I PART C -DECISION UNDER APPEAL The decision under appeal is the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction (the "Ministry") reconsideration decision dated December 12, 2018 which held that the appellant was not permitted a crisis supplement for clothing by reason that the appellant did not meet the legislated criteria in s.57 Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Regulation ("EAPWDR"). Specifically, the Ministry determined that although the appellant did not have the resources available to her to obtain the items, the expense was not unexpected and a failure to obtain the items would not result in imminent danger to the physical health of the appellant. PART D -RELEVANT LEGISLATION s. 57 Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Regulation ("EAPWDR")
I PART E -SUMMARY OF FACTS The evidence before the Ministry at reconsideration was: On December 5, 2018 the appellant requested a crisis supplement for clothing. The appellant indicated that nothing had changed since her last request in November, 2018. The appellant stated she remains in need winter clothing. She purchased some clothing but still requires a coat. The appellant states that she was told that she would be eligible for a crisis supplement for clothing on December 1, 2018. The appellant stated that she washed all her winter clothing at the laundry mat and the washer broke down. The owners of the laundry mat told her to return in 2 days. The appellant came back in 4 days and the laundry mat owners had already given her clothes away. The appellant states that she is buying a jacket from a homeless man for $60 and that she still needs pants, gloves, and sweaters. The appellant states that she has checked a variety of free and low-cost clothing resources but has had no success. The appellant's notice of appeal states: "I have nothing to keep me warm I had to borrow from people, and I was promised from a worker after December 1 that she could give me my money but they just say no now." At the hearing, the appellant did not bring the appeal record with her. The appellant stated that she did not require the appeal record to state her reasons. The appellant relied on her statements in her request for reconsideration and her notice of appeal. The appellant stated that she still needs to p ay off the $60.00 coat that she has and she still needs other winter clothes since her winter clothes were stolen from the laundry mat. The Ministry relied on their reconsideration decision but also referred to the original decision and the reasons from the original decision. There was no additional oral and documentary evidence for the panel to consider.
I I P A R T F R E A S O N S F O R P A N E L D E C I S I O N I T h e i s s u e o n a p p e a l : T h e i s s u e o n a p p e a l i s w h e t h e r t h e M i n i s t r y ' s d e c i s i o n t o d e n y t h e a p p e l l a n t a c r i s i s s u p p l e m e n t f o r c l o t h i n g b y r e a s o n t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t d i d n o t m e e t t h e l e g i s l a t e d c r i t e r i a i n s . 5 7 E A P W D R i s r e a s o n a b l y s u p p o rt e d b y t h e e v i d e n c e o r a r e a s o n a b l e a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e a p p l i c a b l e l e g i s l a t i o n i n t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f t h e a p p e l l a n t . 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T h e l e g i s l a t i o n p ro v i d e s : C r i s i s s u p p l e m e n t E A P W D R 5 7 ( 1 ) T h e m i n i s t e r m a y p r o v i d e a c r i s i s s u p p l e m e n t t o o r f o r a f a m i l y u n i t t h a t i s e l i g i b l e fo r d i s a b i l i t y a s s i s t a n c e o r h a r d s h i p a s s i s t a n c e i f ( a ) t h e f a m i l y u n i t o r a p e r s o n i n t h e f a m i l y u n i t r e q u i r e s t h e s u p p l e m e n t t o m e e t a n u n e x p e c t e d e x p e n s e o r o b t a i n a n i t e m u n e x p e c t e d l y n e e d e d a n d i s u n a b l e t o m e e t t h e e x p e n s e o r o b t a i n t h e i t e m b e c a u s e t h e r e a r e n o r e s o u r c e s a v a i l a b l e t o t h e f a m i l y u n i t , a n d ( b ) t h e m i n i s t e r c o n s i d e r s t h a t f a i l u r e t o m e e t t h e e x p e n s e o r o b t a i n t h e i t e m w i l l r e s u l t i n ( i ) i m m i n e n t d a n g e r t o t h e p h y s i c a l h e a l t h o f a n y p e r s o n i n t h e f a m i l y u n i t , o r ( i i ) r e m o v a l o f a c h i l d u n d e r t h e C h i l d , F a m i l y a n d C o m m u n i t y S e rv i c e A c t . 