Staff and clients won’t find out whether ODSP is to be downloaded or merged with Ontario Works until the fall at the earliest.
The Commission for the Review of Social Assistance said today that its final report will not be submitted to the government and made public until September.
OPSEU has submitted three reports to the social assistance review, calling for ODSP to remain a provincially-delivered program. We believe downloading the program to municipalities will lead to inconsistent delivery across the province with clients getting more or less help depending on where they live.
The union believes that it’s premature and counterproductive to take the system in an entirely new direction before a recent customer service overhaul is fully implemented and evaluated. The overhaul was designed to end delays and provide long-term seamless support to clients.