Province seeks community navigator for people with disabilities support program

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This article was published 30/06/2023 (828 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The province is seeking community organizations to deliver its new support program for Manitobans with disabilities.

A call for expression of interest has been sent out, looking for agencies that can carry out a one-year “community helpers pilot project,” as part of the Manitoba Supports for Persons With Disabilities program.

The program launched to the public in April, and provides financial assistance, health-care coverage and other supports for Manitobans with “severe and prolonged” disabilities. These agencies will provide staff who can help people using the program find support services they qualify for in the province.

Network-building was identified as a priority during the community engagement process of its creation, particularly for people who may be harder to reach, have higher support needs, would not normally apply for assistance or are experiencing homelessness.

“This pilot project will allow us to test and evaluate an important new service and ensure that we are effective in the help we provide,” Families Minister Rochelle Squires said in a statement Friday.

“It responds to the feedback we received from Manitobans who participated in public engagement sessions over the past three years, which revealed significant support for community-based navigation services and a more tailored approach in supporting the unique needs of Manitobans living with disabilities.”

It’s a good first step, Manitoba Possible community inclusion and support services program manager Samuel Unrau said.

“The current system, or previous to a program like this coming forward, there’s often been a number of barriers that persons with disabilities have experienced in either accessing information about supports that are available to them or just going through the process of accessing support,” he said.

Unrau, who himself has had the experience of accessing income assistance while having a disability, said many going through the process will benefit from having a resource to advocate for them.

“I think it’s just knowing that you have somebody there that’s there to support you. The relationship, sometimes, can be adversarial, previously, where somebody with a disability is trying to access a support, and the caseworker kind of acts as the gatekeeper of the funds,” he said.

“What the community navigator will help do is actually put somebody in the corner of the client, and help them navigate these processes, help advocate for them.”

Applications from community organizations are due July 17. Preference will be given to Indigenous-led groups, along with those led by or partnering with people with disabilities.

Also announced Friday were amendments to Manitoba’s disability support regulation to include a formula for adjusting benefits for people with disabilities who receive financial assistance from the province to the rate of inflation, starting Saturday.

The amendment also comes with slight increases to some benefits for those part of the Manitoba Supports for Persons with Disabilities program. For example, a single-person household where the recipient is renting accommodations with utilities included in the cost will be receiving $705 in shelter support monthly, as opposed to $691.

Rent Assist benefits, which provide shelter supports to low-income Manitobans, will also be adjusted Saturday to the rate of inflation.

This adjustment happens yearly, and is set to align with 77 per cent of Winnipeg’s median market rate rent for families receiving income assistance, and 80 per cent for families not receiving income assistance. The rental rate is set independently by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Canada’s current rate of inflation is 3.4 per cent, down from 4.4 per cent in April, according to Statistics Canada.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca