CLBC, agencies farm out disabled adults on Craigslist, Advocate can’t intervene
A long list of ads has been running for months on Craigslist, some offering “Free Rent!” and salary to anyone willing to share their home with people with developmental disabilities ("You get to live RENT FREE" - and collect a salary! - "no special training or experience required!").
CLBC is forcibly moving adults who can't speak up for themselves from group homes where they have lived happily in some cases for over 20 years and farming them out on Craigslist to students and other opportunists seeking free rent or a mortgage helper who won't talk back.
Unlike professionally staffed group homes, which are licensed, inspected and subject to independent oversight, home share contractors are not subject to any independent oversight. A series of reports commissioned by CLBC have confirmed that the potential for abuse and risks are significant and that such placements are not appropriate for all adults.
What's perhaps most alarming, however, is the lack of any independent oversight, investigation or reporting mechanism to provide the necessary checks and balances.
Just today, BC’s Advocate for Service Quality responded to growing community concerns by refusing to intervene or offer advice on the risks involved, stating that her mandate only permits her to offer advice to the minister in response to specific complaints about service quality if an individual files a formal complaint. She referred the concerns about CLBC's actions to CLBC's CEO, Rick Mowles. The Advocate for Service Quality answers to Minister Rich Coleman (the minister who ordered the cuts).
Read the Craigslist home sharing ads here
More about the group home cuts, forced relocations and other community living cuts here .