Limited access to summer camps for kids with disabilities 'fundamentally unfair,' says mom

A Bedford, N.S., woman says the Halifax Regional Municipality needs to rethink its approach to inclusion because some kids with disabilities don't have equitable access to summer camp.

While most families are permitted to register their children for up to nine weeks of municipal camp, kids who require one-on-one support are often limited to three weeks with that support.

"That's absolutely, fundamentally unfair," said Allison Garber. "No child should have more access to tax-funded summer camp than any other child in the city."

Garber registered her 12-year-old son for two weeks of camp this summer. He has autism and requires one-on-one support. 

A few weeks after registration, the municipality informed her there was not enough staff to provide support for his second week.

Garber was given two choices: have a family member attend camp with her son or pay for a respite worker — roughly $20 per hour on top of the cost of the camp itself — to be with him. She chose to remain on the wait-list in case support staff becomes available, and has arranged for respite care at home as a backup plan.

Garber had no trouble securing two weeks of camp for her daughter, who does not need extra assistance.

Last week, during her kids' first week of camp this year, Garber said her son asked, "Are we going to get to go again in August? We're having so much fun this week."

"I had to tell him, you know, 'I don't think you're going to be able to go, bud. We just aren't able to access the supports that you need,'" said Garber.

"How does that make a child feel? Every kid has needs. Some kids have different needs than others. All of those needs should be accommodated. It's really not a big ask."

Anna MacQuarrie, who has three children with disabilities, says her family has also struggled to find summer camps that offer appropriate care.

"From a human rights perspective, there is a duty to accommodate kids with disabilities. And I think whether you are a publicly funded camp or a privately funded camp or some non-profit in between, there really needs to be a concerted effort to build inclusive experiences for kids with disabilities," she said.

High demand, staff shortage

The municipality's website says, "due to the extremely high demand for one-to-one support, we can provide up to three weeks of full-time support per child. Should additional resources become available, additional weeks may be accommodated."

Pat McGrath, the manager of inclusion services for the parks and recreation department, said there is no hard cap on the number of weeks a family can access one-on-one support.

"I know that able-bodied children do have more access to camps because we have camp counsellors who can staff those positions," he said. "But I don't think there's really anyone out there who's getting the full number of weeks they want."

This year saw 117 requests for inclusion support — more than ever before, McGrath said.

Municipal camps are facing a staff shortage and only have about half the number of staff members they need. The department has increased wages for inclusion support staff and is working with organizations to recruit qualified staff, McGrath said.

The executive director of Inclusion Nova Scotia, a not-for-profit that supports people with intellectual disabilities, said she often gets calls from families facing barriers to accessing summer camps.

"We have a mandate from our government to be inclusive, and the government really has to set the standard and set the example," said Patricia Neves. "So if it means it's going to cost more money, then they have to spend more money. They have to hire more support people."

The municipality and some community organizations offer camps specifically for kids who need additional support. Garber said those are wonderful options that fill a need for kids and families.

"That said, inclusion is inclusion and children benefit from being with other children who are different than them — both children with disabilities and typically developing children. And so I don't think the answer is to provide specialized camps for kids with disabilities."

Garber said more needs to be done to ensure no one is being left out.

"We need to do a better job as a community to be able to make sure that everybody is included and that there's not one set of rules for people who are able-bodied and do not have physical or cognitive disabilities and another set of rules for people who do have disabilities," she said.

"It's obviously a complex problem. I'm not going to pretend that it's not challenging to be able to find the people required to support the needs that a lot of children have. But I don't believe that it's an option to ignore it either."