Independence through

Dear Candidates:

We are the parents of a young man who is deafblind. He has been a resident in a group home managed by the Deafblind Ontario Services since 1994 and have been delighted in the care he has received over the years.  Our son, and all of his peers, are some of the most vulnerable citizens in this province. Without intervention, they loose their eyes and ears. Without the support of their intervenors, they cannot understand and navigate their environment or communicate effectively with others.

Our family is writing to you to make you aware of issues that affect the life of our son and those who are congenitally deafblind.

The primary issue is around funding. While the current government has made substantial (and long overdue) infusions to Intervenor Services over the past several years, last year's proposed funding allocation model by the Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS) showed us that this funding is extremely vulnerable. If implemented, this funding model would have resulted in significant decrease in our funding (up to 45% decrease). Our advocacy efforts in 2010 led the Ministry taking the proposed model off the table and committed to working with the sector and consumers to design a fair, equitable model.

The Solution:

- Ensure present levels of service and funding are maintained.

- Any new funding model that is created must take inflationary measures into account.

Will your party commit to stabilizing funding for the Deafblind of Ontario ?

Sincerely,

David and Diane Gabay