Shartal said 1996 changes to Employment Insurance made it much harder for workers to get short-term disability payments, while changes to Ontario's long-term support plan in 1997 resulted in delays of up to nine months in processing applications...
Street Health said its study of homeless people in Toronto found many had a place to live before a sudden illness or disability forced them off the job, and the unexpected loss of income meant they quickly had trouble paying the rent.
"We begin to see the slide to homelessness," Shartal said. ``Homelessness for people who are partially disabled, who are sick and who are working, has now moved from something that might happen to something that is very hard to avoid."
Ninety per cent of homeless people surveyed by Street Health had 10 to 20 years of work experience before they became sick and eventually lost everything.
Needless to say, this is a failure on many levels. The long-term damage is obvious: a greater need for expensive shelters, more health problems arising out of time on the street, less employable workers.
And what's the short-term cost of changing the system?
The study recommends a seamless support program be established to help sick workers pay rent and other basics, saying it would cost much less than the $18,000 to $25,000 a year it takes to house people in shelters...
"There'll be a savings of between $550,000 and $800,000 a year to the adult shelter system."
And what strong action is Ontario's current government taking? The minister responsible recognizes a gap, and is talking about reviewing the current system. Looks like the "providing for basics" idea is just another solution too sensible to receive any serious consideration.
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