Moncton snowbirds seek exemption to rule that cuts off disability benefits for their adult children

Now that April and Amelia Chase are adults, they are cut off from the $800 they receive a month in disability payments from New Brunswick each time they spend the winter months in Florida with their snowbird parents.

Amelia is non-verbal, lives with hearing impairments, and has developmental delays as a result of a genetic disorder called Coffin-Siris syndrome.

April lives with vision impairment, cerebral palsy and a genetic condition called micro-deletion syndrome and also has developmental delays.

The 21-year-old adopted siblings require round-the-clock care from their parents Pam and Terry Chase.

Pam Chase told Global News in an interview that her daughters had no issues receiving their child disability benefits throughout their winters in Florida before they turned 19.

“We had no indication that they were going to lose supports when they were adults because when they came down here when they were children, the supports followed them, so we had no idea that this was all going to disappear,” she said.

The Department of Social Development’s policy states that “where a recipient leaves the province for an extended period, normally beyond 30 days, the recipient is no longer eligible.”

This means April and Amelia are cut off from their income as well as incontinence supplies while they are in the U.S., and need to be reassessed for benefits each time they return to Canada.

The Chases have sent multiple e-mails inquiring about an exemption from that rule, as they believe their daughters’ quality of life would be severely impacted by forgoing their winters in the U.S.

“April, with her cerebral palsy, she doesn’t enjoy winter at all, she can’t move around. Amelia, you’d have to meet her to understand, she’s scared to death of ice. So winter is not a great option for them, it wouldn’t be good for their quality of life,” she said, adding that the Canadian winters also cause problems for her husband Terry’s arthritis.

She said they also wanted to provide the young women with the enjoyment brought from travelling while they were still able to, as they aren’t able to travel on their own.

“The idea here is we want to give them as much life and adventure as we can because there’s going to come a point where we’re going to be too old to do that,” she said.

The Department of Social Development declined to comment on the specific case, saying only that “we always do everything we can to help those in need of support, especially New Brunswickers living with disabilities.”