|
|
Document
|
|
PO-1962
|
|
|
|
|
|
File #
|
|
PA-000281-2 and PA-010126-1
|
|
|
|
|
|
Institution/HIC
|
|
Ministry of Community and Social Services
|
|
|
|
|
|
Summary
|
|
BACKGROUND: This order disposes of appeals PA-000281-2 and PA-010126-1, since both of them stem from similar requests for information made by the same requester under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act ) to the same institution, the Ministry of Community and Social Services (the Ministry). The Ministry provided the following explanation of the records in these two appeals, which is useful for the discussion that follows. The ministry provides services and supports to an estimated 48,000 people of all ages who have a developmental disability and their families. People receive services primarily through a network of approximately 400 community-based, board operated, non-profit transfer payment agencies. Services and supports are provided to meet the individual needs of people with developmental disabilities and their families to allow them to live, work and participate in a wide range of activities within the community, thereby improving the quality of their lives. … Community agencies receive funding to deliver specific services or combination of services that include safeguarding the health, safety and welfare of the clients. The service provider is accountable to the ministry and must demonstrate that their service delivery is consistent with relevant legislation, regulations and/or ministry policy. Accountability is achieved through ministry management tools designed to examine an agency's ability to deliver effective programs and supports to clients, as well as manage its financial and human resources. Serious Occurrence Reporting, along with service contracts, annual compliance checklists, financial and policy audits, and operational reviews, is a component of the accountability relationship between a community agency and the ministry… Serious Occurrence Reporting provides the ministry and, more importantly, the service provider with an effective means of monitoring the appropriateness and quality of their service delivery. This monitoring includes provision for the ongoing review of service provider practices, procedures, and training needs. The ministry requires that all providers of service who deliver any direct service to: children under the Child and Family Services Act (CFSA); children under the Day Nurseries Act (DNA); adults with a developmental disability under the Homes for Retarded Persons Act (HRPA) or the Developmental Services Act (DSA); and violence against women programs under the MCSS Act; report all serious occurrences. For adults and children with a developmental disability this means that a community agency providing supports and services such as - residential care, day care, day treatment, counselling, respite care, etc., are required to complete and submit to the ministry a Serious Occurrence Report. … The Ministry's SOR process, in place since 1993, requires that community agencies make verbal and written reports, within certain timeframes. Immediately, the service provider is to call, as required, medical services, the police, coroner, and/or children's aid society. The parent/guardian/advocate as well as the ministry are to be notified within 24 hours. The verbal report is followed by a written report detailing the circumstances of the event and the actions taken by the service provider. During the time period set out in the Appellant's access request, SORs were categorized into 10 kinds of occurrences. It is the numerical roll-up of these SORs that comprise the Annual Summaries provided to the Appellant and are the subject of this response. In July 2000, the categories were collapsed from 10 categories to seven, providing greater clarity for the service provider when completing a report. NATURE OF THE APPEAL: As stated above, two types of records are created through the community agency program run by the Ministry: serious occurrence reports (SORs) and annual summaries. Appeal #1 (PA-000281-2) The Ministry received a request from a member of the media under the Act for copies of the annual summaries for the years of 1997, 1998 and 1999. The request specifically excluded any personal information of individuals contained in the records. The Ministry located 213 responsive records, and granted full access to 198 of them and partial access to the other 15 records, relying on the exemption in section 21 of the Act (invasion of privacy) as the basis for denying access. The Ministry also requested payment of $1,000.40 in fees for processing the request. The requester, now the appellant, appealed the Ministry's access and fee decisions. During mediation, the appellant withdrew his request for the remaining 15 records and also accepted the manner in which the Ministry had calculated the fees. He paid the fees, but also asked the Ministry for a fee waiver, which was denied. The appellant objected to this denial, and the issue of fee waiver is the only outstanding issue in Appeal #1. Appeal #2 (PA-010126-1) After receiving and reviewing the records in Appeal #1, the appellant identified a total of 1,607 SORs filed by 71 agencies for the years 1997, 1998 and 1999. He submitted a new request under the Act for access to these SORs. Again, the appellant stipulated that all personal identifiers be removed from the records prior to disclosure. The Ministry provided the appellant with a fee estimate of $9,170.30, after which he amended his request to include only SORs filed by the identified agencies in two of the 10 categories contained in the reports - category #4, described as "any abuse or mistreatment of a client which occurs while participating in a service"; and category #10, described as "all allegations and accusations of abuse or mistreatment of clients against staff, foster parents, volunteers and temporary care providers." The appellant also asked for a fee waiver. The Ministry revised its fee to $1,834.00, in line with the amended request, and denied the request for a few waiver.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legislation
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subject Index
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Signed by
|
|
Tom Mitchinson
|
|
|
|
|
|
Published
|
|
Oct 25, 2001
|
|
|
|
|
|
Type
|
|
Order
|
|
|
|
|
|
<<
Back
|
|
|