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October 5, 2023

5 October 2023

Seal of disapproval

A man who pays family support through the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) complained to us that the FRO was garnishing too much from his federal disability payments, leaving him unable to pay his rent.

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October 5, 2023

5 October 2023

Suspended payment

A woman was owed thousands of dollars in support payments by a former spouse who was living in British Columbia.

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October 5, 2023

5 October 2023

Funding frustration

The mother of an 11-year-old with autism and developmental disabilities contacted us when she wasn’t able to access funding under the Ontario Autism Program (OAP) or the Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities program (ACSD), even though she believed her child was eligible for both.

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August 10, 2022

10 August 2022

Power arrangers

A woman who was behind on her hydro bills asked Ontario Works (OW) for help to avoid getting disconnected.

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August 10, 2022

10 August 2022

Found money

A mother had been waiting for months to access support funding to assist with her nine-year-old son’s developmental mental health conditions.

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August 10, 2022

10 August 2022

Breaking the bank

A woman who was owed more than $10,000 in support payments from her ex-husband complained to us that she had provided documents to the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) proving that he had the money in a bank account, but the FRO would not take action.

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August 10, 2022

10 August 2022

Voicemail jail

An Ontario Works (OW) recipient urgently needed help when her benefits were suspended because she submitted some paperwork late.

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August 10, 2022

10 August 2022

Post-mortem refund

A man who had continued to make regular family support payments to his former mother-in-law, who had cared for his now-adult daughter, complained to us after he learned the older woman had been dead for more than a year.

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June 28, 2021

28 June 2021

Letter imperfect

The mother of a 21-year-old woman with developmental disabilities complained to us that she had not been reimbursed by the province’s Passport program for support services that she purchased for her daughter.

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June 28, 2021

28 June 2021

Failed to send

An Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) recipient complained to us that her benefits had been cut off twice without warning.

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June 28, 2021

28 June 2021

After-life support

An unemployed woman who had been paying child support to her children’s father complained to us that the Family Responsibility Office was still intercepting 50% of her unemployment benefits, even though the man had died and the children were now in her care.

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March 30, 2021

30 March 2021

Payment received

A mother complained to us because she was not receiving any family support payments from her children’s father, even though the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) had the ability to garnish his wages.

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July 6, 2020

6 July 2020

Help with the bill

A recipient of Ontario Disability Support Program benefits contacted us when he discovered his monthly natural gas and water tank rental fees had not been paid since 2016 and he owed $2,000 in outstanding fees.

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July 6, 2020

6 July 2020

Long overdue

A man with significant medical issues contacted us with the help of his social worker because he was experiencing financial hardship due to the Family Responsibility Office garnishing his Canada Pension Plan benefits for past child support arrears – although his children were now in their 30s.

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July 6, 2020

6 July 2020

Address unknown

A woman complained to us that she had not received any family support payments in over a year, despite submitting paperwork to the Family Responsibility Office asking that she receive them via direct deposit rather than by mailed cheque.

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May 29, 2020

29 May 2020

Broken telephone

Our staff helped a woman who was having trouble reaching a manager at the Family Responsibility Office (FRO), due to recent changes to its phone system.

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April 30, 2020

30 April 2020

Paid upfront

A cancer patient who is an Ontario Disability Support Program recipient told us she was about to have surgery and urgently needed funds to pay for transportation, but could not reach her caseworker.

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June 25, 2019

25 June 2019

Not on board

An Ontario Works recipient sought our help when he received a letter saying he would have to repay $1,835 to Ontario Works, and that his monthly income would be reduced by $202.

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June 25, 2019

25 June 2019

Auto-threat

A pensioner who had a longstanding agreement to pay her family support arrears off at $50/month complained to us that the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) sent her a letter threatening to garnish half of her monthly income, which would leave her with no money to pay her utility bills.

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June 25, 2019

25 June 2019

Credit undo

A mother who receives support for her adult child with disabilities sought our help after she inadvertently provided inaccurate information to FRO, resulting in the termination of her support and a $21,000 credit to the payor.

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June 25, 2019

25 June 2019

A parent error

A father complained to us that FRO had collected thousands of dollars of support payments from him for 14 years, even though his daughter was no longer in the care of her mother but had been made a Crown ward.

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June 26, 2018

26 June 2018

Builder beware

A man who has physical disabilities and cancer was issued a grant from the province’s Home and Vehicle Modification Program (HVMP) to build a porch lift at his home.

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June 26, 2018

26 June 2018

Double trouble

A mother and adult daughter, both ODSP recipients who live together, complained to us about a mixup after the daughter successfully applied for ODSP for herself from a different office than the one where her mother was a client.

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June 26, 2018

26 June 2018

Mailbox full

A man whose shelter allowance was terminated by the ODSP without notice complained to us after his case worker did not respond to several email messages.

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June 26, 2018

26 June 2018

Brother’s keeper

We helped sort out a case of mistaken identity between the FRO and a man who could not insure his house because a writ was registered in his name for unpaid support obligations – even though it was his brother who actually owed support arrears.

