APPEAL# I PART C-Decision under Appeal The decision under appeal is the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation (the Ministry) reconsideration decision dated January 9, 2013 (sic} which held that the appellant is not eligible for a crisis supplement to purchase clothing pursuant to section 57 (1) of the Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Regulation (EAPWDR). The Ministry determined that the appellant does not meet the criteria of the legislation as information was not provided to establish that: • the appellant requires a crisis supplement to meet an unexpected expense or obtain an item unexpectedly needed, and • is unable to meet the expense or obtain the item because there are no resources available to the family unit, and • failure to meet the expense or obtain the item will result in imminent danger to the. physical health of any person in the family unit. PART D-Relevant Legislation Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Regulation (EAPWDR) section 57(1) EAAT003(10/06101)
PART E -Summar v of Fa cts The appellant di d not app e ar at the hea rin g . A f te r conf hearing, the heari ng proc e eded in accordance wi t h R egula tion. The e v i dence b ef o re t h e Mi n i s try at rec onside rati on • The app ellant' s f il e was o p en e d b y t he Mi n i s disa bi lity as sist an ce as a c ouple. • On Nov em ber 27, 2 013 th e a p pel lan t submitt al low ance' t o p u rcha se winte r cl othi ng for he circ ums tan ces had o ccurre d: o a ll o f t heir wi nter stuff was lost in a f ire; o t hey are b ot h i n n eed o f heav y wi n ter coats, win o t hey we r e not able to b uy the wi n ter cl o th b ills, loan payments and f ood. • The ap pellan t receiv ed t h e yearly ma ximu m December 201 2 and is not el i g i ble for a fu rther • T he fire me n tione d by the appell ant oc cur red o r e ceiv e d $150 for clothing f rom Emergency Social Se receive her full mo n thly supp ort ben efit s of $ • The ap pellant in her December 29, 20 1 3 Req ma t es too k t h e appe llant' s suit cases w h e n t as to the cont e n ts of th e s uitca ses. The ro om-mates t h e h ydro and ga s b ills, wh ich t h e ap pell ant w fro m ESS was use d to purc h as e u nd erwear • The app e l lant s tates that she suffers fro m ext th at without the proper clothing it is difficult to leave the house. Neith er party int roduced n ew evidence o n appe al. EAA T003(10/06/01) APPEAL# I irmin g that the ap pellan t was notified of the s e c tion 86 (b) of the E m p l o ym en t an d Ass i s ta nce i ncluded: try in 1999 and the appellant is cur ren tly receiving ed a letter to the Minist ry reques ting 'her fall rself an d her husba nd s tating the foll owing ter boots and gloves; i ng thems e l v es a s 75% of their support goes t o c r isis s upp lem ent of $200 f o r cl o t hi n g in clothing su p plem en t un til January 201 4 . n Ma y 17, 2 0 13 at he r resid e n ce a nd she rvi c es ( ESS ) . Sh e a lso co n ti n ue s to 700 s ince Ma y 2013 . u e st fo r Rec o n si d er at i on stated that two roo m h ey moved o u t, b u t no inf ormation was p rovided had al so lef t w it h o ut paying t hei r sha r e of a s left to s e t tle. The grant for c lothing received and s ocks. r eme a r t hr it i s , wors e n e d by the cold weather and
I APPEAL# PART F -Reasons for Panel Decision The Issue The issue before the panel is the reasonableness of the Ministry's reconsideration decision dated January 9, 2014 which held that the appellant is not eligible for a crisis supplement to purchase clothing pursuant to section 57(1) of the EAPWDR. The Ministry determined that the appellant's needs were not unexpected and that the appellant has not provided information to establish that failure to obtain clothing will result in imminent danger to her physical health. There is no indication that the appellant has explored or exhausted other resources in the community for her needs. Legislation EAPWDR section 57. Crisis supplement. (1) The Minister may provide a crisis supplement to or for a family unit that is eligible for disability assistance or hardship assistance if (a) The family unit or a person in the family unit requires !he supplement to meet an unexpected expense or obtain an item unexpectedly needed and is unable to meet the expense or obtain the item because there are no resources available to the family unit, and (b) The Minister considers that failure to meet the expense or obtain the item will result in (i) imminent danger to the physical health of ant person in the family unit, or (ii) removal of a child under the Child, Family and Community Se/Vice Act. (2) A crisis supplement may be provided only for the calendar month in which the application or request for the supplement is made. (3) A crisis supplement may not be provided for the purpose of obtaining (a) a supplement described in Schedule C, or (b) any other health care goods or services. (4) A crisis supplement provided for food, shelter or clothing is subject to the following limitations: (a) if for food, the maximum amount that may be provided in a calendar month is $20 for each person in the family unit, (b) if for shelter, the maximum amount that may be provided in a calendar month is the smaller of (i) the family unit's actual shelter cost, and (ii) the maximum set out in section 4 of Schedule A or Table 2 of Schedule D, as applicable, for a family unit that matches the family unit, and (c) if for clothing, the amount that may be provided must not exceed the smaller of (i) $100 for each person in the family unit in the 12 calendar month period preceding the date of application for the crisis supplement, and (ii) $400 for the family unit in a 12 calendar month period preceding the date of application for the crisis supplement. (5) The cumulative amounts of crisis supplements that may be provided to or for a family unit in a year must not exceed the amount calculated under subsection (6). (6) In the calendar month in which the application or request for the supplement is made, the amount under subsection (5) is calculated by multiplying by two the maximum amount of disability assistance or hardship assistance that may be provided for the month under Schedule A or Schedule D to a family unit that matches the family unit. (7) Despite subsection (4)(b) or (5) or both, a crisis supplement may be provided to or for a family unit for the following: (a) fuel for heating; (b) fuel for cooking meals; (c) water; (d) hydro EAA1 003( 10106101)
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Subs ection (1)(b)(i) Immine nt danger to physical health The a p pellant's positi on is that s he s uff ers from extreme art that withou t pro per clothing, it makes it hard to leav The positio n of the Ministry is that the i n formati on pr wint er c l o thi ng , i n add ition to what she c u rrently pos and communi ty resour ces, will result in imminen t danger to her ph The pan el notes that the appellant did not provide medi suffers from extreme arthritis and that there is no evidence to show that fai wil l r esult in imminen t dang e r to her phys ica l he a lth d etermined that this cri t eri on h a s not bee n m et. Conclus i on B ased on the f oregoi ng, t h e p anel fi n ds that th e Minis r equ e ste d crisi s supp l ement for cl o thing as the cri s i re ason ably s upp orted b y t h e evidence. Th e panel theref EAA T003(10/06/01) AP PEAL # I hritis worsene d by t h e cold w eather and e the hous e. o v ided does n o t establish that failure to obtain sesses a n d i s ab le to o btain usi n g s upport f und s ys i cal hea l th. cal evidenc e to supp or t her sta tement th at she lu re t o obtain the cloth ing . T he p a nel find s that the Mini st r y r e a sonably tr y's de cisi o n to den y the app e llant the s su ppl em e nt crit eria ha v e not al l bee n met wa s o r e c onfi r m s th e Ministry's dec i sion.
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