BC government announces temporary additional supports for people receiving income assistance and PWD

We are pleased to see that the provincial government has just announced temporary exemption of EI and the new federal Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) from clawback from income assistance (IA) and PWD. An automatic $300 crisis supplement will be provided for the next three months to people on IA and PWD who are not receiving EI or the CERB. We will share more details about these new measures as that information becomes available.

We hope the federal and/or provincial government will be providing comparable supports to people who receive federal disability assistance (CPP-D). DABC will be advocating that this gap be addressed.

For more information: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/family-social-supports/income-assistance/on-assistance/covid

Read the news release: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020SDPR0012-000620

Moderation Policy for Social Media

DABC has developed a new social media moderation policy.

Introduction

Disability Alliance BC Society (DABC) is located in Vancouver on unceded Coast Salish territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Since 1977, DABC has been a provincial, cross-disability voice in British Columbia. Our mission is to support people, with all disabilities, to live with dignity, independence and as equal and full participants in the community. We champion issues impacting the lives of people with disabilities through our direct services, community partnerships, advocacy, research and publications.

Policy

Through DABC’s social media channels (Facebook and Twitter), we aim to keep our community partners and clients informed of important information, programs and services pertaining to people with disabilities in BC.

Many of our clients live on very low incomes and are homeless or at risk of
homelessness. Poor people, homeless people, and people with disabilities often experience discrimination, stigmatization, harassment and violence both online and offline. This is especially true for people who experience multiple and intersecting marginalized identities. DABC will not tolerate posts or comments that are hateful, ableist, poor-bashing, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic, or sexist. We will delete or hide comments and block users as necessary.

DABC also sees its role as one that holds governments and government actors accountable for harmful laws, policies, and practices. We are a non-partisan organization and do not endorse any particular political party or politician. We may remove messages that support or oppose political parties or candidates.

Criteria

Your comment may be subject to deletion if it:

· contains hateful or stigmatizing messaging;
· harasses other users;
· intentionally misleads other users by providing false information;
· contains spam or advertising; or
· campaigns for political parties or candidates.

Community Moderation Methods

We will moderate our social channels for hateful comments, spam, advertising, and comments that are irrelevant to DABC’s work and the communities DABC supports. To this end, we may use either of the following methods when faced with comments or posts that fall within the above criteria:

· hiding or deleting comments; and
· blocking individuals.

DABC’s social media is moderated by a very small team and we are not always able to respond immediately to concerns and questions. While we welcome critique to keep pushing our work forward, we will not tolerate comments that contain hate speech, threats of harm to individuals or groups, dehumanizing and discriminatory language, or blatant misinformation.

Contact

If you have questions, comments, or concerns about our social media community practices, please contact jloh@disabilityalliancebc.therightfitbc.org.

COVID-19 update: DABC offering remote services during office closure

To remain in line with the recommendations of provincial health authorities around physical distancing, DABC’s office will remain closed until further notice.

DABC’s direct services are now being offered remotely. Appointments can be booked by email or phone, but during this time email may be more efficient.

Thank you for your patience. Stay safe, everyone!

Program contact information:

Advocacy Access

If you require help accessing provincial disability benefits (PWD) or Canada Pension Plan-Disability Benefits (CPPD), please contact Advocacy Access:

– email advocacy@disabilityalliancebc.therightfitbc.org, or
– call 604-872-1278 or 1-800-663-1278 (Toll-free).

Tax AID DABC

If you are a person with a disability who requires assistance filing your income taxes, please contact Tax AID DABC:

– email taxaid@disabilityalliancebc.therightfitbc.org,
– call 236-477-1717 or 1-877-940-7797 (Toll-free), or
– book an appointment online here.

Access RDSP

If you require help accessing the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) or Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP):

– email rdsp@disabilityalliancebc.therightfitbc.org
– call 604-872-1278 or 1-800-663-1278 (Toll-free), or
– visit https://www.rdsp.com/supports-and-services/

Disability Law Clinic

The Disability Law clinic can help British Columbians with disabilities with the following issues:

o Accommodations related to the COVID-19 virus and social distancing
o Accommodation in the workplace
o Access to transportation
o Access to education
o Housing
o Service animals

We can also provide advice to people having problems with their disability benefits.

To contact the Law Clinic:

– call 604-872-1278 or 1-800-663-1278 (Toll-free), or
– email lawclinic@disabilityalliancebc.therightfitbc.org