Direct Funding is an innovative program enabling adults with physical disabilities to become employers of their own attendants.
Attendants assist with routine activities of living, such as dressing, grooming and bathing.
As employers, participants are fully responsible for managing their own employees within a budget that is developed on an individual basis.
Different people have different needs. Direct Funding is intended as an option suited to people with physical disabilities who are willing and able to take on the extra management responsibilities (and possible risks) of the program.
For the third time in as many years, the province has increased its investment in the Direct Funding Program, to allow more Ontarians with disabilities to live independently in their homes. Please see our news release for more details.
You can read more about this in our News Release.
Available province wide, the Direct Funding Program enables adults with physical disabilities to receive monthly funds for attendants of their own choosing, to schedule as they please - whether their needs are at home, at work, or in the community. Individuals self-manage their lives, making their own choices with greater flexibility and control.
Through the Direct Funding Program, people with disabilities become the employers and self-managers, taking full responsibility for hiring and managing their own attendants and determining how and when their services are provided. The program is portable, meaning participants can live and travel anywhere within the province of Ontario, taking their services along with them.
The Direct Funding Program is administered by the Centre for Independent Living in Toronto (CILT), Inc., in partnership with the Ontario Network of Independent Living Centres (ONILC). It is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care through the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network.
The Direct Funding Program is being expanded to allow more Ontarians with disabilities to live independently in their homes.
You can read more about this in our News Release.