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A Round-up of Coverage of BC's Decision to pass regulations allowing it to deny care to disabled adults on the basis of IQ:
B.C. to deny services based on IQ
Lindsay Kines
July 24, 2008
The B.C. government has reversed course and quietly given itself the right to deny services to developmentally disabled adults with IQs over 70.
In a move that advocacy groups say will put vulnerable young adults at risk, Premier Gordon Campbell and Children's Minister Tom Christensen signed an order making an IQ of 70 or under one of the criteria for receiving services.
The change lets the government circumvent a B.C. Court of Appeal ruling that the province had no authority to turn its back on people because their IQ was above a threshold. | Full Story> (Vancouver Sun).
Read a BCACL press release on this issue, and a copy of the provincial government's Order in Council; (both .pdfs).
BCACL petitions court opposing IQ-based CLBC criteria for Adults | Press Release (.pdf; offsite link)
It was wrong months ago -- and it is still wrong today
Pete McMartin
July 25, 2008
There are times when writing this column that, in the face of government policy, I just want to write something like "Those sons of..."
I can't, of course. My own gentility, and my boss's wrath, prevent me from doing so.
So what can I say about the provincial government's arbitrary decision Wednesday to do a policy 180 and, in the face of a court challenge, deny services to developmentally disabled adults with IQs over 70?
I'd begin at "vile."
Any other comparative description would descend from there.
We now live in a province that lavishes millions of dollars on bobsledders and junkies, but nickels-and-dimes those with autism, fetal alcohol syndrome, the mentally challenged . . . and the families who worry about protecting them. | Full Story> (Vancouver Sun)
Developmentally disabled teen prompted new IQ requirement
Wendy McLellan
July 25, 2008
For now, his son is safe.
With regular doses of four different medications and a stable group home, the 19-year-old identified as "Infant A" in court documents can live safely in the community.
But his dad knows his son's security is only the result of a court settlement -- and that a recent change to B.C. government regulations will prevent other adults with similar disabilities from receiving the same kind of support.
"For my family, my son, this has been very, very hard," said his father, who can't be identified to protect his son's privacy. "If nobody has a conflict with him, or argues with him or causes pressure, he is OK. But the doctors say if nobody looks after him, he could start a fire or a bad person could kill him."
The regulation, which was quietly signed by Social Development Minister Rich Coleman last week, says adults with developmental disabilities must have an IQ of 70 or less to qualify for government support, including housing, through the province's agency, Community Living B.C. | Full Story> (The Province)
Youth advocate lashes IQ-based denial of care
Lindsay Kines
July 25, 2008
B.C. is forcing developmentally disabled teenagers onto the street by denying them services based on IQ tests, the children's representative says.
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond said she's "very disappointed" with the provincial government for quietly giving itself the right to deny services to disabled people with an IQ over 70.
The move gets around a B.C. Court of Appeal ruling that found government didn't have the authority to turn its back on people based on IQ scores.
"I feel very strongly that a civil society does not base a policy for developmentally disabled adolescents on IQ," Turpel-Lafond said. "It's not a progressive approach." | Full Story> (Times Colonist)
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