[homeles_ot-l] Fwd: RNAO joins us in calling for action to protect special diet

[Terrie]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Naomi Ives (ISAC) <ivesn at lao.on.ca>
Date: 23 March 2010 13:57
Subject: RNAO joins us in calling for action to protect special diet
To: odspaction-announce at googlegroups.com, odspaction at googlegroups.com


 FYI – This was in the latest “Rise Up” e-list posting from Anna Willats
(activist):



________________________________________________________________

Urgent Action Alert to Premier McGuinty: Improve the Special Diet Allowance
Program Instead of Cutting It

March 19, 2010

Background

In anticipation of next Thursday's provincial budget, the media is reporting
that the Special Diet Allowance (SDA) program is at risk of being cut. RNAO
strongly urges the McGuinty government to end these rumours as cutting the
program would be catastrophic. Act today - tell Premier McGuinty to improve
the Special Diet Allowance, don't cut it.

Access to nutritious food is essential for good health, especially for those
facing the everyday challenge of living with chronic health problems with
limited resources. The Special Diet Allowance is a vital part of the basic
benefit structure for people receiving Ontario Disability Support Program
(ODSP) or Ontario Works (OW) benefits. This program provides crucial
financial support to people who have additional food costs as the result of
a health condition. In order to qualify, people on ODSP or OW must have the
need for a therapeutic diet prescribed by a midwife, nurse practitioner,
nutritionist, or physician within the parameters of the Special Diet
Schedule.

In November 2005 hundreds of people were left struggling to afford the diets
they relied on to manage their health challenges when the government changed
the SDA rules to significantly decrease access to the program as a cost
saving measure. Hundreds of complaints have been filed based on
discrimination due to the arbitrary nature of the Schedule. On February 17,
2010 the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal found that the SDA program violated
the Human Rights Code in the way it provides benefits to three individuals.
The Ministry of Community and Social Service's troubling response was an
internal memo that suggests it is considering scrapping the program
entirely.

Ending the Special Diet Allowance in Thursday's provincial budget would be a
terrible mistake. Instead of seeking cost savings at the expense of the most
vulnerable people in our society, RNAO calls for an evidence-based,
preventative public health approach that would strengthen this program
rather eliminate it.

Please Act Now!  With the final touches being put right now on Thursday's
budget, TODAY is the day to tell politicians what you think. Please don't
delay.

1. Email the letter below to Premier Dalton McGuinty. Copies will also
automatically be sent to Madeleine Meilleur, Minister of Community and
Social Services, Dwight Duncan, Minister of Finance, and Laurel Broten,
Minister of Children and Youth, who is leading Ontario's Poverty Reduction
Strategy.
2. Please share this action alert with your colleagues, friends and family
and ask them to write as well.

To send an action alert and to view it electronically, please go to this
link:
http://www.rnao.org/Page.asp?PageID=122&ContentID=3191&SiteNodeID=403&BL_ExpandID=

What Has RNAO done?

RNAO joins Health Providers Against Poverty in an Open Letter to Minister
Meilleur on the need to maintain the Special Diet Allowance, which may found
here:
http://www.healthprovidersagainstpoverty.ca/system/files/Maintain%20SD%20Allowance%20letter.pdf

The Nurse Practitioners' Association of Ontario and the Registered Nurses'
Association of Ontario have written a joint letter to Minister Meilleur
urging the withdrawal of a SDA directive that enables administrators from
non-health care backgrounds to overturn the clinical judgment of regulated
health care professionals. This letter may be found here:
http://www.rnao.org/Page.asp?PageID=122&ContentID=3189&SiteNodeID=390&BL_ExpandID=

Resources:

Toronto Star  Welfare special diet allowance at risk  March 13, 2010
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/779481--welfare-special-diet-allowance-at-risk

Toronto Star   Editorial  Don't cut costs on backs of sick  March 16, 2010
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/780277--editorial-don-t-cut-costs-on-backs-of-sick

Toronto Star    Ontario deficit to last until 2017  March 16, 2010
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontariobudget/article/780562--ontario-deficit-to-last-into-2017

Income Security Advocacy Centre   Backgrounder on Special Diet  March 2010
http://www.incomesecurity.org/documents/SpecialDietRelease-Backgrounder-2March.pdf

Creating Vibrant Communities: RNAO's Challenge to Ontario's Political
Parties
Technical Backgrounder  January 2010
http://www.rnao.org/Page.asp?PageID=122&ContentID=3176&SiteNodeID=390&BL_ExpandID=

To send an action alert and to view it electronically, please go to this
link:
http://www.rnao.org/Page.asp?PageID=122&ContentID=3191&SiteNodeID=403&BL_ExpandID=







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-- 
Terrie ( mocharebyl at gmail.com )
“If you see an injustice being committed, you aren't an observer, you are a
participant.” June Callwood
Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and
renders the present inaccessible.  Maya Angelou
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