British Columbia’s ombudsperson says he’s happy the provincial authorities has mounted an issue that shortchanged caregivers of youngsters with disabilities to the tune of greater than $1 million in federal funding.
However Jay Chalke says B.C. nonetheless hasn’t responded to his suggestion from three years in the past that it work with Ottawa to repair different systemic inequities in federal laws that he says deny some caregivers entry to advantages meant to help youngsters with disabilities.
In 2022, Chalke’s workplace discovered that the month-to-month federal baby disability profit, meant to assist take care of disabled youngsters, was being saved within the province’s coffers as a substitute of being handed on to qualifying households.
An replace printed Thursday says the provincial Ministry of Kids and Household Improvement has since transferred funds totalling almost $1.2 million to 251 eligible caregivers as of the tip of April 2024, to cowl the shortfall retroactive to April 2019.
Get each day Nationwide information
Get the day’s prime information, political, financial, and present affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox as soon as a day.
He says it has additionally ensured an quantity equal to the federal profit, about $264 monthly per baby, is now paid to kinship caregivers of youngsters with disabilities on an ongoing foundation.
An announcement from Chalke says that with out federal legislative change, different inequities will proceed.
The assertion offers an instance of some caregivers not having the ability to declare the federal incapacity tax credit score on their revenue tax returns even when their dependents qualify, leaving households at additional drawback, particularly these on restricted incomes.
“I strongly urge the province to recommit to working with federal counterparts to make sure caregivers of youngsters with disabilities obtain the monetary helps they want,” Chalke says within the assertion.
“The province’s failure to maneuver this vital work ahead with the federal authorities perpetuates inequitable remedy of those youngsters. My workplace will proceed to observe its progress on this remaining suggestion and can report publicly till we’re happy that it has been efficiently applied.”
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Source link