APPEAL NUMBER 2021-00033
PART C – DECISION UNDER APPEAL The decision under appeal is the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction’s (the “Ministry”) decision of February 8, 2021 in which the Ministry denied the Appellant’s request for funds to maintain shelter while residing in a Special Care Facility, pursuant to Section 8(2)(a) of Schedule A of the Employment and Assistance Regulation.
PART D – RELEVANT LEGISLATION EAR – Employment Assistance Regulation, Section 8 of Schedule A
APPEAL NUMBER 2021-00033
PART E – SUMMARY OF FACTS The information before the Ministry at the time of reconsideration included the following:
1) November 30, 2020 – The Appellant was arrested and taken into custody. The Appellant was incarcerated for 10 days. 2) Copy of Facility/Residence Admittance, Discharge or Transfer form (“Facility Admittance form”) dated December 10, 2020 not indicating an address to be maintained. 3) December 10, 2020 – The Appellant was released from custody into a Treatment Facility (“the facility”). No information regarding a change of address prior to incarceration was provided by the Appellant or the need to maintain shelter. 4) December 15, 2020 – Based on the information provided, the Ministry approved the request for per diems for the facility, switched the file to comforts only, and updated the address to the facility’s address. The Appellant had received their full December assistance. The change (given no address was provided) resulted in the Appellant receiving $95.00 comfort allowance for January, no shelter allowance for January, a $300.00 emergency disaster supplement, and per diems approved direct to the facility effective: December 10, 2020 for accommodation and care. 5) December 24, 2020 – The Appellant contacted the Ministry indicating that they needed to pay rent to their friend while in treatment. The Ministry noted that the address provided for the friend was not the address on file prior to being incarcerated. 6) January 4, 2021 ‐ Copy of an amended Facility Admittance form dated December 31, 2020 indicating an address to be maintained (“the address to be maintained”). 7) The document outlined a need to maintain rent for three months at the current address. 8) January 14, 2021 – The Ministry informed the Appellant that the request had been denied. 9) January 26, 2021 – The Appellant submitted a Request for Reconsideration. 10) The Ministry notes that the Appellant had been submitting monthly reports and had not reported any changes to shelter costs or address since the date of application (March 2019).
Additional Information Before the hearing began, the Appellant indicated that they had information they wanted to include as new evidence. After explaining that evidence admissibility would be determined after the hearing and during the deliberation period by the panel, the Appellant provided the following information:
A Ministry issued Shelter Information Form ‐ signed February 26, 2021 by the Appellant’s landlord, indicating the same address provided as the address to be maintained on the Facility Admittance form dated December 31, 2020 and the type of accommodation. The Appellant read the form verbatim to the parties, and the Ministry representative made no objection to the admissibility of the information. The Ministry representative confirmed that the form was a Ministry issued standard form. The Appellant provided the name of the landlord, of which the Ministry Representative confirmed through a quick civic address search that the landlord was the registered property owner. The Appellant submitted that they had been living at this residence, with their friend since September 1, 2020. The rent was noted as shared, and with the client’s portion being $600.00. The Appellant noted that the Appellant experienced difficulties getting information from the Ministry about what the Ministry required and they did not have the landlord sign the form until February 26, 2021. The panel admitted this
APPEAL NUMBER 2021-00033
information as new evidence; as it was determined to be reasonably required for a full and fair disclosure of all matters related to the decision under appeal, pursuant to section 22(4) of the Employment and Assistance Act.
The Appellant also stated at the hearing that the December 2020 assistance was received in November 2020. The Appellant needs help from the Ministry for paying rent for January and February 2021 while the Appellant is in the facility. All of the Appellant’s belongings have been stored safely at this residence while the Appellant has been in the facility. The Appellant stated that the friend living at the address identified in the Shelter Information Form is not a life partner and is simply a roommate. The Appellant stated that the Appellant has not lived at the address on file with the Ministry for some time since the Appellant moved and resided at another address before moving with the friend on September 1, 2020 into the address to be maintained.
At the hearing, the Ministry stated that the Appellant had not provided the Shelter Information form to the Ministry previously and had not reported a change of address on the Ministry’s monthly reports, as required. The Ministry file indicated that the Appellant resided at a different address prior to incarceration than the address to be maintained.
The Ministry requested consent from the Appellant for an Observer to observe and not to participate in the hearing. The Appellant did not object to having the observer attend for training purposes.
APPEAL NUMBER 2021-00033
PART F – REASONS FOR PANEL DECISION The decision under appeal is the reasonableness of the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction’s (the “Ministry”) decision of February 9, 2021 in which the Ministry denied the Appellant’s request for funds to maintain shelter while residing in a Special Care Facility, pursuant to Section 8(2)(a) of Schedule A of the Employment and Assistance Regulation.
Legislation Schedule A People receiving special care 8 (1) For a person who receives accommodation and care in a special care facility or a private hospital or who is admitted to a hospital because the person requires extended care, the amount referred to in section 28 (a) [amount of income assistance] of this regulation is the sum of (a)the actual cost, if any, to the applicant or recipient of the accommodation and care at the rate approved by the minister for the type of facility, plus (b)a comforts allowance of $95 per person for each calendar month. (2) If the special care facility is an alcohol or drug treatment centre, the minister may, in addition, pay either or both of the following while the applicant or recipient is in the alcohol or drug treatment centre: (a)actual shelter costs for the applicant's or recipient's usual place of residence up to the amount under section 4 for a family unit matching the applicant's or recipient's family unit; (b)a monthly support allowance for the applicant's or recipient's family unit, equal to the amount calculated under sections 2 and 3 of this Schedule minus the portion of that allowance that would be provided on account of the applicant or recipient.
