[FEAT BC Admin]

In this topic area, discussion is about the fight to secure Government funding for your A.B.A. treatment program. It is also the place to talk about your thoughts and ideas about how to establish new Government programs specifically designed for autism treatment.

This is the place to hear input from parents who have fought for funding and won, as well as those who have fought for funding and would like to share their horror stories. There is a tendency to not share success stories once funding is secured. Please fight that tendency. By sharing our experience, we all become stronger.

 

---

—-By FEAT BC (Freeman) on Saturday, January 3, 1998 – 03:16 pm:

-Hi everyone!

These are some things to think about in your dealings with government to help you to obtain support for your child’s Autism Treatment Program. These are my personal opinions and do not represent those of FEAT of BC or any other organization.

Many of these observations are based on my personal experiences (and I believe it poetic justice to help every parent avoid being systematically abused by their social worker the way I was).

Good luck to everyone! (Let’s all pull back the curtain on the Wizard of OZ).

Sabrina

 

---

How To Fight for Funding for Autism Treatment and Appropriate School Placement

1. Establish a Paper Trail

Always take notes, documenting major points of all conversations with government and school officials.

This includes casual, in person conversations with social workers as well as ALL telephone conversations. All key points of discussion must be written down in your notes including the date and time of the discussion. This includes what was agreed upon, as well as what was not agreed upon.

Then the notes should be used to write a letter recapping the substance and content of the conversation. This letter must then be mailed or faxed to the person with whom you had the conversation. In addition, a copy must be kept in your file (see section on the icci game).

Why?

It is important to formalize the interaction between you and Government officials. In addition, everyone is put on notice that they must closely adhere to their responsibilities, regulations and laws., Furthermore, they must then consider the paper trail you have created. This lets everyone know that the interaction can become public and that any abuses of power and authority can be formally appealed and/or publicized.

In other words, they canit use discretion unfairly under the cloak of secrecy.

2. Submit all Requests in Writing

All your requests for your child must be submitted formally in writing with a copy included in your file and a copy, if necessary, sent to their immediate superiors.

3. Set Deadlines for Action

All formal requests for action must have a reasonable deadline set for that action. If no action or response is received by the deadline you have set (two weeks for example), then you will interpret the lack of response as a formal declination (a formal NO) of your requests.

Why Set Deadlines?

When bureaucrats do not want to do something, they will stall by ignoring you and your request. (As an aside, in the study of the bureaucracy, this is known as ithe power to do nothingi). They can string you along for years. When you have determined that the person you are interacting with is not inclined to help you or is not dealing in good faith, then you must take the initiative and formally label his/her behavior as obstructionist and de facto as a declination (a NO to your requests). This allows you to move to the next level of authority on your timetable to present your case. This takes the power to do nothing away from the bureaucrat with whom you are dealing. Simple stated, a bureaucrat who stalls and does nothing becomes irrelevant (use your invisible spray) and you move on to the next level of authority.

How to icci?

A cc. is a copy of your letter sent to someone other than the person you are writing. You put the cc. at the bottom left-hand corner of your letter followed by 2 spaces and the name of the person or people to whom you want to send a copy of the letter.

Who to icci to?

Sometimes it is best not to icci at all, especially in the early stages of the relationship (for example, your first letter to a social worker requesting assistance). This gives them the opportunity to do the right thing and does not present you as an overly combative person. When you start to run into problems, it is a good idea to send the icci to the 2 immediate superiors of the person you are having problems with. We do not recommend icciing all the way up the chain of command, since you want to give them a chance to solve the problem at the local level.

Why send a icci copy?

The reason for playing the icci game is that you want your interactions with the official to be known to his superior and possibly to other organizations so that 1) their action or inaction becomes a matter of record and 2) the individual knows he is being monitored. This helps minimize abuses of power and authority and helps encourage the official to meet their obligations and do the right thing.

What is the sequence of letters?

Find out the chain of command of the particular bureaucracy you are battling.

