Answer

The Ontario government offers a number of social welfare programs through the Ministry of Community and Social services. The ODSP or Ontario Disability Program is one of the initiatives started by this government to offer financial aid, food, shelter and any necessary assistance to eligible locals with disabilities (Beatty, 1999). This program was started as a Government Act in 1997 and has been amended severally to include the changing needs of the society. Nonetheless, the main aim of the program has remained consistent since its enactment: to ensure social and financial development of people with disabilities within Ontario. To ensure effective implementation of the Act, the Ontario government provides a framework on the eligibility, appeal procedures, extent of support and policy administration.

            Since I learnt about this initiative, my reaction has always been positive because I believe persons with disabilities also have the right to better livelihood despite their situations. It is also clear that the government is concerned about the progress of its people and is committed to their overall development (Krahn, Klein Walker, & Correa-De-Araujo, 2015). 

            According to the September 2014 Caseload on the ODSP, 29,679 children have been able to benefit from the program. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of this program, it would be difficult to obtain and analyze the experiences of all these beneficiaries. In this regard it would be easier to pick a sample population to evaluate the effectiveness of this program (Emerson, 2015). This sampled population will comprise of both adults and children. However, the children will be represented by their parents who according to the September 2014 Caseload, add up to 25,581.

Research Question

            The main of this study is to understand the effectiveness of the ODSP since its enactment in 1997. Additionally, through this research, I will attempt to clarify its impact on the lives of both children and adults. In summary, the guiding question in this research is: “Since the enactment of ODSP in 1997, has the act successfully met the needs of every disabled person who sort its services?” In this regard, no hypotheses will be generated, instead, I will use the questions raised to gather information and draw conclusions. According to McKenzie and Van der Mars (2015), using questions is preferable since it helps “to provide contextually rich data on the setting in which the activity occurs”.

Conceptual Framework

             The research question has several concepts that should be elaborated to ensure the objective is met accordingly. These include: ODSP, enactment, successfully, disabled and services.

Enactment:

            According to the Policy and Implementation article by Beatty (1999), the ODSP act was passed by the Ontario legislators in 1997. This act of passing legally approved legislation is known as enactment and is therefore. While I gather my research on this program, I take note of the fact that since the legislation was passed in Ontario, it does not affect citizens in other locations outside the region unless. The sampled population should therefore be drawn from Ontario.

Successfully:

            Instead of focusing on the total number of people who have sort the services of ODSP, I based my research on the qualitative aspects of the services given. I was keen to identify the types of services offered and the impact of these services to the disabled people in Ontario.

Disabled:

            According to my study, a disabled person is impaired either physically, mentally, in terms of development, emotionally, in terms of cognitive aspects or through sensory impairment. This argument is supported by Beatty (1999) as she defines the term “disability” in her article. These are the people who form part of the sample population. The remaining population comprises of parents of the disabled who may be unable to take part in the research.

Services:

            While the Ontario governments aims at ensuring all disabled people in the region are able to develop, my research was keen on the services that these people can expect from the program. According to the ODSP policy, the disabled are able to enjoy; financial support, effective inheritance, reimbursement or transfer of property services, legal services, employment services and documentation.

Theoretical Framework

            In solving the research question, I used the Equal Opportunity and Development theory advanced by Beatty (1999). According to this approach, everyone deserves equal representation, right to public resources and opportunity to develop despite the current circumstances. Through the program, persons with disabilities in Ontario should be able to access the services provided at their convenience and acquire the full benefits of the services as stipulated by the act. Guardians taking care of disabled children or adults should also seek these opportunities for the disabled under their care. Through this research, it is evident the program has been able to reach many disabled persons in the region through their online initiatives and the creation of awareness.