APPEAL NUMBER I PART C -DECISION UNDER APPEAL The decision under appeal is the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction (ministry) reconsideration decision dated June 20, 2019 which held that the appellant was not eligible for a crisis supplement for shelter pursuant to Section 59 of the Employment and Assistance Regulation (EAR). The ministry determined that the appellant did not meet all of the criteria for Section 59 (1) of the EAR. In particular, the ministry was satisfied that the appellant did not have the funds available to cover the cost of her outstanding shelter costs and that the ministry is not aware of any resources available to the appellant to cover her outstanding sheller costs. Additionally, the ministry determined that since the appellant received an eviction notice for unpaid rent, failure to meet the expense of outstanding rent would result in imminent danger to her physical health. However the ministry noted that the maximum available crisis supplement for shelter for the appellant is $375 and that $375 would not cover her $4200 outstanding shelter costs. The ministry also determined that the appellant's shelter costs were not an unexpected expense or an item unexpectedly needed. .. PART D -RELEVANT LEGISLATION Employment and Assistance Act -EAA-Section 4 Employment and Assistance Regulation -EAR-Section 59 (1)
I APPEAL NUMBER PART E -SUMMARY OF FACTS The appellant was not in attendance at the hearing. After confirming that the appellant was notified, the hearing proceeded under Section 86(b) of the Employment and Assistance Regulation. The evidence before the ministry at the time of reconsideration consisted of: 1. Eviction notice addressed to the appellant. It is signed and dated June 4, 2019 and indicated that the amount owed by the appellant to the landlord is $4200.00. The eviction date is June 14, 2019. 2 . Statement of accounts, dated April 25, 2019, which indicated that the appellant is $3300.00 behind on her pad rent. The statement also demonstrated that the appellant's pad rent is $600 per month and she pays $300 every month towards the rent. 3. Request for Reconsideration, signed and dated June 12, 2019, which was left blank. Evidence On Appeal Notice of Appeal (NOA), signed and dated July 1, 2019, which was left blank. Evidence at the Hearing At the hearing the ministry relied on its reconsideration decision.
I APPEAL NUMBER PART F -REASONS FOR PANEL DECISION The issue at appeal is whether the ministry's decision which found that the appellant is ineligible for a crisis supplement for shelter because the appellant's need to pay shelter costs or rent is not unexpected need or unexpectedly needed and therefore she did not meet the criteria as required by Section 59 of the EAR, was reasonably supported by the evidence or was a reasonable application of the applicable enactment in the circumstances of the appellant. Section 59 of the EAR sets out the eligibility requirements for providing crisis supplement, as follows: Crisis supplement 59 (1) The minister may provide a crisis supplement to or for a family unit that is eligible for income assistance or hardship assistance if (a)the family unit or a person in the family unit requires the 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 thatfailure .to meetthe expense or obtain the item will result in (i)imminent danger to the physical health of any person in the family unit, or (ii)removal of a child under the Child, Family and Community Service 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 the 12 calendar month period preceding the date of application for the crisis supplement. (5)The cumulative amount 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 2 the maximum amount of income 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 ) 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 A p p e l l a n t ' s P o s i ti o n T h e a p p e l l a n t ' s p o s i t i o n i s t h a t s h e h a s r e c e i v e d a n u n a b l e t o p a y h e r r e n t b e c a u s e s h e h a d o t h e r b i l l s t T h e Min i s t ry ' s P o s i t i o n T h e m i n i s t r y ' s p o s i t i o n i s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t h a s n o t E A R a n d t h e r e f o r e s h e i s n o t e l i g i b l e f o r a c r i s i s s u p t h a t t h e r e i s n o t h i n g u n e x p e c t e d a b o u t r e c e i v i n g a n r e n t . F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e a p p e l l a n t h a s n o t p r e s e n t e d w a s u n e x p e c t e d o r t h a t a n u n e x p e c t e d e x p e n s e p r e T h e P a n e l ' s D e c i s i o n S e c t i o n 5 9 ( 1 J 6 f t h e E A R s l a t e s t h a t t h e m i n i s t e r m t h a t i s e l i g i b l e f o r i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e o r h a r d s h i p a s w h i c h 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 s a l l o f t h e f