I APPEAi PART C -Decision under Appeal The Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation's (the ministry) reconsideration decision dated 27 February 2014 determined the appellant did not qualify as a person with persistent multiple barriers (PPMB) because the information provided did not establish he has a medical condition which had continued for at least one year and was likely to continue for at least two more years and that it did not present a barrier that precluded him from searching or accepting or continuing employment and therefore he did not meet all the required conditions set at section 2 of the Employment and Assistance Regulation. PART D -Relevant Legislation Employment and Assistance Regulation (EAR), section 2. EAAT 003( 10/06/01)
I APPEAL . PART E-Summary of Facts The following evidence was before the ministry at the time of reconsideration: • The appellant has been a recipient of income assistance since June 2010, hence for at least 12 of the last 15 months. • · A medical report dated 25 October 2013 by the appellant's physician stating: o The appellant's primary medical condition as head injury/ assault; o Secondary medical condition: depression and illegible; o The appellant is treated through medication; o His condition has existed for less than a month; o The expected duration of this condition is less than 2 years; o His medical condition is not episodic in nature; o Its episodes are described as chronic; o Restrictions attached to the appellant's medical condition are described as: Patient was assaulted, feels depressed, scared, rib pain, left side numbness, decreased vision, memory deficit and illegible. • A letter dated 25 November 2013 by the appellant's physician stating that he is "unable to take the bus or other transportation as he is having anxiety and pain". • An undated Employability Screen form indicating the appellant scored a total of 12. • In his request for reconsideration dated 13 February 2014, the appellant indicates he was the victim of home invasion at his residence iri October 2013 by a number of intruders with guns and was assaulted to unconsciousness and lost lots of blood. He had stitches and staples to close his wounds on his skull because of being hit by the gun. As a result of this, the appellant no longer feels safe to go anywhere and suffers from memory loss, guilt, depression and constant pain. He lives in fear, he is paranoid, suffers from anxiety, he cannot sleep and is forgetful. He shakes and sweats while enduring crippling pain in his neck, back and head. He is on prescribed pain medications. In his Notice of Appeal dated 7 March 2014, the appellant writes that he has not worked for over 3 years, that he is a single parent with mental health problems, anger, guilt, depression and pain. He has no vehicle and cannot take public transit. He takes lots of medications, is afraid of crowds and he was the victim of home invasion by a number of individuals who beat him on his head and body with handguns. He received numerous stitches and staples to his head and cannot sleep, eat or deal with pain without medication. He lives in constant paranoia, anxiety, memory loss, depression and fear. The panel determined the additional evidence provided by the appellant in his Notice of Appeal was admissible under s. 22(4) of the Employment and Assistance Act as it was in support of the records before the minister at reconsideration and provided some more details about his medical condition and the reasons thereof. EAAT 003(10/06/01)
P ART F -Reason s f or Pan el Decision The i s sue under app ea l in thi s case is w he t h er t he m did no t qualify as a pe r s on wi th pers isten t mu l t ipl e b di d not es tabl is h that he has a medical condi tion whic lik ely to continue for at lea st two more yea rs and th a fro m searching or ac cep t i ng or c ontinuing e mployme condi t ions set at section 2 of t he E AR was either a reasonable r eas onably supporte d by the evid e nce. S ection 2 of the E AR sta tes the c on d iti o ns ne c es sar 2 (1) T o qu al ify a s a per so n who h as persi stent m ultiple the re quireme nt s set ou t in ( a ) s ubsectio n (2 ), and (b) subsection (3) or (4). ( 2 ) Th e pers on has be en a r e cip ie nt for at l e a st 12 of of on e or m o r e of t h e f o llo wing: ( a) inc o me a ssis tance or hardship a ssis t ance u n der th ( 3) T h e foll owi n g requirements apply (a) the minister (i) has dete r mined t hat th e per son score s at l e Schedule E, a n d (ii) bas ed on th e resul t o f that employa bil ity scree seri ously impede th e p e r son's abil it y to s e arch ( b) the pers on has a m edical c on dition, o ther than a n p rac t itione r and tha t, (i) in th e opini on of the medical p r act itio n er , (A) has conti n u e d for at least one y ea r and is l ( B) has oc curred freque nt l y i n the past year and is and (ii) in the opinio n of the mini ster , i s a bar rier that se a rc h fo r, a cce p t or co ntinue in emp l o yment, (c) the person has taken all steps that the minister considers reasonable for the person to overcome the barriers referred to in paragraph (a). (4) The person has a medical condition, other than an addiction, that is confirmed by a medical practitioner and that, (a) in the opinion of the m e dical practitioner, (i) has continued for at least 1 year and is likely to continue for at least 2 more years, or (ii) has occurred frequently in the past year and is likely to continue for at least 2 more years, and (b) in the opinion of the minister, is a barrier that precludes the person from searching for, accepting or continuing in em plo y ment. The ministrv araues that section 2 (2) and (4) of the EAR annlv in this matter. EAAT 003(10/06/01) I APPEAL i nistr y ' s decisio n that d etermined the ap pellant arriers ( PPMB ) be c au se th e i n f ormation p ro vided h had con tinue d f o r at least o n e year and was t it did no t p resent a barrier that precl u ded him nt and con seq uen tly no t m eet ing a l l the required application of t he leg i s lation or y t o qua li fy as a P PMB: barrie rs to emp loy men t, a perso n m us t meet the im mediatel y pr ecedi ng 15 calendar m on t h s e Act, . .. a st 15 on t he employ abi lity s cree n set out i n n, co nsid e rs that t he pers on has ba rrie rs t hat f or, acce pt or cont i n ue in emp loyment , addiction, that i s co nfir med by a medical ike ly to continue for at lea st 2 mo re y e a rs, o r l ik ely to co ntinue for at least 2 mo re years, se r iou sly i mpe d e s the p e r son's a bility t o and The ministrv aarees
t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t m e e t s t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s u n d e r s u b a s s i s t a n c e f o r a t l e a s t 1 2 o f t h e i m m e d i a t e l y p r e c e d a s h e h a s n o t s c o r e d 1 5 o n t h e e m p l o y a b i l i t y s c r e e n s u b s e c t i o n ( 4 ) a p p l i e s a n d t h a t t h e e v i d e n c e p r o v i d e p h y s i c i a n , s h o w s t h a t h i s m e d i c a l c o n d i t i o n h a s n o t o c c u r r e d i n t h e p a s t y e a r , n o r i s i t l i k e l y t o c o n t i n u e f a p p e l l a n t i n e l i g i b l e f o r t h e P P M B q u a l i f i c a t i o n u n d e r a r g u e s t h a t b a s e d o n t h e i n f o r m a t i o n p r o v i d e d b y t h t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t i s u n a b l e t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n a n y t y p e h i s r e s t r i c t i o n s a r e n o t a b a r r i e r t h a t p r e c l u d e h i m f r o t y p e s o f e m p l o y m e n t , i n c l u d i n g s e d e n t a r y o r p a r t t i m 2 ( 4 ) ( b ) o f t h e E A R . T h e a p p e l l a n t a r g u e s t h a t t h e m i n i s t r y ' s d e c i s i o n i s u c o n s t a n t h e a d , b a c k a n d n e c k p a i n , b l u r r e d v i s i o n , a d o e s n o t h a v e a v e h i c l e a n d c a n n o t u s e t r a n s i t . H e a s u b s e q u e n t a s s a u l t t h a t l e f t h i m w o u n d e d a n d h a v i n b o d y , h e h a s b e c o m e p a r a n o i d , a n x i o u s , s l e e p l e s s a T h e m i n i s t r y d e t e r m i n e d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t m e e t s t h e d o e s n o t d i s p u t e . t h e m i n i s t r y d e c i s i o n d e t e r m i n i n g h h e s c o r e d u n d e r 1 5 o f t h e E m p l o