[community] Disability Inclusive COVID-`9 Recovery Policy

Noelle Campbell-Smith noelle.cs at gmail.com
Wed Aug 19 16:03:49 UTC 2020


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On Thu, Jul 16, 2020 at 12:03 PM Ushnish Sengupta <
ushnish.sengupta at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi John.
> Thanks for the response.
> It is really useful to have an advocate such as yourself connected to the
> govt.
> I would suggest one potential path forward is to connect with the Open Data
> folk at ODS, as they have experience with helping ONGov departments work
> though administrative data policies.
> We can discuss more paths forward offline.
>
> We can additionally leverage international reports to encourage our own
> governments.
> I was alerted to this report today from the *UK on how people with Learning
> Disabilities have died at a higher 134% rate due to Covid*
>
> https://www.cqc.org.uk/news/stories/cqc-publishes-data-deaths-people-learning-disability
> https://www.bbc.com/news/disability-52891401
> I question what the stats are for Canada, and no the current voluntary
> survey is not going to provide a complete and accurate picture of Covid19
> impacts.
> There is an urgency of now of having disaggregated data related to covid19
> impacts on people with disabilities.
>
> Ushnish
>
> On Sun, Jul 12, 2020 at 3:13 PM John W (personal) <pickupwillis at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > thanks Ushnish, I couldn/t agree more. Notwithstanding some good
> decisions
> > on the response by the Ontario government there does seem to be an
> ongoing
> > problem of transparency around the collection and use of data, including
> > disaggregation as an important step for recovery planning.
> >
> > I am personally trying to push a similar point within government about
> the
> > need to disaggregate data on employment and income security impacts of
> the
> > pandemic. There is plenty of discussion about income security as the CERB
> > is likely to be phased out, and those who no longer qualify for EI would
> > (under current circumstances  end up drawing down their savings/assets
> and
> > go onto social assistance. This is important as far as it goes but iit
> > assumes that income support should be tied to earned income, as with EI,
> > but this overlooks the situation for those who are systemically pushed
> out
> > of the workforce due to accessibility barriers and discrimination based
> on
> > ability.
> >
> > From a policy standpoint there is an assumption that if you experience
> > such barriers, you will be on ODSP for income support. This is well below
> > the level of support offered by the federal CERB.
> >
> > But as there is no ongoing disaggregation of labour market or social
> > assistance data for activity limitations, discrimination or
> acccessibility
> > barriers, we have no way of planning for a fair disability-inclusive
> > recovery.  We do not even know if those on Ontario Works -- who are
> > required to be seeking employment despite the pandemic - experience these
> > barriers. We simply do not ask the question and so we do not collect the
> > data.
> >
> >  that can take years and even then, there is no data about those who do
> > NOT make it onto ODSP as to what activity limitations they may have. No
> one
> > on OW is assessed for these barriers unless they formally apply to DSSP,
> so
> > we simply have no disaggregated data about activity limitations or
> > accessibility barriers for the nearly 1 million Ontarians living on
> > sub-poverty income support through OW and/or ODSP.
> >
> > Please let me know if you (or anyone on this list) is involved in
> > government programs to remedy these data gaps.  I am very interested to
> > connect and offer whatever support I can from my particular vantage point
> > in MCCSS.
> >
> > thanks
> > j
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >  As it now stands, there is discussion of launching whole new income
> > support programs to catch those who may no longer qualify for EI and may
> > therefore, in the legacy income security system we have in place (OW and
> > ODSP) have to draw down all their savings and assets before going onto
> > social assistance.
> >
> > This is correctly seen as a major gap in the income security system, but
> > it fails to recognize we need income support that is not tied to earnings
> > alone because many PWD experience discrimination and  lack of
> accessibility
> > in the workplace
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Jun 15, 2020 at 12:03 PM Ushnish Sengupta <
> > ushnish.sengupta at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Hi John
> >> You have identified an important gap in evidence for policy.
> >> AFAIK, there is no disaggregated data being collected and published by
> >> the provincial governments in Canada on PWD and Covid19 cases, deaths,
> >> tests.
> >> Without the data it is difficult to understand the disparate impact on
> >> PWD.
> >> We know from news reports that vulnerable communities involving PWD have
> >> been severely affected:
> >>
> https://nationalpost.com/news/jane-philpott-on-life-inside-the-care-home-where-95-per-cent-of-the-residents-have-covid-19
> >>
> >> Organizations serving the Black community and allies jointly and
> >> successfully lobbied the provincial government to start collecting
> >> disaggregated racial data for Covid19 cases.
> >> IMHO We need a similar joint and concerted effort by organizations
> >> serving PWD to get the provincial governments across Canada to collect
> and
> >> publish disability related Covid19 cases, death and test data.
>  Evolving
> >> policies can then be based on evidence, and evidence that can be
> examined
> >> and verified by NGOs and individuals.
> >>
> >> My argument is that this non-collection of disaggregated disability