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( 4 ) A c r i s i s s u p p l e m e n t p r o v i d e d f o r f o o d , s h e l t e r o r c l o t h i n g i s s u b j e c t t o t h e f o l l o w i n g l i m i t a t i o n s : ( a ) i f f o r f o o d , t h e m a x i m u m a m o u n t t h a t m a y b e p r o v i d e d i n a c a l e n d a r m o n t h i s $ 4 0 f o r e a c h p e r s o n i n t h e f a m i l y u n i t ; ( b ) i f f o r s h e l t e r , t h e m a x i m u m a m o u n t t h a t m a y b e p r o v i d e d i n a c a l e n d a r m o n t h i s t h e s m a l l e r o f ( i ) t h e f a m i l y u n i t ' s a c t u a l s h e l t e r c o s t , a n d ( i i ) t h e m a x i m u m s e t o u t i n s e c t i o n 4 o f S c h e d u l e A o r T a b l e 2 o f S c h e d u l e D , a s a p p l i c a b l e , f o r a f a m i l y u n i t t h a t m a t c h e s t h e f a m i l y u n i t ; ( c ) i f f o r c l o t h i n g , t h e a m o u n t t h a t m a y b e p r o v i d e d m u s t n o t e x c e e d t h e s m a l l e r o f ( i ) $ 1 0 0 f o r e a c h p e r s o n i n t h e f a m i l y u n i t i n t h e 1 2 c a l e n d a r m o n t h p e r i o d p r e c e d i n g t h e d a t e o f a p p l i c a t i o n f o r t h e c r i s i s s u p p l e m e n t , a n d ( i i ) $ 4 0 0 f o r t h e f a m i l y u n i t i n t h e 1 2 c a l e n d a r m o n t h p e r i o d p r e c e d i n g t h e d a t e o f a p p l i c a t i o n f o r t h e c r i s i s s u p p l e m e n t . ( 5 ) R e p e a l e d . [ B . C . R e g . 2 4 8 / 2 0 1 8 ] ( 6 ) R e p e a l e d . [ B . C . R e g . 2 4 8 / 2 0 1 8 ] ( 7 ) D e s p i t e s u b s e c t i o n ( 4 ) ( b ) , a c r i s i s s u p p l e m e n t m a y b e p r o v i d e d t o o r f o r a f a m i l y u n i t f o r t h e f o l l o w i n g : ( a ) f u e l f o r h e a t i n g ; ( b ) f u e l f o r c o o k i n g m e a l s ; ( c ) w a t e r ; ( d ) h y d r o . T h e p a n e l fi n d s : T h e p a n e l m u s t o n l y a s s e s s t h e r e a s o n a b l e n e s s o f t h e M i n i s t r y d e c i s i o n d a t e d D e c e m b e r 1 2 , 2 0 1 8 . T h e o r i g i n a l d e c i s i o n a n d t h e r e a s o n s f r o m t h a t d e c i s i o n a r e n o t r e l e v a n t t o t h i s a p p e a l . T h e M i n i s t r y r e p r e s e n t a t i v e m a d e a r g u m e n t s f r o m t h e o r i g i n a l M i n i s t r y d e c i s i o n t h a t w e r e n o t a c t u a l l y a d d r e s s e d o r r e f e r r e d t o i n t h e M i n i s t r y R e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n . T h e o n l v d e c i s i o n t h a t i s b e f o r e t h e o a n e l i s t h e r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n d a t e d
I December 12, 2018. The Ministry found that the appellant does not have the resources available to obtain a winter coat as the appellant explored her community resources with no success. The panel determines that this finding is reasonable based on the evidence of the numerous community resources the appellant attempted to access. In order to meet the remaining legislative criteria in s.57 EAPWDR, the appellant must also show that the need for the item is not unexpected and that a failure to obtain the item will cause imminent danger to her physical health. The appellant's evidence is that she attended at a laundry mat to wash her winter clothing, and unexpectedly the washing machines broke. She was told to return the following day or two days later to retrieve her clothing, but she failed to do that. She instead waited four days to retrieve her clothing. By the time she attended at the laundry mat her clothing had been taken by another person. The Ministry determined that this was not unexpected since the appellant chose lo wait 4 days to return to the laundromat instead of the 2 days she was supposed to wait. The panel finds that having the washing machine you are using suddenly break down is an unexpected event to occur at a laundry mat. The panel finds that waiting a few extra days to retrieve her clothing was not unreasonable, and it was still unexcepted that when the appellant arrived at the laundry mat her clothing was gone. The panel finds that it was unreasonable for the Ministry to determine that theft of the appellant's clothing was not an unexpected occurrence. The Ministry determined that there is no indication or evidence that a failure to receive the crisis supplement for clothing would result in imminent danger to the appellant's physical health. The panel agrees that there was no information that demonstrated that the appellant would be in imminent danger to her physical health and agrees that it was reasonable for the Ministry to determine that the appellant was not successful on this ground. For these reasons, the panel finds the ministry's decision was reasonably supported by the evidence and reasonable application of the applicable enactment in the circumstances of the appellant and confirms the Ministry's decision.
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