Study finds BC's welfare system denying assistance to people in need, 'diverting' many to homelessness and hardship

Study finds BC's welfare system denying assistance to people in need
'diverting' many to homelessness and hardship

March 27, 2006

A major study released today finds that BC's welfare system is systematically discouraging, delaying and denying assistance to many of the people most in need of help, with harmful consequences for some of the province's most vulnerable residents.

"Denied Assistance: Closing the Front Door on Welfare in BC" examines why the number of people receiving welfare has plummeted in the wake of changes to eligibility rules and the application system, and looks at what is happening to people who seek and are denied welfare. It is the first in-depth assessment of the new application system, drawing on data obtained through Freedom of Information requests and extensive interviews with people who have applied for welfare, front-line community advocates and Ministry workers.

"The provincial government says its policies are a success. It claims that more people are leaving welfare for work, and that the new application system is 'diverting' people to employment," says Bruce Wallace, Researcher with the Vancouver Island Public Interest Research Group (VIPIRG), which undertook the study with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

"This is true for some people. But our research found that many others are being 'diverted' to homelessness, charities, survival sex and other forms of hardship."

"BC's welfare application system is broken," says Seth Klein, the CCPA's BC Director. "It has become so restrictive, so complicated to navigate, and so riddled with delays and discouragements that people in need are being denied help. Policies like the three-week wait and the arbitrary two-year 'independence' test have been used to meet the government's caseload and budget reduction targets, not to help people get jobs."

The study finds that in some cases, delaying and denying people welfare reduces their ability to be self-sufficient. "Lack of assistance forces people to focus their time and resources on meeting basic shelter and food needs, rather than looking for work," says Wallace. "When people go to welfare, they are usually already in a very difficult situation. The three-week wait policy - which often ends up being a four- to six-week wait in practice - leads to greater debt and likeliness of eviction."

Debra Critchley of the Vernon Women's Centre is shocked by the situation in her community. "We are seeing a growing number of women who have been denied welfare and are turning to survival sex as a way to make rent or put food on the table for their children."

Denied Assistance
Closing the Front Door on Welfare in BC
Authors: Bruce Wallace, Seth Klein & Marge Reitsma-Street
ISBN: 0-88627-459-1
Pages: 68

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