Let's Talk Landon Webb Guardianship ~ Part I

Oh, the irony.

Those who know me at all (or have been to any of my presentations) know how I feel about Nova Scotia's guardianship legislation, the Incompetent Persons Act. To call it old or out-of-date would be more than flattering and undeserved. In fact, antiquated would be a much better word.  I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that nearly every other province in Canada does a better job than Nova Scotia with their guardianship legislation.

You see, although most other provinces provide for the appointment of a guardian of the person (to make personal care
decisions for the adult) and a guardian of the estate (to make financial decisions for the adult), in Nova Scotia full powers for both personal and financial decisions are given to the guardian, even if the adult is only in need of one type of decision-making assistance. It’s an all or nothing, one size most definitely does not fit all, take it or leave it kind of deal.

There's nothing new here; in fact, this is very old news. As far back as 1993, the Law Reform Commission of Nova Scotia publicly recognized that the Incompetent Persons Act was no longer appropriate and suggested that a new law be passed that would reflect certain fundamental principles, like

• not imposing guardianship simply because a person makes a decision that others do not understand or agree with;
• presuming everyone to be competent to make their own decisions unless it is proven they are not; 
• inquiring whether other less restrictive alternatives have been exhausted;
• focusing on the adult’s abilities, allowing them to participate in decision-making as fully as possible in as many areas as possible; and
• taking into account the wishes of the adult (with the court deciding how much weight, in the circumstances, should be given to those wishes).

Two years later the Law Reform Commission actually drafted a new proposed Adult Guardianship Act. The heavy lifting was done for the government of the day. The legislation had been drafted. Cue the applause.

However, instead of a new Act, in 2007 the legislation was amended to remove terms like “lunatics” and “insane persons” and replace them with the somewhat more politically correct “incompetent person”, which some might find, in and of itself,to be rather ironic.

And yet, that is not the irony I am referring to.

Whazzup With That Roadmap, Anyhow?

Everybody needs a hero, right? I think I may have found (one) of mine.

This guy right here. He impresses me.

Why, you ask?

Because, in the midst of all his other work, he has written repeatedly on some very important issues for the disability community. And he's not showing any signs of letting it go. You have to like that.

What's up with the @DCS roadmap for people with disabilities? http://t.co/eEBsrmB7LD #nspoli @MMCLAW
— robert devet (@DevetRobert) April 1, 2014

And that raises a very important question - what is up with the Department of Community Services Transition Roadmap (aka The Roadmap)?

The report, written by a joint group of civil servants and representatives of community organizations, calls for the phasing out of large institutions, a more individualized approach in terms of care and funding, and altogether a new emphasis on changing services to better accommodate people with disabilities.

The short answer ... Hell if I know.

The sad reality is that the best information I have comes from Robert's article. Much like Sgt. Schultz, I see nothing, I hear nothing, I know nothing.

But fear not, for others know much, much more than I. Let's see what Robert has to say:

At the time the department, right in the introduction to the report committed to "implementing these recommendations over a five-year time frame, with major action steps for each of the ten recommendations being plotted over 2013-14 through 2017-18."

.  .  .

That was September of last year.

Now it appears things are moving ahead, but not at the pace that the report suggested.

Of the thirty or so action steps scheduled for the previous fiscal year 2013-14, not one has been completed. But work has started on all of them, Elizabeth MacDonald, departmental spokesperson, tells the Halifax Media Co-op.

Stakeholder provincial advisory groups, which according to the report should have been in place by now, have not yet been announced.

 Guess who else apparently knows something? Wendy Lill.

Wendy Lill, playwright and former Member of Parliament, has been advocating on behalf of people with intellectual disabilities for a very long time. She was co-chair of the team that helped shape the transition roadmap.

Just two weeks ago she attended a roadmap progress update for stakeholders organized by Community Services. That was also the first update provided by the department since the roadmap was launched seven months ago.

"After that meeting I am hopeful that there is some real movement happening and that there is good faith there," Lill tells the Halifax Media Co-op.

Apparently, we are to hear more about a series of pilot projects "in the spring" [wait, isn't that, like, now?] and the membership of advisory groups will be revealed some time after March 31st [so, again, that would be, like, any time now, right?]. But not just that - "a training program" for "care coordinators and service delivery people" is on the way. Thank God for that. Just, please, don't ask me what it means - I'm not entirely sure.

