Report points to inconsistencies in Alberta’s program to help children with disabilities

Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) is an Alberta government program designed to support families of children with disabilities by covering some of the costs of costly therapy and other social services.

Between 2020 and 2021, the provincial Ministry of Community and Social Services has distributed $193 million under this program to benefit more than 15,000 families.

As useful as it is for eligible families, the program suffers from many inconsistencies that limit its effectiveness.

“Subjective” decisions

Among the inconsistencies highlighted in the report (New window) (in English), many social workers assigned to the monitoring and assessment of children with special needs would act according to their own judgment rather than according to existing predefined and uniform rules and procedures. Therefore, the decisions [qu’ils rendent] are quite subjectivesaid Assistant Auditor General Patty Hayes.

The report also notes that only one in five social workers in the program would have completed the various mandatory training courses online. In addition, a third of those who completed the training modules did so by going through them at such speed that they could not assimilate the content in this way, the auditor found after analyzing the digital data.

Moreover, the Ministry of Community and Social Services was unable to prove that the attendants had received appropriate training.

Administrative carelessness

In a statement Monday, Auditor General Doug Wylie said the audit’s findings give the impression that the government is lacking in rigor on this file. This is particularly the case with regard to monitoring, especially since there are official guidelines on how social workers should assess the needs of children and decide what should be covered.

” We expect consistency, a hallmark of serious businesses and organizations. I don’t see why Albertans wouldn’t expect the same from the programs offered by their government. »

In this study, which lasted four years, from April 1, 2018 to April 14, 2022, the auditor finds that the coverage of services under the program varied according to the regions of the province.

Unsurprising findings

Mother of two children with autism, Sarah Doll of Edmonton, says she is not surprised by the findings of the audit commissioned by the Auditor General.

She notes, for example, that getting coverage through the program is an uphill battle. She must each time submit new requests and provide evidence that her two children need specialized help, she testifies.

Sarah Doll is also co-founder of Hold My Hand Alberta ( Hold my hand, Alberta ), a group that advocates for families with children with disabilities. She also argues that social workers are overworked and as a result there can be long wait times before getting a decision on coverage.

She also notes that there is a significant turnover of social workers, testifying in this regard to having had three herself in four years.

Recommendations

The inconsistencies noted also explain the fact that the program has regularly, over the past few years, failed to meet the provincial objectives of assessing the needs of children and concluding agreements with families.

Fixing it would make it more efficient, says the report, which has recommendations to this effect, which can be summed up as follows:

• Update guides for social workers;

• Develop better staff training and ensure that managers monitor the monitoring and compliance with the rules and procedures in place.

Justin Marshall, press secretary to Community and Social Services Minister Jason Luan, is already announcing that the department is developing an action plan to address concerns identified by the Auditor General.

We remain committed to working for program effectiveness and consistency so that all children with special needs can achieve the best outcomes.he said in an email.

With information from Janet French