> based
> >> data has political, cultural and social roots, but that is a discussion
> for
> >> another day.
> >>
> >> Ushnish
> >>
> >>
> >> On Mon, Jun 15, 2020 at 10:21 AM John W (personal) <
> >> pickupwillis at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Thanks so much, Liviya, it's a great article and very inspiring
> >>>
> >>> thanks
> >>> j
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Sun, Jun 14, 2020 at 8:28 PM Liviya Mendelsohn <LiviyaM at mnjcc.org>
> >>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> > Dani Saad and I wrote a piece for First Policy Response which may be
> >>> > helpful:
> >>> >
> >>>
> http://policyresponse.ca/canadas-recovery-planning-must-include-people-with-disabilities/
> >>> >
> >>> > <
> >>>
> http://policyresponse.ca/canadas-recovery-planning-must-include-people-with-disabilities/
> >>> >
> >>> > Canada’s recovery planning must include people with disabilities |
> >>> First
> >>> > Policy Response
> >>> > <
> >>>
> http://policyresponse.ca/canadas-recovery-planning-must-include-people-with-disabilities/
> >>> >
> >>> > Among the most vulnerable and the least consulted groups, disability
> >>> > communities have been hit hard by COVID-19. The crisis has revealed
> and
> >>> > exacerbated major gaps and inequities, showing that social and
> physical
> >>> > isolation do not affect everybody the same way.
> >>> > policyresponse.ca
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> > [image: cid:image002.jpg at 01D6398E.85285300]
> >>> >
> >>> > *Liv Mendelsohn M.A., M.Ed.*(she/her)
> >>> >
> >>> > *Director, Accessibility and Inclusion Artistic Director,
> ReelAbilities
> >>> > Film Festival Toronto*
> >>> >
> >>> > 416.924.6211 x <416.924.6211+x+502>330  |  liviyam at mnjcc.org
> >>> > <matthewl at mnjcc.org>
> >>> >
> >>> > Miles Nadal JCC
> >>> > 750 Spadina Ave., Toronto | M5S 2J2
> >>> > www.mnjcc.org
> >>> >
> >>> > Find us on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/milesnadaljcc>  |
> >>> Instagram
> >>> > <http://www.instagram.com/milesnadaljcc>  |  *Twitter
> >>> > <https://twitter.com/MilesNadalJCC>*
> >>> >
> >>> > Stay Connected!  Sign up for our newsletter <
> >>> http://www.mnjcc.org/connect>
> >>> >
> >>> > ------------------------------
> >>> > *From:* community <community-bounces at lists.idrc.ocadu.ca> on behalf
> of
> >>> > John W (personal) <pickupwillis at gmail.com>
> >>> > *Sent:* Sunday, June 14, 2020 5:47 PM
> >>> > *To:* Inclusive Design Community <community at lists.idrc.ocadu.ca>
> >>> > *Subject:* [community] Disability Inclusive COVID-`9 Recovery Policy
> >>> >
> >>> > Hi friends, I have an opportunity to craft a short briefing note for
> >>> the
> >>> > Ontario governments recovery planning table as it relates to social
> >>> > assistance programs -- that is, how COVID recovery planning should
> take
> >>> > into account the interests and rights of people with disabilities
> >>> needing
> >>> > government support.
> >>> >
> >>> > I am using the recent UN Policy Brief
> >>> > <
> >>> >
> >>>
> https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/sg_policy_brief_on_persons_with_disabilities_final.pdf
> >>> > >
> >>> > as the foundation but I really could use some rapid assistance from
> the
> >>> > community to develop a few persuasive statistics. Can anyone point me
> >>> to
> >>> > online statistics for COVID-19 pandemic impacts on
> >>> >
> >>> >      - job losses,  reduced work time/ reduced earned income for
> >>> Ontarians
> >>> > (or Canadians) with disabilities
> >>> >      - rates of recovery in employment, hours of work, and/or incomes
> >>> for
> >>> > PWD compared to the rest of the population, as economic activity
> grows
> >>> in
> >>> > the later-pandemic stages  (is the recovery fair?)
> >>> >     - any demographic profiles of PWD who are most marginalized by
> the
> >>> > pandemic and/or recovery, to illustrate intersectional experiences
> >>> related
> >>> > to ethnicity, racialization, gender, age, etc.
> >>> >
> >>> > I am hoping to locate this type of data for drafting *immediate
> >>> > recommendations so I'm hoping to get your input as sooon as you can
> >>> > manage.*
> >>> >
> >>> > Thanks!
> >>> > j.
> >>> >
> >>> > - impact on INCOME or EMPLOYMENT status o
> >>> > -
> >>> >
> >>> > --
> >>> >
> >>> > *John D. Willis | CE CAIP MDes*
> >>> > Design & Innovation in Public Services
> >>> > Toronto CANADA
> >>> >
> >>> > Garbled text? My apologies - speech-to-text technology is still a
> work
> >>> in
> >>> > progress...
> >>> > ________________________________________
> >>> > Inclusive Design Community (community at lists.idrc.ocadu.ca)
> >>> > To manage your subscription, please visit:
> >>> > https://lists.idrc.ocadu.ca/mailman/listinfo/community
> >>> >
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>>
> >>> *John D. Willis | CE CAIP MDes*
> >>> Design & Innovation in Public Services
> >>> Toronto CANADA
> >>>
> >>> Garbled text? My apologies - speech-to-text technology is still a work
> in
> >>> progress...
> >>> ________________________________________
> >>> Inclusive Design Community (community at lists.idrc.ocadu.ca)
> >>> To manage your subscription, please visit:
> >>> https://lists.idrc.ocadu.ca/mailman/listinfo/community
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >>
> >
> > --
> >
> > *John D. Willis | CE CAIP MDes*
> > Design & Innovation in Public Services
> > Toronto CANADA
> >
> > Garbled text? My apologies - speech-to-text technology is still a work in
> > progress...
> >
>
>
> --
> ________________________________________
> Inclusive Design Community (community at lists.idrc.ocadu.ca)
> To manage your subscription, please visit:
> https://lists.idrc.ocadu.ca/mailman/listinfo/community
>



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