PC government spends less than half of $610 million budgeted for autism program in first three quarters: FAO report

By Sneh Duggal and Jessica Smith Cross

The Progressive Conservative government spent less than 50 per cent of the $610 million it budgeted for the province's autism program during the first nine months of this fiscal year, according to a new report from the Financial Accountability Office (FAO).

The report released on Wednesday looks at how much the government spent in the first three quarters of this fiscal year — from April 1 to December 31, 2019 — and compared that to how much it budgeted for the full year. It broke down spending by program and found that the government had only spent spent $302.8 million on the Ontario Autism Program during the first three quarters — 49.6 per cent of what it had budgeted for the full year.

The report found that, overall, the government spent $2 billion less than planned over the first three quarters. If that trend continues in the fourth quarter, the FAO projects the actually budget deficit to be $6.1 billion — significantly less than the government’s forecast of $9.0 billion. The FAO highlighted autism as one of 11 program areas in which the government has significantly underspent its budget.

The government said it intends to spend the budgeted funding. Meanwhile, autism advocates highlighted their concerns with the FAO report, with some saying that they don't think the government is spending money for the program in a responsible way, while others criticized the government for holding onto this money for so long.

Following a heavily criticized February 2019 announcement about an overhaul to the province's autism program, Lisa MacLeod, the minister of children, community and social services at the time, told the legislature that the government would be increasing funding for the autism program. Parents and advocates criticized MacLeod's plan for not providing children with needs-based funding and instead issuing "childhood budgets" that capped funding based on age.

MacLeod said at Queen's Park on March 26, 2019 that the budget "could almost be double the $321-million investment" initially planned, later saying that "under the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, (the budget) will be over $600 million."

Last October, Bruce McIntosh, the former president of the Ontario Autism Coalition (OAC), said he didn't think the government wanted to spend the more than $600 million it had touted. He noted that the money hadn't been allocated in the budget, in economic statements or on the Ministry of Finance website. The funding was later included in the government's fall economic statement.

Independent MPP Randy Hillier, who used to be part of the PC caucus, said he questioned the government about its intention to actually spend the money last year since the figure wasn't included in various financial documents.

"Now, from what we can see with the FAO report, that money was not spent or has not been spent and there’s not that much time left in the fiscal year," Hillier said. "I believed at the time that the announcement was baloney, and that’s what it is."

MacLeod's successor Todd Smith acknowledged that the government didn't get its initial redesign right and started working toward a needs-based program that the government said would be implemented by April this year. But in December Smith said fully rolling out the program would take longer and likely go into 2021, sparking more protests and frustration from the community.

In the meantime, the government has continued to roll out "childhood budgets" and is offering all children on the waitlist "interim one-time funding" that is also based on age ($20,000 for children aged 1–5 and $5,000 for children aged 6–17). Smith said in December that the government would send out all the letters inviting families to apply for this funding by the end of March.

Amanda Mooyer, a mother of two boys with autism who is often at Queen's Park to encourage the government to speed up its implementation of a needs-based program, said that even if the government sends out interim funding invitations this month, it's unlikely all waitlisted families will receive that money by the end of the fiscal year.

Mooyer said she applied for the interim funding for her older son Izak four weeks ago, but hasn't yet received the money.

"So at that rate...my younger son, even if he gets the letter anytime soon, will not get it within this fiscal year," she said.

Angela Brandt, the OAC's vice-president of research and policy, said her biggest concern is that the government is spending money on contracts for things like online speech and language courses.

She said the government was acting in a "fiscally irresponsible" manner and that "needs-based therapy is the fiscally responsible thing, but it’s also the compassionate thing to do and the government is doing neither."

Mooyer echoed Brandt's comments, saying some of the money being spent was "wasteful."

"To spend $300 million on an interim plan and just handing out money without an actual plan, the money would be better spent implementing an (autism program) that’s going to be needs-based than to try and shovel money out to people without knowing what any of their actual needs are," she said.

Ottawa mother Kerry Monaghan, who has two children with autism, took to social media to share her thoughts on the FAO report, saying that the "thought of the (government) holding onto all of the increased budget for 3/4 of the year while families (have) been begging for help is heartbreaking."

Families have been exceptionally clear since February 6, 2019. We need appropriate, needs based support immediately. The thought of the govt holding onto ALL of the increased budget for 3/4 of the year while families having been begging for help is heartbreaking.

— Kerry Monaghan 🇨🇦 (@ottawa_asd_mum) March 4, 2020

Monaghan said it wasn't about "if" the money would be spent by the end of the month, but rather "how" it would be spent, highlighting that families are waiting for needs-based therapy.

For its part the government said it plans to spend the budgeted funding.

"Our government is investing $600 million into the Ontario Autism Program this year, and for years to come," wrote Smith's spokesperson Christine Wood.

She noted the government's announcement in December that it would adopt the autism advisory panel's "key recommendations."

"Since then, we have issued thousands of invitations for interim one-time funding to families of children and youth on the waitlist, and additional invitations will be sent this month," Wood said, adding that the government has also invested in several programs including "expanded access to speech and language services, early intervention, and mental health training."

"We are also providing extensions to children with existing behaviour plans," she said.

Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser said he's "very concerned" about the government spending the money "effectively" and getting it to people who need it.

"When you’re in a rush, you make mistakes," Fraser said. "They tore this plan apart, they left families in a lurch and they’ve been rushing ever since to fill in that gap."

He said that ultimately "the number doesn't matter if your child is not getting the therapy that they need."

Hillier agreed, saying he didn't think the government would be able to get the money "out the door in any meaningful fashion or in a fashion that will provide the services that we expect to get for that money, or that the families get for it."

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said he thinks parents would be "outraged" to hear this news and noted that there are several advocates who come to Queen's Park "every single day begging for services for their children."

"The question is not whether they can spend the money or not, the question is is why are they leaving parents in the dark? Why are they underfunding existing programs for children with autism when they have the money allocated and they’re not spending it, it makes absolutely no sense."

Financial Accountability Officer Peter Weltman said he has "no insight as to whether or not that money will get spent."

"We don’t know if the government plans to add or subtract money by the end of March, but that is the state of play now," he told QP Briefing.

If that money isn’t spent, it will be reflected in a lower deficit, he said.

The FAO began reporting on in-year spending only this year, Weltman said. Without its work, just how slow government has been to get the autism budget spent so far would not be known to the public or to most MPPs.

"The MPPs authorize the government to spend $150 billion and change, and if it wasn’t for this report the only time MPPs would know how the money was spent is after the tabling of public accounts, six months after the end of the fiscal year," Weltman said.

Government also has the authority to move money between programs without getting authorization from the legislature and this report shows them when that has happened, Weltman said. He noted that at the federal level, parliament must authorize the reallocation of money in this way.