Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2005
Customer Service Standard Policy
January2010

This policy is adopted pursuant to the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilties Act, 2005, Customer Service Standard. The regulation’s standard requires public sector organizations to provide accessible customer service to persons with disabilities and ensures policies, practices and procedures are consistent with the core principles of independence, dignity, integration and equality of opportunity. We are committed to excellence in serving everyone who seeks our services or appears before us including people with disabilities, as defined in the Ontario Human Rights Code.

The Consent and Capacity Board (CCB) is an independent tribunal with a mandate to adjudicate on matters of capacity, consent, civil commital, substitute decision-making and other issues affecting citizens of Ontario.

The Board is responsible for holding hearings and making decisions on matters in which four elements are paramount:

1. The safety of the individual - incapacitated or mentally ill people can be easily abused physically or psychologically, and can sometimes cause harm to themselves, intentionally or unintentionally;
2. The interests of the community - confinement and/or treatment are sometimes necessary for individuals who are likely at risk to cause harm to self or other persons as a result of mental disorder;
3. Dignity and autonomy of the individual - liberty and the right to choose where one will live, whether to take treatment and if so, the nature of such treatment, and how to manage one’s property and finances; and
4. The right of a person to have treatment when required.

The Consent and Capacity Board meets its legislative obligations by:

• adjudicating consistently and in a timely fashion;
• issuing high-quality decisions and reasons of Decision, and
• creating an environment of respect for the system and the tribunal and those who interact with it.

Members of the Consent and Capacity Board are appointed by Order-in-Council.

Staff of the CCB provide front-line service to a wide variety of customers and stakeholders.

We at all times strive to provide our services in a way that respects the dignity and independence of people with disabilities. We are committed to ensuring that people with disabilities have the same opportunity to access and benefit from our services in the same place and in a similar way as others and to the removal of any barriers that may impede full accessibility for people with disabilities. We are guided by the principles of fairness, openness and accountability in every aspect of our work and seek customer comment and input about the accessibility of our services.

We are committed to communicating with people with disabilities in ways that take into account their disability. We are committed to providing fully accessible telephone service. If telephone communication is not suitable to someone seeking our services we will offer to communicate by alternate means of communication that apply, such as email or TTY. We are committed to providing accessible decisions, reasons for decision, correspondence, and documents about our mandate, processes and procedures. These documents may be provided in alternate formats upon request; including hard copy, large print, email, electronic versions, Braille, tapes, etc. We will train our staff how to communicate with persons with various types of disabilities.

We are committed to serving people with disabilities who use assistive devices to obtain, use or benefit from our services. We will train our staff how to use assistive devices and inform customers of the assistive devices available.

We are committed to welcoming a support person to assist people with disabilities. We will train our staff to interact with individuals who use the services of a support person.

We are committed to welcoming a service animal to assist people with disabilities and support the use of a service animal. We will train our staff to interact with individuals who are accompanied by a service animal.

We will provide customers with notice in the event of a planned or unexpected disruption in our facilities or services to the best of our abilities. This notice will include information about the reason for the disruption, its anticipated duration, and a description of alternative facilities or services, if available. The notice will be placed at the public entrances of our premises, and when feasible on our website. When possible, we will advise Customers directly.

1. A person with a disability who has a special need may request an accommodation with respect to our services. The request should be made as soon as possible.
2. We will assess the request on a case-to-case basis and make our best efforts to respond to it effectively and in accordance with the principles established under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 and the Ontario Human Rights Code.

We provide training on this Policy and the requirements of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, to all staff who deal with the public or other third parties on their behalf and all those who are involved in the development and approvals of customer service policies, practices and procedures.

Training is provided as a part of the orientation of new staff. Staff are trained on an ongoing basis when changes are made to these policies, practices and procedures.

Training includes the following:

• The purposes of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 and the requirements of the customer service standard
• How to interact and communicate with people with various types of disabilities
• How to interact with a person who requires a support person
• How to support the use of a service animal
• How to support the use of assistive devices
• CCB policies, practices and procedures relating to the customer service standard

Our goal is to meet the expectations of people with disabilities who use our services. Comments on our services regarding how well those expectations are being met are welcome and appreciated.

Feedback regarding the way we provide services to people with disabilities can be made in person, by telephone, in writing, e-mail. If a method is not suitable a customer may request another method. All feedback is to be directed to the Board’s Registrar. We expect to respond to your comments within 15 days of receipt.

We are committed to carrying out our services in a way that respects and promotes the dignity and independence of people with disabilities. Therefore, any changes to be made with respect to how we carry out our activities will be made with regard to the potential impact on accessibility for people with disabilities.

This Policy is designed to assist in achieving service excellence for people with disabilities. If you have a question about the Policy, please contact the Consent and Capacity Board at 1-866-777-7391 or at ccb@ontario.ca