Community News & Updates

On behalf of Family Alliance Ontario, we would like to remind everyone that it is time to renew your membership. The membership form can be filled online on the website. If you are not yet a member but would like to be, please view the Family Alliance Ontario Accord. To learn more about FAO, please check out our website.

Please contact: [email protected] for further information.

Save the date for Family Alliance Ontario's Annual General Meeting. It will be held Saturday, October 29 at 10am until 12:30pm through Zoom. If you are an FAO member, updates will be shared via email.

Ready, Willing and Able (RWA) invites you to attend our upcoming webinar series. This 4-part series will bring together employers, employees on the autism spectrum or with an intellectual disability, employment agencies, labour market analysts, researchers and other subject matter experts from across the country to present and discuss the various impacts and implications of inclusive employment. Each webinar will consist of a panel presentation with plenty of time for questions and answers.

Forum 1: Corporate Leadership – How to innovate through inclusive hiring

Tuesday October 4th, 2022, 12:30-1:30 pm EST
Insights from: Costco, Auticon, DHL and EY

Forum 2: The Future of Work and Emerging Employment Opportunities

Wednesday October 5th, 2022, 12:30-1:30 pm EST
Insights from: Statistics Canada, Specialisterne and SCE LifeWorks

Forum 3: Diversity and Inclusive Hiring in the E-Commerce, Manufacturing, & Logistics Sectors

Thursday October 6th, 2022, 12:30-1:30 pm EST
Insights from: Amazon and Sephora

Forum 4: From Jobs to Careers - Exploring Career Advancement

Wednesday October 12th, 2022, 12:30-1:30 pm EST
Insights from: Ference and Company, Gateway Associates and Avalon Employment

This webinar is for:

• Employers of all sizes and industries; it will be particularly relevant to executives, managers, human resources, and hiring managers;
• Employees on the autism spectrum or with an intellectual disability;
• Employment agencies looking for more information on how best to support clients;
• Anyone interested in advancing workplace inclusion is also encouraged to attend!

ASL interpretation and closed captioning will be provided in each session. Sessions will be in English only. A recording of the webinar series will be available in French shortly after.

To register, click here.

Siblings: Citizens with a Cause is a group of sibling advocates with a vision for a more inclusive Canada. Our team of siblings have important advocacy roles at Community Living Ontario, as they ensure that siblings of those who have disabilities are heard and represented in all settings. Their daily interactions with their siblings allow them to see first-hand the exclusion their siblings face, which is their motivation to advocate for a more inclusive Canada. This supportive network of youth share personal stories, resources, and are a helping hand to anyone who would like it through advocacy initiatives such as their Siblings meetups. At these monthly webinars, youth and allies come together to discuss navigating life in Canada.  

Siblings: Citizens with a Cause is now recruiting new siblings to continue its advocacy efforts and expand its youth network!  

Now’s your chance to get involved! 

If you have questions or wish to apply, contact:

Agnes Palaganas, CLO's Youth and Community Engagement Coordinator, at [email protected]

or

Payal Khazanchi, Director of Inclusion Initiatives at [email protected]  

The Ford Government has published more troubling details on the More Beds, Better Care Act. Alternate Level of Care hospital patients may be charged $400 per day if they do not agree to move to a long-term care facility up to 70 km away in southern Ontario, and up to 150 km away in the North East and North West health regions.

Adults who have developmental disabilities are six times more likely to spend time as Alternate Level of Care patients – in other words, they are at higher risk of needing to stay in hospital even if they don’t need acute care, because there are no other appropriate options.

For hospital patients who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, a forced move to long-term care can be traumatic and destabilizing. Very few will have the resources to pay $400 per day ($12,000 per month, $146,000 per year) to remain in hospital. It is highly likely that people will be sent to long-term care facilities with little or no expertise in supporting them, at distances that remove them from family and friends.

If you share our concerns about this legislation, please send a short note to your MPP, expressing your objections.