One of my favourite aspects of being Aboriginal policy counsel for Legal Aid Ontario is that I get to travel the province to speak with people about their experiences with LAO services. Recently I was able to attend the NAN-Wide Justice Summit that took place in Thunder Bay from November 19-21, 2013. The purpose of [Read more…]
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LAO’s Mental Health Strategy Consultations are now live!
Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) released a paper today setting out a set of first principles and key issues that LAO believes are important to developing its Mental Health Strategy.
Research shows that as many as one in three legal aid certificates are issued to a client with mental health and addiction issues. Over the last 10 years, there has been a 44 per cent increase in the number of Ontario Review Board hearings and a 25 per cent increase in the number of Consent and Capacity Board hearings.
The purpose of this consultation paper, LAO’s Mental Health Strategy Discussion Paper, is to discuss how best to:
- develop community-based and outreach-based services
- strengthen the capacity of other service providers including community legal clinics and private lawyers
- proactively support clients’ legal needs through early access and holistic practice models
This paper is now available for public comment through written submissions on a dedicated section about LAO’s Mental Health Strategy.
Over the next couple of months, LAO will be conducting in-person and online consultation sessions with mental health and justice experts throughout the province to ensure a broad and thorough consultation.
Resources
Pourquoi est-il nécessaire d’améliorer la prestation de services aux clients autochtones de l’Ontario
À mon avis, il est primordial pour AJO, ainsi que pour la profession juridique en général, de comprendre l’importance d’assister davantage les Autochtones de l’Ontario. Ceci est d’autant plus vrai pour AJO à qui la loi confère le mandat de promouvoir l’accès à la justice dans l’ensemble de l’Ontario aux personnes à faible revenu. [Pour en savoir plus…]
Why we need to improve legal aid services to Ontario’s Aboriginal clients
I think it is essential for LAO — and for the legal profession in general — to understand the importance of providing more supports to Ontario’s Aboriginal peoples. It’s important for LAO because we have a statutory mandate to promote access to justice throughout Ontario for low-income individuals. [Read more…]
Confronting stigma, Empowering Change
“Are police going to come to my office?”
“Why should I go to the emergency room for help if this is going to happen?”
“I can’t get to my appointments any more because public transit triggers my anxiety.”
“My one incident of mild depression – for which I sought treatment! – has resulted in two years of discrimination and stigma.”
A recent public forum convened by the Empowerment Council at CAMH gave dozens of attendees an opportunity to voice their experiences with just some of the serious consequences that result from driver’s license suspensions.
The stories all shared a common concern. Under Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act, emergency room and other doctors are required to notify the Ministry of Transportation where they believe someone “is suffering from a condition that may make it dangerous for the person to operate a motor vehicle,” or where they believe someone “suffer[s] from any mental, emotional, nervous or physical condition or disability likely to significantly interfere with his or her ability to drive a motor vehicle.”
But for clients with mental illness, this is a very slippery slope. Assessment guidelines published by the Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators are very generalized and offer little mental health specific diagnostic criteria or appropriate questions to ask. There’s no evidence-based scientific research that predicts the dangers of an accident, or shows a relationship between mental health needs and driving risk. And discrimination is nothing more than a statutorily mandated after-thought; the Highway Traffic Act was specifically amended in 2011 to shield the Ministry of Transportation and doctors from human rights complaints. This despite the fact that a single assessment or admission for a first instance of depression can result in a 5-year license suspension!
The stories shared at the roundtable spoke to the devastating effects such suspensions can have. It can force someone to reveal their mental health issues to friends, family members, children, and bosses. It can impact a persons ability to maintain or find employment, or to live independently, particularly in rural areas. And perhaps worst of all, it has a chilling effect on those who might need help the most by penalizing their efforts at reaching out when in crisis, and shattering a sense of trust in their health care worker or health facility.
The numbers are also startling. Information obtained from the Ministry of Transportation shows that in 2011, around 24,500 suspensions were issued for medical reasons. Yet a “medical / physical disability” is cited as the condition of the driver in only 1,000 out of 385,000 collisions across Ontario that year.
Unsurprisingly, the discussion at the public forum quickly turned to empowerment and change. There is cause for optimism as years of advocacy around this issue are beginning to see results. A human rights case was recently granted leave to continue before the Human Rights Tribunal. It challenges both the provisions of the Highway Traffic Act itself as well as the Ministry of Transportation’s medical review and appeal process as violating the human rights of persons with mental health issues. Law students at Osgoode Hall Law School have also taken up the cause, producing excellent public education and self-advocacy information through a dedicated website at http://pdals.wordpress.com/. And advocates at the Empowerment Council are looking to raise the need for systemic change.
PPAO Celebrates 30 Years!
This was a great reason to party, and a great event!
For 30 years, the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office (http://www.ppao.gov.on.ca , 416-327-7000 / 1-800-578-2343) has been doing incredible work for and on behalf of clients with mental health issues across Ontario. Every year, over 35,000 psychiatric in-patients receive in-person rights advice from the PPAO, ensuring their awareness of health care consent rights, guardianships, community treatment options and privacy rights. About 3,000 of these consults trigger an application to Legal Aid Ontario for the retainer of legal advocacy services. Additionally, the PPAO has 12 full-time patient advocates who ensure that thousands of in-patient clients have an active and empowered voice in their care at the major mental health facilities like CAMH in Toronto and the Waypoint Centre in Penetanguishene. Their work is important; a 2008 coroner’s inquest recommended that the PPAO’s mandate should be expanded to provide advocacy for all adult mental health patients in Ontario (http://www.empowermentcouncil.ca/PDF/Jeffery%20James%20Inquest.pdf).
Much of the values and impact of the PPAO are best found in the stories shared in their 25th Anniversary Report “Honouring the Past, Shaping the Future: 25 Years of Progress in Mental Health Advocacy and Rights Protection” ( http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mohltc/ppao/en/Documents/pub-ann-25.pdf) .