TOP

Minister
Deputy Minister
Children’s Ministry’s local region chain of command, all the way down to the District Supervisor
and Social Worker
Contacts can be found at the government directory: http://www.dir.gov.bc.ca/

BOTTOM

Start at the bottom and climb. At the Regional Operating Officer (ROO) level (once you have been declined) you have to decide whether to jump up to the top, threaten and then go to the media, or both. A word of wisdom: DO NOT BLUFF. If you are not willing to go all the way, they will ‘smell’ this. You must be prepared to take it right up to the Minister and beyond.

Documentation from Experts:

In your arsenal to fight for your child, it is wise to get his/her pediatrician and/or psychiatrist to write a letter on your childis behalf. In addition, any other experts who know your child and are sympathetic to what you are trying to do should become involved.

When to hire a lawyer?

If money is not an issue, you can hire a lawyer when you get to the area manager level. Make sure that you have a paper trail so the lawyer has something to work with. Also, have the lawyer give F.E.A.T. of B.C. a call, and we will send him/her information that will help.

If money is an issue (as it is for most of us running autism treatment programs), you might want to hire a lawyer once you have been turned down by the Minister.

How to hire a lawyer?

The type of lawyer needed is a litigator, or trial lawyer. S/he does not need to be an expert in autism, or special needs; s/he needs to be experienced in suing governments, and enjoys being in court. Word of mouth is a good way to find a lawyer.

Topic

[Claire Spencer]

Here's a "heads up" for you.

I'm the mother of a 4 1/2 year old boy in the autism spectrum. We live on Vancouver Island and have been receiving Kindergarten Transition Year (now "School Transition Year") funding since October 1st. We've been told all along that any unused funds could be carried over to the next fiscal year (beginning April 1/02). Apparently the government has changed its mind and now any unused funds at March 31st will be lost.

We had been trying to pace the spending of the funds so we'd have some to carry over (since the same $$$ is for 12 months as opposed to 6 this year). Now we're scrambling to figure out how to not lose almost $4,000 at the end of this month. We're looking into pre-billing some items for next year.

Be warned…

Claire Spencer (Trevor's mother)

[Jenny Obando]

Regarding this kindergarden money. My son was going to receive some funding and since he is only 3 I was told this was an exception , so that it was up to me who I told.
They could not tigh my hands behind my back , but just to beware, hint.

Strangely enough I get this call from a "parent",and the first thing I hear when I answer the phone was: "did you get funding", my first reaction was ,who the hell are you and why are you calling me, after a few minutes of conversation and an interrogation this "parent",goes on about horse riding therapy, whatever .

Then it gets better. My social worker calls me a few days later and says we will not be getting the funding I was promised ,coincidence,perhaps. So for the "parents" , out there asking all this questions about funding and where and how and who is getting it, the least you can do is sign your name to your message .
Jenny

[Jenny Obando]

Regarding this kindergarden money. My son was going to receive some funding and since he is only 3 I was told this was an exception , so that it was up to me who I told.
They could not tigh my hands behind my back , but just to beware, hint.

Strangely enough I get this call from a "parent",and the first thing I hear when I answer the phone was: "did you get funding", my first reaction was ,who the hell are you and why are you calling me, after a few minutes of conversation and an interrogation this "parent",goes on about horse riding therapy, whatever .

Then it gets better. My social worker calls me a few days later and says we will not be getting the funding I was promised ,coincidence,perhaps. So for the "parents" , out there asking all this questions about funding and where and how and who is getting it, the least you can do is sign your name to your message .

[FEAT BC Admin]

The Victoria Times-Colonist published a story regarding the BC Court of Appeal autism treatment hearings (Feb. 22, 2002). Please note the article heading is misleading. The last two paragraphs of the story are more indicative of Government policy.

Courtesy of the Island Chapter of FEAT BC, the Times-Colonist article is available at the following link:

https://featbc.org/downloads/Timescolonist_02_22_2002.pdf

[FEAT BC Admin]

The leading paper in Langley, BC (‘Advance News’), carried the autism Court of Appeal story last week. BC Solicitor General, Honourable Rich Coleman, expressed his view on the autism issue, but unfortunately misspoke in the article. FEAT BC Executive Director, Sabrina Freeman, submitted a ‘Guest Editorial’ to correct the error.