But, hey, know what I do (think I) know? Politics. I can talk politics. Let's try that.

The Roadmap was originally brought forward by the NDP government. The very same NDP government that a lot of people, myself included, were pretty frustrated with. We were frustrated because we expected CHANGE with our first NDP government, real CHANGE. And we didn't get it, or, at least not as fast as we wanted. It was that very frustration that caused played a large part in the NDP's defeat in the last election.

So now we have a new government. A Liberal government. And I have to wonder if people will be as hard on them, expect as much change as quickly from them, as they did our last government. Because, if so, I am pretty sure we will have another epic fail.

In the words of Wendy Lill:

"Things are dreadful now, [the Department is] spending a lot of money and they are getting very poor results," says Lill. "Strong arguments have been made that [the new way] can be sustainable, and they have leadership that is mounting that argument in a very strong way."

Yeah, they are. And how much (and how fast), if at all, that changes will be up me you and me. That's right, you. And you. And you. And me.

And that takes me back to why I am so grateful for Robert Devet's continued writing on these subjects, for his efforts to hold our government accountable for what was promised. But that you and you and you and I can do half as good of a job in that regard.

'Educational Reality Check' - A Parody

Province accepts all recommendations from report on black special education students, commits to track, improve performance

The province has accepted all 68 recommendations in a 2009 report that called for improving support for African-Nova Scotian  special education students.

But the onus will be on individual schools and school boards to make those improvements, Education Minister Marilyn More said at a news conference Monday in Halifax.

The 2009 2007 report Review Committee Report and Recommendations report, called Reality Check Minister’s Review of Services for Students with Special Needs, singled out the poor job that the education system does in tracking the successes and failures of the province’s 4,000 black special education students. Education consultant Edna Lee, based in California, also said more must be done to combat racism ableism in schools and that the role of support workers who help black special education students be expanded.

The department’s response to that report released Monday agreed or "strongly agreed" with each of Lee’s recommendations.

"We must work as a team to gather the necessary data and adjust our strategy to ensure African-Nova Scotian special education students have a richer educational experience," More told representatives from black special education and community groups.

A monitoring committee has been established to ensure all recommendations are carried out, she said. The committee includes representatives from the Council on African-Canadian Education,  a special education advisory group to the Education Department, the Black Educators Association Equal Education Association of Nova Scotia and the Education Department’s African-Canadian services Student Services division.

The department has also committed to bolster the staffing at its African Canadian services Student Services division. For example, an elementary curriculum consultant position will be created, as well as a consultant who will evaluate data on the black special education student population.

No additional money will be set aside for the new positions or any potential costs related to implementing the recommendations, More said. Resources will be reallocated from budget savings from such things as administrative retirements.

As for tracking the performance of black special education students, the first step will be to encourage students and families to identify themselves as African-Nova Scotians requiring special educational services, the Education Department’s report said.

From there, it’s simply a matter of better using the data collection expertise and supports that already exist, said Lee, who also spoke at the news conference.

Her report includes a checklist for principals to help them support students and guide them toward the appropriate resources.

"We are encouraging each school to look at not only who’s in school but also the conditions that exist in that school," she said. "For instance, the kinds of curriculum, the role of support workers educational assistants in the school, connections with family. All of those elements make for success."

I would suggest that you to go read the rest but, alas, there is no more.  There wasn't even this. 

Although I am relatively happy to see the Province promising to move forward with improving support for African-Nova Scotian students (I say "relatively" because pardon me if I tend to be a bit cynical regarding any of these reports), as I was reading this article in today's edition of the Chronicle Herald I fantasized what the same story might look like in regard to supporting students with special needs in Nova Scotia.  Fantasized because I'm not sure that I've ever read such a news story. 

So I thought I would take a stab at seeing what that would look like.  At least on paper. Now we know.

Update: I really should note that few things irritate me more than a divide and conquer strategy, whether it be between different disabilities or between students with disabilities and any other group of students.  That is most definitely not the intent of this post.  This is not about "us" versus "them" - it's about all students in the Province having their needs met.

I was actually playing with the idea of sending a portion of this post tin a letter to the Education Minister.

So what do you think?