EDMONTON—Families of children with disabilities are being denied “critical” funding supports by the Alberta government, according to parents and two major organizations that work with them.

Brandy Bennett, a mom of four whose 20-year-old son Dillon is on the autism spectrum and has developmental disabilities, said she’s worried she will lose her job of 18 years if her Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) funding does not come through soon.

She requested additional PDD funding to get daytime care for Dillon, as this fall will be his first out of high school and he is not capable of caring for himself.

She said she has been in conversations with the government’s Community and Social Services department since April, and left a May 24 meeting with no reason to believe the funding would be denied.

Since then, she said her requests have been delayed multiple times and she has received several emails from the ministry asking for more details, but has not been given an answer on whether she will be able to get the care for Dillon.

“We are pretty much sitting here in limbo with no answers, no direction. Even if they denied our request, at least I could try to appeal it then or something. But they’re not giving us anything,” Bennett said.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do. We’re really stuck right now … I can’t even express how stressful this is.”

Bennett is on parental leave that was supposed to end in June, but had to extend it to September because of the delays.

If she doesn’t get an answer before September, she said she will have to stay home and take care of Dillon herself, which could mean losing her job as a nurse.

Bennett said she has never experienced delays like this applying for PDD or Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) funding in the past.

In a recent email, she was told the ministry is only able to process “urgent requests” where the safety of the individual is at immediate and significant risk.

“This is extremely frustrating and discouraging. I can’t even believe this is happening. I don’t understand how this isn’t seen as an urgent situation,” Bennett said. “I don’t think it’s fair that we’re stuck without any answers. Give me a yes, give me a no, give me something.”

Trish Bowman, the CEO of Edmonton-based Inclusion Alberta, said she has seen a “sudden, noticeable increase” in families being denied funding for FSCD and PDD programs. She said dozens of concerned parents have been frantically calling and emailing the organization in the last six to eight weeks.

“It’s high, high anxiety,” Bowman said. “I would say in the community right now, there’s a tremendous amount of fear and apprehension, I think uncertainty. I sometimes think people really don’t understand how dramatically this impacts families.”

According to Inclusion Alberta, families are not being given any reason for the funding denials or any timeline for responses. Bowman said the government’s Community and Social Services department has given a range of replies to parents, including telling applicants their funding is “frozen,” their request is “on hold,” or that they do not meet “emergency criteria.”

Natasha Kornak, the press secretary for Community and Social Services Minister Rajan Sawhney, sent an emailed statement Friday saying eligibility and funding have not changed for FSCD and PDD services, and the government has not frozen funding.

“As is normal practice, Albertans with the most critical and urgent needs are prioritized for services,” she wrote.

“Approvals normally occur within three weeks of meeting with a caseworker to discuss service needs. Families with questions should contact their caseworker, who can provide them an update on the status of their application.”

But Bowman said previous governments have granted this funding immediately as a matter of course. She said those being denied are primarily families seeking funding for the first time, for a new service or support, or to expand existing supports.

Autism Calgary posted a statement on its website this week saying it is “receiving an unprecedented number of emails and phone calls” from families with concerns about their FSCD and PDD funding requests.

The organization gathered through conversations with families that the government has introduced an “enhanced approval process, introducing higher level of scrutiny on all contract requests,” which is causing extensive delays in decisions.

Autism Calgary reported that some affected parents have lost their jobs due to delayed requests for seasonal summer care for their children.

Bowman said the programs are “critical” for some families to function. Apart from child care, the programs also provide developmental support that she said makes a “huge difference” to a person’s quality of life.

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Bowman said she met with senior officials from Community and Social Services this week, and was reassured that the department would start moving more quickly to respond to the families’ requests in the coming weeks — but not necessarily that the funds will come through.

“I am cautiously optimistic. I believe that there is a recognition that the slowdown has posed significant challenges to families, and a commitment to trying to respond to families’ requests,” Bowman said.

“What we don’t know is if families will get what they need. Over the next few weeks, it is our hope that families would be getting more definitive communication from the department on the status of their requests.”

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