This program helps Ontarians with disabilities hire their own attendants

For the last three years Amy Adair, of Sudbury, Ont., has been hiring her own personal support workers to help her get ready in the morning.

Adair has cerebral palsy and has been able to hire her own help, as opposed to relying on an agency, thanks to Ontario's direct funding program.

"It's independence, freedom and it's changed my life," Adair said about the program.

Ontario's network of independent living centres manages the program, which receives funding from the province's Ministry of Health.

"They have flexibility in determining, you know, when they want to have a shower because with other agencies in town, they are told a time limit, you know, only a 45-minute allowance for this, this and this," said Amanda Fitzhenry, the direct funding co-ordinator with Independent Living Sudbury Manitoulin.

Fitzhenry says the organization has been managing the program in the region for 30 years, but many people with disabilities still don't know about it.

"They're like, 'Oh my God, I never realized this program existed,'" she said.

"We want to make this a staple, you know, for people that need it because it's so beneficial."

For a person to qualify for the program they need to complete a course and interview that qualifies them to be an employer.

"We train these people about employment standards, Ontariohuman rights, all of the responsibilities that they will have as an employer," Fitzhenry said.

Adair says it took her around a year and half to complete the process and qualify for the program.

Now she receives around $3,000 a month from the province to hire her attendants.

She says that support has made it easier for her to be able to work at a long-term care home where she has a late shift.

"The night time would be a little more challenging if I didn't have the direct funding program," Adair said.

Expanding access

Independent Living Sudbury Manitoulin has started making changes to how it manages the program, so it can help people qualify more quickly.

Previously, they would prioritize people based on the order in which they first applied to the program. So a person who applied in 2020, for example, would have priority over someone who applied the next year.

But now, Fitzhenry says they're placing priority on when applicants complete their training.

"We're trying to get whoever's ready to go," she said.

Fitzhenry hopes that the new approach qualifies committed applicants faster.

In the Sudbury and Manitoulin regions, more than 30 people currently participate in the program.

CBC News contacted Ontario's Ministry of Health for background on the program's overall funding and participation rates, but did not receive a response by deadline.