However, as Kerri Joffe stated in “Enforcing the Rights of People with Disabilities
in Ontario’s Developmental Services System,” rights education is seen by
stakeholders with disabilities as an important way to achieve the goals of a
human rights-based approach, namely to develop a culture of rights in the
developmental services sector and empower people with disabilities to be active
participants and consumers of services”^46. However, agencies will not have
fulfilled this mandatory obligation to provide education and awareness–building if
the education is not provided in ways that are fully accessible to the persons with
disabilities who are receiving services. All education must be delivered in a way
that reflects the unique ways in which the recipients of the information
communicate, understand and process information. The education materials
must use language and be put in a context that is relevant to the lived
experiences of those who are to gain the education. Since agencies are in full
control of the material they use to deliver the abuse education, there is some
concern among disability stakeholders that this education is not truly accessible
to the persons who are to receive the education.
Similar concerns regarding access and effectiveness have been expressed about
the provisions covering the reporting of abuse contained in Ontario Regulation
299/10. The agencies themselves have full control over the development and
implementation of their policies and practices for abuse monitoring and reporting.
If the agency fails to follow its own procedures, has inadequate procedures or
fails to take appropriate steps to address the abuse, the victim or his or her
(^46) Supra note 23 at 109 to 114