Monthly shelter allowance 4. (2) The monthly shelter allowance for a family unit to which section 15.2 of the Act does not apply is the smaller of (a)the family unit's actual shelter costs, and (b)the maximum set out in the following table for the applicable family size:
Item Column 1 Column 2 Family Unit Size Maximum Monthly Shelter
1 1 person $375 Panel Decision The Ministry’s position is that the Appellant is not eligible to maintain their shelter allowance as of January 2021, while they receive treatment in the Treatment facility. The Ministry submits that as of December 10, 2020, the cost of the Appellant’s accommodation and care is also being covered by the Ministry and is paid directly to the Treatment Facility. As such, the Appellant is receiving the maximum available under Schedule A section 8(1). The Ministry provides that the special care facility is a Treatment centre, and as such, as per section 8(2), the Appellant
APPEAL NUMBER 2021-00033
may also qualify for up to $375 to maintain their shelter allowance while in treatment. However, the Ministry notes that the information provided at intake did not indicate the new address, nor was the change reported to the Ministry prior to incarceration, and therefore the Appellant is not entitled to the shelter allowance. The Ministry wrote that the Appellant had not provided any documents to verify the ‘usual place of residence’ prior to treatment and the revised Facility Admittance form with an address to be maintained is not sufficient to establish this as the Appellant’s usual place of residence. The Ministry submits that the Appellant received full support and shelter for December 2020, as it was issued in November and prior to the period of incarceration.
The Appellant’s position is that once they get out of treatment, they do not want to be homeless, nor do they want their belongings to be thrown out by the other tenant while in treatment.
As outlined in Schedule A section 8 (1) of the Employment and Assistance Regulation, for a person who receives accommodation and care in a special care facility or a private hospital or who is admitted to a hospital because he or she requires extended care, the amount referred to in section 28 (a) [amount of income assistance] of this regulation is the sum of (a) the actual cost, if any, to the applicant or recipient of the accommodation and care at the rate approved by the minister for the type of facility, plus (b) a comforts allowance of $95 per person for each calendar month. (2) If the special care facility is an alcohol or drug treatment centre, the minister may, in addition, pay either or both of the following while the applicant or recipient is in the alcohol or drug treatment centre: (a) actual shelter costs for the applicant's or recipient's usual place of residence up to the amount under section 4 for a family unit matching the applicant's or recipient's family unit. As outlined in Section 4(2) – Monthly Shelter Allowance – the Appellant would be entitled up to a maximum of $375.00.
The panel finds that the evidence establishes the Appellant was provided their full December 2020 monthly assistance, including a shelter allowance of $375, and this fact was confirmed by both the Ministry and Appellant at the hearing. Therefore, the remaining issue under consideration is the shelter cost, as outlined in Section 8(2)(a), for the Appellant’s usual place of residence, and only for the month of January 2021 forward – while the Appellant is receiving treatment in an Alcohol & Drug Treatment Facility. The panel considered that at the hearing, the Appellant provided a landlord signed and dated Shelter Information form that outlined the particulars of the Appellant’s residential agreement (not a Tenancy Agreement) – In this Shelter Information Form, the information provided established that the Appellant had been residing at the location since September 1, 2020. Moreover, that the accommodation and rent were shared with another adult, and the Appellant’s portion of the rent was $600.00. Importantly, the panel considered that the Ministry representative confirmed that they identified the form as being issued by the Ministry and also confirmed that the name given for the landlord (by the Appellant) was in fact the registered property owner of the address. The panel considered that the Ministry Representative did take a minute to research this information on their computer (civic address search) and stated aloud that the name given for the landlord was the registered property owner. The panel also considered that the Ministry Representative made no objection to the admissibility of the information from the Shelter Information form.
The panel finds that the evidence establishes the Appellant brought forward the required current shelter information as evidence at the hearing, showing that the Appellant was renting accommodation at the address to be maintained since September 1, 2020, and that evidence was admitted by the panel with no objection made by the Ministry. Given this new evidence, the panel finds that the Ministry unreasonably concluded that the address identified as the address to be maintained while the Appellant was in the facility, as set out in the amended Facility Admittance form dated December 31, 2020, was not the Appellant’s ‘usual place of residence.’ The shelter information and allowance the panel finds, should be considered for January 2021 forward while the Appellant is receiving treatment.
APPEAL NUMBER 2021-00033
Considering all of the evidence in this appeal that was reasonably required for a full and fair disclosure of all matters related to the decision under appeal, the panel finds that the Ministry was unreasonable in its determination to deny the Appellant shelter costs as requested under section 8(2)(a) of Schedule A of the Employment and Assistance Regulation.
Accordingly, the panel rescinds the Ministry’s decision, and the Appellant is successful in this appeal, pursuant to section 24(1)(a) and (2)(b) of the Employment and Assistance Act.
APPEAL NUMBER 2021-00033
PART G – ORDER THE PANEL DECISION IS: (Check one) UNANIMOUS BY MAJORITY THE PANEL CONFIRMS THE MINISTRY DECISION RESCINDS THE MINISTRY DECISION If the ministry decision is rescinded, is the panel decision referred back to the Minister for a decision as to amount? Yes No LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY FOR THE DECISION: Employment and Assistance Act Section 24(1)(a) or Section 24(1)(b) and Section 24(2)(a) or Section 24(2)(b) PART H – SIGNATURES PRINT NAME Jennifer Armstrong
SIGNATURE OF CHAIR DATE (YEAR/MONTH/DAY) 21/03/09
PRINT NAME Kulwant Bal
SIGNATURE OF MEMBER DATE (YEAR/MONTH/DAY) 21/03/09
PRINT NAME Sandra Walters
SIGNATURE OF MEMBER DATE (YEAR/MONTH/DAY) 2021/03/09