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. She was not aware that her mother received additional ODSP benefits because she lived with her as a dependent child. When ODSP learned that the daughter was receiving ODSP directly and the mother was also receiving ODSP for her, it began deducting money from both of their benefits to recover the overpayment. The women complained to us that it was now deducting twice as much as it should. After our staff intervened, ODSP officials confirmed that because of a failure of communication between the two offices, both were making deductions to recover the debt. They reviewed the file and reimbursed the women the money they were owed.