The two articles are available for download on the FEAT BC server at the following address:

–> https://featbc.org/downloads/Advance_editorial_02_26_02.pdf

[FEAT BC Admin]

The Vancouver Sun ran a second story reporting on the BC Court of Appeal's autism treatment hearings (Friday, February 22). The article can be downloaded from this web address:
https://featbc.org/downloads/Sun02_22_02.pdf

[Deleted User]

I wanted to respond to the posting by anonymous about "bridging money", and I suppose respond to some of the other Kindergarten transition funding questions out there.

I have not heard the term bridging money but I suspect it is the kindergarten transition money as I've been told that individuatized funding via EIBI is coming our way sometime between june and september (by our I mean parents not me in particular ). THerefore I would imagine the bridging lingo is due to the fact that the Mcfd people think this money is temporary.

My daughter receives kindergarten transtion money. I am somewhat vocal but nobody asked me to be hush hush about it. They (as in social workers) called me about it back in august. She was in the first groups of kids to get the money.

Recently I began to hear little stories about other children in my area receiving funding who were not of the kindergarten transition age bracket. Some of these families were those who were vigilant about calling/letter writing etc. What I was told was that there was money left over in the budget and mcfd wanted to offload it before year end.

I called, spoke with a social worker and several days later was informed that I will be receiving money to reimburse my costs towards my son's ABA program. (We run two ABA programs for our two children with autism just in case anyone is confused as to why I am receiving money 2x).

I have not received this money yet, however I will be brave and post this message with my name attached anyways.

I was never told not to pass on this information and so I am quite happy to do so. I understand that each area/district whatever is operating quite differently but here in Maple Ridge, it appears that children under the age of the kindergarten transition funding program are able to receive reimbursement for costs up to the end of march.

I strongly urge every parent to be in contact with their social worker or their social worker's boss to inquire about funding for their child.

In many ways anonymous is right. As I have stated a few times I was never asked not to spread the word, I was never told that this money was for a select few, but many other parents are fearful about sharing with others as it might damage their funding.

In regards to issues of supported childcare, to my knowledge supported childcare is completely frozen right now. In our area, those children who are applying for scc for september are being told they will likely not be able to attend preschool/daycare etc because of this freeze. The transition money however appears to be in excess and it is often the same parents applying for both so hence the statements that scc is coming out of transition money. Apply for what you need for scc as well as your aba program. The worst that can be said is that is more than our monthly maximum.

Hope this helps,

Michelle
(mother of Breanna and Griffen)

[FEAT BC Admin]

A story on The Court of Appeal hearings is in the Sun.
Thank you to Avery Raskin for making it available in digital form.

The article can be downloaded at this address:
https://featbc.org/downloads/Sun_02_21_02.pdf

[Deleted User]

I have been reading with interest the postings
from families re. Kindergarten Transition
Funding. In November of 2001, after several
months of hounding the "supervisor" of Social
Workers for the Surrey regional district (or
whatever it's called now), I received a call
asking for a proposal of what I wanted in
terms of funding for my son's ABA program.
Thinking that there must be some written
criteria to which she was referring I soon
discovered that I was telling her the terms and
she was listening! She intimated that if I faxed
MY proposal that something would happen to
help us. She was unable to tell me why she
could now divert Supported Childcare money
to support our ABA program as the new KTF.
Within 6 weeks we received paperwork, in the
guise of Supported Childcare, that gave us a
six month contract worth approximately
$8,000. She back-dated the money to our
son's fifth birthday! She also said that she
could not guarantee that the funding would be
extended a further six months to last until he
turns six – which, of course, is the magic
birthdate when he will no longer receive
funding. The social workers that I have dealt
with appear to be truly caught in the middle
and are desperately looking for a way to get
funding to us. It appears that each health
region is doing something totally arbitrary so it
is no wonder that parents don't know what the
true story actually is! I suggest that you keep
phoning and leaving messages until they can
no longer ignore us! My apologies for posting
this in anonymity but since we still have a
chance to maybe receive six months more of
funding I will not risk offending the powers that
be. Tragic isn't it.

[Deleted User]

Regarding posting by Anonymous,Feb 17

The silence is deafening.

Perhaps that answers some of your questions.

[Author]

Replies