y a b i l i t y S c r e e n a n d r e a s o n a b l e i n t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s . T h e e v i d e n c e f r o m a p p e l l a n t h i m s e l f s h o w s t h a t h i s m e d i c a l c o n d i t i o n h o c c u r r e d f r e q u e n t l y i n t h e p a s t y e a r s i n c e t h e o r i g i n o c c u r r e d i n O c t o b e r 2 0 1 3 , a f e w d a y s b e f o r e h e w e n m e d i c a l r e p o r t i n s u p p o r t o f h i s a p p l i c a t i o n f o r P P M B h a d e x i s t e d l e s s t h a n a m o n t h . T h e p a n e l a l s o f i n d s p h y s i c i a n w h o c o m p l e t e d t h e r e p o r t , i s o f t h e o p i n i o n m e d i c a l c o n d i t i o n i s l e s s t h a n 2 y e a r s . F o r t h o s e r e a t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t h a d n o t m e t t h e c r i t e r i a u n d e r s . 2 c i r c u m s t a n c e s . T h e p a n e l f i n d s t h a t w h i l e t h e r e a r e a n u m b e r o f r e s m e d i c a l c o n d i t i o n , f o r i n s t a n c e t h a t h e c a n n o t u s e p u l i m i t a t i o n s , t h e r e i s n o e v i d e n c e t h a t h i s m e d i c a l c o n t y p e o f e m p l o y m e n t , f o r i n s t a n c e s e d e n t a r y , a t h o m e m i n i s t r y r e a s o n a b l y d e t e r m i n e d t h a t i n i t s o p i n i o n t h e p r e c l u d i n g h i m f r o m s e a r c h i n g f o r , a c c e p t i n g o r c o n t T h e r e f o r e , t h e p a n e l f i n d s t h e m i n i s t r y ' s d e c i s i o n w a c o n f i r m s t h e d e c i s i o n . E AA T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )I A P P E A L s e c t i o n ( 2 ) a s h e h a s b e e n a r e c i p i e n t o f i n c o m e i n g 1 5 m o n t h s b u t n o t t h o s e o f s u b s e c t i o n ( 3 ) ( a ) b u t o n l y 1 2 . T h u s , t h e m i n i s t ry a r g u e s t h a t d b y t h e m e d i c a l p r a c t i t i o n e r , t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s c o n t i n u e d f o r a t l e a s t 1 y e a r o r f r e q u e n t l y o r a t l e a s t 2 m o r e y e a r s , t h u s m a k i n g t h e s . 2 ( 4 ) ( a ) o f t h e E A R . A d d i t i o n a l l y , t h e m i n i s t r y e a p p e l l a n t ' s p h y s i c i a n , w h o d o e s n o t i n d i c a t e o f e m p l o y m e n t , i t i s t h e m i n i s t e r ' s o p i n i o n t h a t m s e a r c h i n g f o r , a c c e p t i n g o r c o n t i n u i n g i n a l l e t h u s n o t m e e t i n g t h e c o n d i t i o n s s e t a t s . n f a i r b e c a u s e h e h a s s e v e r e m e m o r y l o s s , n x i e t y , d e p r e s s i o n , g u i l t . 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T h e a p p e l l a n t e d i d n o t m e e t s . 2 ( 3 ) ( a ) ( i ) o f t h e E A R b e c a u s e t h e p a n e l f i n d s t h e m i n i s t r y d e c i s i o n i s t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s p h y s i c i a n a s w e l l a s f r o m t h e a s n o t c o n t i n u e d f o r a t l e a s t 1 y e a r o r t h a t i t h a s o f h i s p r e d i c a m e n t s t e m s f r o m a n i n c i d e n t t h a t t t o s e e h i s p h y s i c i a n t o h a v e h i m c o m p l e t e t h e s t a t u s ; t h e p a n e l f i n d s t h i s m e d i c a l c o n d i t i o n t h a t t h e m e d i c a l p r a c t i t i o n e r , t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s e x p e c t e d d u r a t i o n o f h i s s o n s , t h e p a n e l f i n d s t h e m i n i s t r y ' s d e t e r m i n a t i o n ( 4 ) ( a ) o f t h e E A R w a s r e a s o n a b l e i n t h o s e t r i c t i o n s o n t h e a p p e l l a n t a s a r e s u l t o f h i s b l i c t r a n s p o r t a t i o n a n d h a s s o m e p h y s i c a l d i t i o n p r e c l u d e s h i m f r o m p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n a n y o r c l o s e t o h o m e . T h u s , t h e p a n e l f i n d s t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s m e d i c a l c o n d i t i o n w a s n o t a b a r r i e r i n u i n g e m p l o y m e n t u n d e r s . 2 ( 4 ) ( b ) o f t h e E A R . s r e a s o n a b l y s u p p o r t e d b y t h e e v i d e n c e a n d
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