How do we make sure that programs aimed at tackling accessibility are themselves accessible?
Inclusive communities are resilient communities. Government programs aimed at accessibility help respect the contributions of all Ontarians which makes our province stronger. The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services provides services that create social safety nets that target specific areas of inequity, from housing to healthcare. On a daily basis, Ministry employees do everything from delivering longstanding programs such as Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program, to identifying gaps in service areas and generating solutions to build more accessible, stronger communities.
Domenic, a Program Analyst with the Ministry, helps implement new social assistance programs for people with disabilities. He also evaluates existing programs to ensure they are effective, actually accessible to those that need them, and offer the intended outcome. Where he notes gaps in services, Domenic helps develop new programming to fill those gaps and provide stronger, more robust support.
After helping support the administration of a dental program for people with disabilities, Domenic was part of a team that sought to combine and streamline various dental support programs into a single, more easily accessible service. The end result was the creation of the Healthy Smiles Ontario program, which provides free dental care for eligible children and youth under seventeen years old.
AMAPCEO represents more than 16,500 professional public servants like Domenic, whose work makes Ontario accessible.