UNLICENSED, UNREGULATED, UNMONITORED
Provincial authorities take no steps to ensure severely disabled
Albertans use their government support cheques to pay for safe,
clean or licensed accommodations, a government spokesman
acknowledged Wednesday. It came to light Thursday that dozens of
people were using Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped
cheques to pay rent in five unlicensed Love and Care group homes.
The homes were discovered after Alberta Seniors and Community
Supports received a complaint in October 2009. They immediately
told the operators they needed a license. Operators Lisa Snyder and
Aleksandar Nedelijovic — mother and son operate five Love and Care Homes.
Ministry spokesman Michael Shields said the most severely disabled AISH
recipients receive “modified benefits†which come with additional support and scrutiny, but he could not say whether clients receiving modified benefits were living in the filthy facility or whether the additional support would have helped authorities identify the unlicensed facilities sooner. He stated “In this case, when it was brought to our attention, we responded
When government personnel returned in June 2010, almost a year later,
for an official licensing inspection, they took the unusual step of calling in health inspectors from Alberta Health Services.“There was an accumulation of dirt, debris and filth,†inspector Dean Rombough wrote in an executive officer’s order dated June 24.
“Bedding … was very dirty, with obvious dirt and filth adhered to the bedding. Bathrooms were not being properly cleaned … and staff was not cleaning the bathtubs in between client usage.â€
Snyder said she has operated the group homes for eight years without government requiring her to license her facilities.
Adapted Edmonton Journal 30 / 12/ 10
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At a September 14, 2009 Fatality Inquiry into the death of Marilyn Lane who burned to death in a flash fire in an unlicensed Capilano group home, Michael Rutherford, President of
15055 118 Ave Nw, Edmonton, AB. told the inquiry he operated 50 such group homes which house vulnerable persons. He informed the Inquiry that only a handful were licensed because when he had applied to Family and Social Services for licensing, he was told his group homes did not need a license.