The Legacy of Kimberly Rogers

Duncan MathesonWelfare to Work Conference

St. John’s, NLNovember 17th, 2003

Chronology in the Case of Kimberly Rogers

1996 - 1999

Kimberly receives loans from the Ontario Student Assistance Plan to attend community college, while also in receipt of public assistance.

 • 2001• Kimberly completes a Social Services Diploma at Cambrian

College with an ‘A’ average

• April 25th , 2001

• Kimberly is convicted of welfare fraud, for receiving full student loans while collecting social assistance.

• • Her penalty included six months of house arrest (to remain in her

apartment at all times except for medical or religious purposes, or for shopping for ‘necessities of life’ - between 9:00am and noon on Wednesdays);

• * repayment of the welfare overpayment of $13,648.31;

• * forfeiture of the right to have part of her student loan forgiven;

• * 18 months of probation.

• * In addition, Ontario Works benefits were automatically denied for• three months and her drug card was withdrawn.

 

• May 14th , 2001

• With Sean Dewar, a social activist lawyer in Toronto, Kimberly launches an appeal under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, challenging the constitutional validity of Ontario Works regulations that denied eligibility for benefits following a conviction for welfare fraud.

• Her appeal of the suspension was based on claims that it amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment”, that it was contrary to the fundamental rights of the individual under the Canadian Charter, and that it violated Canada’s commitment as a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

May 31st, 2001

• Justice Gloria Epstein, of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, granted a temporary injunction reinstating Kimberly’s welfare benefits, pending the hearing of the Charter challenge (which was delayed).

With the reinstatement of benefits, Ms. Rogers qualified for $520 per month, subject to a $52 (10%) claw-back for repayment of the fraud debt. After rental payments of $450 per month, she was left with $18 for food and all other expenses. She was five months pregnant, and had a history of psychiatric problems.

August 9th, 2001

Kimberly Rogers was found dead in her apartment. A Coroner’s Inquest was called to determine the circumstances of Ms. Roger’s death, whether it could have been prevented, and how to prevent possible future deaths in similar circumstances.

2002: A Coroner’s Inquest is held

December 19th , 2001

The Coroner’s Jury presented their verdict - that Kimberly Rogers had died of suicide, by means of an overdose of Amitriptyline. In view of the circumstances, however, the Jury were compelled to make 14 recommendations, including the elimination of the lifetime ban on social assistance for welfare fraud, and a review the adequacy levels of all social assistance rates, such that allowances are based on the actual costs of meeting basic needs.

That same day, the Ontario Minister of Community, Family and Children’s Services, the Hon. Brenda Elliott, stated to reporters that she had no intention of reviewing the Ontario Works Act in relation to the lifetime ban, or any ban.

Problems Identified at the Coroner’s Inquest(Jury Recommendations listed by Ministry)

Recommendations for the Ministry of Child, Family and Community Services: (1; 2; 4; 6; 7; 8)

• the apparent failure on the part of the Crown, defence counsel and/or the presiding Judge, to consider the full ramifications of placing an unemployed, pregnant woman under house arrest, given that her conviction would preclude eligibility for the income necessary to ensure housing, food, medication, or other basic

needs for survival (which led to Jury Recommendations # 1 & 14);

Recommendations for the Ministry of Child, Family and Community Services: (continued)

• the apparent failure on the part of Ontario Works staff, and its Local Administrator, to consider the real consequences of suspending a destitute and pregnant woman from welfare benefits (which led to Recommendation # 2)

 • the irrationality of imposing deductions to a basic monthly welfare

income (as repayment of debt owing to the conviction for fraud) in circumstances where the net income is clearly insufficient to meet basic needs (which led to Recommendation # 4)

 • the apparent inability of Ontario Works to detect ineligibility or fraud

early, so as to take corrective measures that preclude the need for client prosecution and criminalization (which led to Jury Recommendation # 6)

Recommendations for the Ministry of Child, Family and Community Services: (continued)

• the need for a province-wide assessment model, to evaluate the life circumstances of welfare recipients and/or dependents, in cases of alleged welfare fraud, to determine whether they should be referred for prosecution (Recommendation # 7)

• benefits for drug therapy, for the treatment of medical conditions that threaten life or cause serious symptoms, should not be discontinued during any Ontario Works suspension (Recommendation # 8)

Recommendations for the Ministry of Corrections (Probation & Parole) and the Attorney General: (3; 13; 14)

• the apparent inability of correctional officials to ensure that persons serving custodial sentences of house arrest have adequate housing, food, and medication (leading to Recommendation # 3) or to provide those subject to a conditional sentence with a written list of community-based agencies which advocate on behalf of prisoners... (Recommendation # 13)

Recommendations for the Ministry of Health (and the College of Physicians and Surgeons): (5; 9; 11; 12)

• the need for caution among physicians with respect to the use of tri-cyclic anti-depressants, and the need for education regarding prescription of a safer class of medication as a first-line drug therapy, in addition to encouraging patients to access supportive counselling in the community (which led to Jury Recommendations # 5 & 12)

• pharmacists need to have electronic access to patients’ drug dispensing records, from other pharmacies, in order to monitor prescription use - especially in the case of previous attempts to utter forged prescriptions (Recommendation # 9) and physicians ought to write out prescriptions in both digits and longhand, to prevent modification of the quantity by patients (Recommendation # 11)

Recommendations for the Ministry of Colleges and Universities : (10)

• that Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) application forms should highlight the possibility of prosecution, future ineligibility and loss of loan forgiveness, in the event of false declarations (Recommendation # 10)

* For the complete listing of each recommendation and its rationale, please see the Justice with Dignity: Remember Kimberly Rogers web site, hosted by DAWN Ontario: http://dawn.thot.net/Kimberly_Rogers/