To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

WHEREAS family and unpaid caregivers play a critical in sustaining our health care system; and

WHEREAS an estimated 70% of home care is provided by Ontario’s unpaid and family caregivers, including 850,000 of them providing more than 10 hours of care per week; and

WHEREAS 68% of unpaid and family caregivers saying they need more financial support, and have identified financial barriers as the main determining factor that led to premature admissions into long term care; and

WHEREAS unpaid and family caregivers report their caregiving duties have reduced their ability to engage in paid work, spend time with other friends or family, or participate in any leisure and community activities that might provide them respite; and

WHEREAS Direct funding programs offered by the Ministry of Health (Family Managed Homecare, Self-Managed Attendant Services) and the Ministry of Children, Community, and Social Services (Passport Program, Special Services at Home) could provide caregivers with the choice and flexibility that would allow them to get their loved one the supports they need, if they were accessible; and

WHEREAS all other provinces as well as Scotland and Australia have models the Ontario government could learn from,

We the undersigned petition the Government of Ontario as follows:

• Reform eligibility requirements to allow substitute decision-makers and caregivers to take on application, administrative, and financial processes, so these programs can support the large and growing population caring for those living with intellectual and cognitive impairments, such as dementia
• Enhance program flexibility to better meet needs, such as allowing recipients to hire family members can enable creative solutions to the PSW shortage and provide stable, trusting, regular, and reliable supports.
• Move programs funded by MCCSS from a reimbursement to reconciliation funding model similar to the installment model adopted by the Ministry of Health, to eliminate the barriers reimbursement models create for families who are low or moderate income to access these programs
• Improve navigation, so caregivers are aware of these options and have the administrative support they need to access them
• Over time, shift funding to programs that prioritize caregiver autonomy, so families can avoid or delay the use of institutional care if it does not align with the loved one’s needs or wishes