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All in This Together: Disability Rights and COVID-19
neglect and abuse. Many of those major institutions were closed in the
1970s, and residents were discharged to community settings.
Despite the promise of deinstitutionalization, community-based
services remain underfunded and over-subscribed.30 Many fell into
crisis after being discharged from large congregate living facilities,
revolving between other institutions like prisons, homeless shelters,
hospitals and large group homes.31 While Ontario formally shuttered
the institutions that warehoused persons labelled with intellectual
disabilities, some community placements remain unsafe,32 with-
out adequate oversight,33 and resemble âpresent-day versions of the
moribund institutions from a century ago.â34 People with disabilities
continue to face barriers accessing community-based services,35 and
have been institutionalized in inappropriate custodial settings such
as long-term care,36 facilities not suited to their needs,37 raising signifi-
cant human rights and liberty concerns.38 COVID-19 is an opportunity
wp-content/uploads/2019/10/a-call-to-action.pdf>.
30. Daniel Yohanna, âDeinstitutionalization of People with Mental Illness: Causes
and Consequencesâ (2013) 15:10 Virtual Mentor 886, online: <journalofethics.
ama-assn.org/article/deinstitutionalization-people-mental-illness-causes-and-
consequences/2013-10>.
31. Ted Frankel, âExodus: 40 Years of Deinstitutionalization and the Failed Promise
of Community-Based Careâ (2003) 12 Dal J Leg Stud 1.
32. See e.g. Community Living Ontario, âPreventing the neglect of vulnerable vic-
tims: Jamie Hawleyâs death by neglectâ, Cision (30 August 2013), online: <www.
newswire.ca/news-releases/preventing-the-neglect-of-vulnerable-victims-jamie-
hawleys-death-by-neglect-512863751.html>.
33. See e.g. Office of the Chief Coroner, âVerdict of Coronerâs Jury at the Inquest
into the death of: Guy Mitchellâ (24 July 2015), online: Ontario Ministry of theÂ
Solicitor General <www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/Deathinvestigations/Inquests/
Verdictsandrecommendations/OCCInquestMitchell2015.html>.
34. Megan Linton, âInstitutional Legacies of Violence: Neoliberalism and Custodial Care
in Ontarioâ, Canadian Dimension (12 April 2020), online: <canadiandimension.com/
articles/view/institutional-legacies-of-violence-of-custodial-care-in-ontario>.
35. Natalie Spagnuolo, âBuilding Backwards in a âPostâ Institutional Era: Hospital
Confinement, Group Home Eviction, and Ontarioâs Treatment of People Labelled
with Intellectual Disabilitiesâ (2016) 36:4 Disability Studies Quarterly 1.
36. âIntellectually disabled Canadians are dying in residential institutions: Whatâs
happening & what can be doneâ (17 April 2020), online: Autistics for Autistics
<a4aontario.com/2020/04/17/intellectually-disabled-canadians-are-dying-in-res-
idential-institutions-whats-happening-what-can-be-done>.
37. âNowhere to Turn: Investigation into the Ministry of Community and Social
Servicesâ Response to Situations of Crisis involving Adults with Developmental
Disabilitiesâ (24 August 2016), online: Ontario Ombudsman <www.ombudsman.
on.ca/resources/reports-and-case-summaries/reports-on-investigations/2016/
nowhere-to-turn>.
38. MacLean v Nova Scotia (AttorneyÂ
General), 2019 CanLII 115231 (NSHRC).
VULNERABLE
The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Title
- VULNERABLE
- Subtitle
- The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Authors
- Vanessa MacDonnell
- Jane Philpott
- Sophie Thériault
- Sridhar Venkatapuram
- Publisher
- Ottawa Press
- Date
- 2020
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9780776636429
- Size
- 15.2 x 22.8 cm
- Pages
- 648
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- International