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June 26, 2018

26 June 2018

Cold case

A man contacted our office after the FRO issued an order to garnish his Old Age Security payments and his federal pension, according to a court order from 1982.

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June 26, 2018

26 June 2018

Sharing the wealth

A woman who was owed more than $17,000 in spousal and child support came to our Office for help in liaising with FRO officials.

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June 26, 2018

26 June 2018

Clearer definition

An ODSP recipient complained to us about the Social Justice Tribunal of Ontario’s decision on her eligibility for the ODSP’s Work-Related Benefit.

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June 27, 2017

27 June 2017

Found money

A woman who was owed more than $100,000 in support payments complained to us about FRO’s lack of enforcement action against her ex-husband, even though she had provided information about his assets, finance and employment situation.

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June 27, 2017

27 June 2017

Message mistake

After an ODSP recipient left her case worker a message asking about reporting employment income, she was surprised to discover her benefit entitlement was suspended.

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June 27, 2017

27 June 2017

No place like home

The parents of two adult sons with highly complex medical needs and developmental disabilities contacted our Office because they felt they were in crisis. They wanted to continue to care for their sons at home, but were experiencing their own health challenges.

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June 27, 2017

27 June 2017

Tale of two cities

A Toronto woman who was seeking rapid reinstatement of ODSP benefits was staying with a relative in Oshawa while undergoing medical treatment. The ODSP office in Oshawa told her she would have to apply through their Toronto office – but she was too ill to travel, and worried that she could not make ends meet without benefits.

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November 8, 2016

8 November 2016

Painful delay

A woman who was seriously injured in a car accident complained that she waited seven months to receive her application for ODSP benefits.

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November 8, 2016

8 November 2016

Held at the border

A mother whose support payments from her ex-husband were collected through an enforcement agency in the U.S. complained that the FRO would not release any of it to her because it didn’t have the necessary documentation from a U.S. court.

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November 8, 2016

8 November 2016

Follow the money

A mother of two complained that FRO officials had not done enough to collect the more than $30,000 in support owed by her ex-husband, even though they knew where he worked.

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November 8, 2016

8 November 2016

An arresting mistake

A father contacted us from jail after he was arrested for failing to pay child support arrears to the Family Responsibility Office.

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July 28, 2015

28 July 2015

A sign of relief

A mother was concerned about the lack of support and funding for her 19-year-old son, who has autism and aggressive behavioural issues. He had recently been taken to hospital by police after an incident when he became agitated and violent.

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July 28, 2015

28 July 2015

Handling with care

The aunt and uncle of a 16-year-old boy with Down Syndrome needed help finding the boy a place to live after his mother died of cancer. They were concerned that they would not be able to care for him because they lived 270 kilometres away, both worked odd hours, and, due to their age, wouldn’t be able to look after him on a long-term basis.

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July 28, 2015

28 July 2015

Wrong, wrong, wrong

A woman complained to the Ombudsman in May 2013 that her ex-husband owed $46,000 in spousal support and the FRO was not enforcing a court order that he pay it.

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July 28, 2015

28 July 2015

Labour pain

A woman came to us after she could not reach her ODSP case worker for two months. The woman was receiving Employment Insurance benefits of $295 per week, which were deducted from her monthly ODSP cheque of $1,842, but they had ended two months earlier. Despite this, the ODSP continued to take deductions from her cheque.

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July 28, 2015

28 July 2015

Past the due date

The mother of a young man with significant mental health problems came to the Ombudsman because her son, who was receiving ODSP benefits, had been threatened with eviction from his group home because his rent had not been paid via ODSP.

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July 28, 2015

28 July 2015

Crisis of care

The family of a 69-year-old woman with developmental disabilities contacted the Ombudsman because they could no longer care for her. She was in hospital after she was assaulted at her day program, but would have nowhere to live after she was discharged.

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July 28, 2015

28 July 2015

Settling an account

A man contacted our Office because he suspected the Family Responsibility Office had miscalculated the amount he owed for child and spousal support by almost $3,800. He had written the FRO three times in the past 18 months, but it did not acknowledge his letters or adjust his account.

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July 28, 2015

28 July 2015

Going the distance

The owner of a home for adults with mental health issues contacted the Ombudsman, frustrated that he couldn’t get ODSP or Developmental Services Ontario (DSO) to provide funding to take one of his residents to her cancer treatments.

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July 28, 2015

28 July 2015

Way out west

A single mother complained to the Ombudsman that she hadn’t received child support payments in six months, despite her daughter, a post-secondary student, still living at home. The father lived in B.C., and as long as the daughter attended school and lived with her mother, he was required to pay monthly support payments.

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July 28, 2015

28 July 2015

Bullied and baffled

A mother contacted us in frustration because she couldn’t get help for her nine-year-old daughter, who had been severely bullied and injured at school, and was expressing thoughts of self-harm.

 

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