o s u p p l e m e n t i s 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 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 t o m e e t t h e e x p e n s e o r o b t a i n a n i t e m w i l l r e s u l t i n I n t h i s c a s e , t h e m i n i s t r y c o n c e d e d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a c r i t e r i a ; n a m e l y t h e a p p e l l a n t d i d n o t h a v e t h e r e s o u f a i l u r e t o m e e t t h e e x p e n s e w i l l r e s u l t i n i m m i n e n t d d e t e r m i n e d t h a t t h e a d d i t i o n a l c r i t e r i o n w a s n o t m e t w a s u n e x p e c t e d l y n e e d e d . T h e l e g i s l a t i o n i s c l e a r t h a t c r i s i s s u p p l e m e n t i s s u e d o r n e e d . T h e p a y m e n t o f r e n t i s a n o n g o i n g e x p e n A d d i t i o n a l l y , a t t h e t i m e o f r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n t o i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e n e e d t o p a y r e n t w a s u n e x p e c t e p a y i n g h e r p a d r e n t i n f u l l f r o m J u l y 2 0 1 8 t o A p r i l 2 0 f a i l u r e t o p a y p a d r e n t i s n o t a o n e t i m e e v e n t , w h i c R a t h e r , t h e c h r o n i c f a i l u r e t o p a y t h e r e n t i n f u l l s u g u n e x p e c t e d . F o r t h e s e r e a s o n s , t h e p a n e l f i n d s t h a r e a s o n a b l 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 i s n o t e l i g r e n t o r s h e l t e r i s n o t u n e x p e c t e d . C o n c l u s i o n : T h e p a n e l f i n d s t h a t t h e m i n i s t r y ' s r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d i n e l i g i b l e f o r a c r i s i s s u p p l e m e n t f o r s h e l t e r , w a s r e a c o n f i r m s t h e d e c i s i o n . T h e a p p e l l a n t i s n o t s u c c e s s I A P P E A L N U M B E R e v i c t i o n n o t i c e f o r u n p a i d r e n t a n d t h a t s h e w a s h a t n e e d e d t o b e p a i d . m e t a l l o f t h e c r i t e r i a r e q u i r e d b y S e c t i o n 5 9 o f t h e p l e m e n t f o r s h e l t e r . I n p a r t i c u l a r , t h e m i n i s t r y a r g u e d e v i c t i o n n o t i c e f o r u n p a i d r e n t i f o n e d o e s n o t p a y t h e a n y i n f o r m a t i o n t o i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e n e e d t o p a y r e n t v e n t e d h e r f r o m p a y i n g r e n t . 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 f t o o do r a f a m i l y u n i t s i s t a n c e i f t h e f a m i l y u n i t o r p e r s o n i n t h e f a m i l y u n i t l l o w i n g c r i t e r i a : t h a t i s , t h e n e e d fo r t h e c r i s i s 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 , t h e r e c i p i e n t i s 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 , a n d t h a t f a i l u r e i m m i n e n t d a n g e r t o p h y s i c a l h e a l t h . n t h a s m e t t w o o r t h e t h r e e l e g i s l a t i v e l y r e q u i r e d r c e s t o p a y h e r o u t s t a n d i n g s h e l t e r c o s t s a n d t h a t a n g e r t o h e r p h y s i c a l h e a l t h . H o w e v e r t h e m i n i s t r y ; n a m e l y t h a t s h e l t e r c o s t s w e r e u n e x p e c t e d o r r e n t b y t h e m i n i s t r y m u s t b e f o r a n u n e x p e c t e d e x p e n s e s e f o r w h i c h o n e m u s t c o n t i n u a l l y p r e p a r e . , t h e a p p e l l a n t d i d n o t p r o v i d e e v i d e n c e o r i n f o r m a t i o n d o r t h a t a n u n e x p e c t e d e x p e n s e p r e v e n t e d h e r f r o m 1 9 . T h e e v i d e n c e s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s h c o u l d b e e x p l a i n e d b y a n u n e x p e c t e d e x p e n s e . g e s t s t h a t t h e i n a b i l i t y t o p a y r e n t w a s n o t t , p u r s u a n t t o s e c t i o n 5 9 o f t h e E A R , t h e m i n i s t ry i b l e f o r a c r i s i s s u p p l e m e n t b e c a u s e t h e e x p e n s e o f e c i s i o n , w h i c h 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 w a s 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 , a n d t h e r e fo r e f u l o n a p p e a l .
APPEAL NUMBER I PARTG-0RDER THE PANELDECISI0NIS:(Check one) IS]UNANIM0US OBYMAJ0RITY THEPANEL IS]C0NFIRMSTHEMINISTRYDECISION □RESCINDS THEMINISTRYDECISI0N If the ministry decision is rescinded, is the panel decision referred back to the Minister for a decision as to amount? □Yes □No LEGISLATIVEAUTH0RITYF0RTHEDECISI0N: Employment and Assistance Act Section 24(1)(a) IS] or Section 24(1)(b) IS] and Section 24(2)(a) IS] or Section 24(2)(b) D . .. . ., -·· "------. . . PARTH-SIGNATURES PRINTNAME Neena Keram DATE(YEAR/MONTH/DAY) 2019/07/22 P R INTNAME David Handelman SIGNATUREOFMEMBER DATE(YEAR/MONTHIDAY) 2019/07/22 PRlNTNAME Rosalie Turcotte SIGNATUREOFMEMBER DATE(YEAR/MONTH/DAY) 2019/07/22
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