are starting
to get phone calls from their workers saying
"I've been told by my other employer that I have
to pick which one I'm going to work for." For
now the direction is about facility to facility,
it actually doesn't state that you can't work
with a private client, a private employer
technically speaking, it doesn't address us yet.
Maybe that's the intent but I don't believe it
was the intent. They're concerned about facility
to facility at the moment. For the health care
workers I don't think we should be saying "don't
go to work." We need to be making sure that they
have the face masks, gloves, all the equipment
they need, and training on handwashing, things
like that. There is an urgent need for
government to get these supplies out to the
health care workers. People with disabilities
have asked government for assistance around
getting access to masks, gloves, hand sanitizer
because it's needed. And it's not just needed
because of COVID-19. For many people with
disabilities they actually need that for their
personal care routines to start with. And then
all of a sudden there's none available.
Something needs to be done and it needs to be
done now for people with disabilities who do
hire on their own, so that they can protect
their workers, so they can protect themselves. I
am really worried about this. I'm worried about
this kind of direction, but I'm also wanting to
make sure that government is a bit more lenient
for people with disabilities on how perhaps they
choose to use some of the CSIL dollars to
support giving their staff what they need as
well. There are very strong rules about what's
allowed and not allowed.
WF: Can you give an example of
that?
PG: I think in emergency
circumstances people with disabilities need to
be able to hire whoever they need to get the
support. On the CSIL program you are allowed to
hire family members but to do so you have to go
through quite a process to be allowed to have
your mom work for you, or your husband or wife.
Under this circumstance there should be a way to
be able to allow that to just automatically be
okay during this pandemic. In many cases the
reason that the person is getting support is
that family is not able to do it. Families need
to work and there is too often pressure on
families to provide care. We see a lot of it
when it comes to people who become disabled as a
result of a car accident. You're married and
it's expected that the husband or the wife is to
care for the individual, which causes so many
social problems. Spouses should not be forced, -
whether or not this is a good plan should be up
to them to determine. In these circumstances the
rules should be relaxed.
I think government also needs to understand
that restricting care workers to only one
employer is affecting not just their livelihood
but the well-being and safety of those two or
three individual clients that they're working
for. We have to figure out how to ensure the
health and safety of caregivers while making
sure that vulnerable people are not dying for
other reasons.
WF: The system was not
functioning appropriately to meet everyone's
needs in 'normal' times so is it accurate to say
that when you go into crisis you're not starting
from a safe place, you're starting from a place
that's already unsafe?
PG: Exactly, and I think we need
to look at other things like MAiD,
doctor-assisted suicide. This gets mentioned to
people with disabilities way too early. I think
more and more people are starting to use that
option because the system isn't providing enough
home support hours for people to be able to
live, not just about getting up and going to bed
at night, but the quality of life that needs to
happen during the day. With home support someone
who uses a ventilator can live a very good life
now. In the past somebody on a ventilator had to
be in an extended care facility and be treated
by nurses. Now somebody on a ventilator can be
out in the community living a full life, being
engaged, being involved, but they need somebody
24 hours a day with them and that is the reality
and workers should be paid a reasonable rate to
be there for that 24 hours. Government has to
take measures to ensure that any new measures
take into account and guarantee the care that is
needed by people with disabilities.
WF: Besides the prohibition of
caregivers working for more than one employer
and how that may impact people with disabilities
and how that could be addressed, do you have any
other suggestions? For example, can any of the
workers who are not able to work right now, like
daycare workers, because their workplaces have
shut down, be mobilized?
PG: Yes. One of the things that
is high on my list is that this is the
population that would be able to work well with
many of our CSIL employers who will be looking
for more caregivers. There are many people with
disabilities that don't need a lot of
significant medical care. Many of them are
people like me who can verbalize how to do my
personal care, feed me and so on. I can tell
them what to do. There are so many workers out
there that are in the 'hospitality' industry,
working on cruise ships, things like that, so
many amazing skilled workers that would be able
to work so well with us. Frankly, people with
disabilities love to be able to have a worker
who they can just talk to and that they can
communicate with as they're doing the care, chat
about what is happening in the world. They would
have to follow all the hand-washing techniques
and all those things, maybe have to wear a mask,
but CSIL employers will make sure that all those
things happen with somebody that may not have
the experience in being a care aide.
Please publish my email address
(paul@ifrcsociety.org) for people who are
looking for other work and are open to working
with people with disabilities and being able to
help both with doing some personal care such as
bathing and showering, helping with meal
preparation and a bit of housekeeping. As long
as they're open to learning how to do the
personal care, when someone is brand new we are
willing to explain in detail.
This article was published in
Number 18 - April 4, 2020
Article Link:
Interview, Paul Gauthier, Executive Director, BC's Individualized Funding Resource Centre Society
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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