The Community Summit 2014: LiveWorkPlay and the Journey to Social Inclusion, Wellar & Kingstone

After steadily accumulating site-based infrastructure and resources for more than ten years, this charitable organization based in Ottawa, Canada, made a radical shift in thinking and actions. Starting in 2008 and over a period of three years, the agency completed a full transition away from day programs and other sheltered activities, finding new energy and synergies through partnership with hundreds of individuals and partners in the community.

For individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families, in addition to the enjoyment of concrete results that range from employment to the development of new friendships, they report dramatic new feelings of hope and possibility, finding new energy through escape from ongoing dialogues about systems limitations and scarcity.

Informed by collaboration with other agencies and thought leaders that have embraced person-centered and social capital concepts and models, LiveWorkPlay now seeks to encourage and support other agencies and jurisdictions to pursue similar transitions.

No need to take notes about what is on the slides, you will be able to download the show

http://presentations.liveworkplay.ca/

(Gratuitous effort to win over local delegates)

WHY did you decide to starta charitable organization

for people withintellectual disabilities????

When we get innovative in human services, sometimes we end up with the equivalent of a car with square wheels!

http://j.mp/ablastfrompast

So why should people with intellectual disabilities

all live together?

(Adapted from hope-house.org)

(Inspired by Dave Hingsburger)

Does our staff team want to perform like stars?Sure! But we don’t want to be your world.

If you have an intellectual disability, it’s not such a good thing to be SPECIAL

SPECIAL PEOPLEStigmatized. Pitiable.

SPECIAL PROGRAMSLimited. Dream-Crushing.

SPECIAL PLACESIsolated. Segregated.

Fear not, it’s the new millennium! New catchphrases are here!

• Person-Centred Planning• Individualized Supports

Sometimes we are the doctors of hypocrisy…

Thank you for choosing Acme Support Services, where we proudly facilitate individual independence through person-centered planning!

Now, let me start by outlining the list of fixed choices available to you!

We built it and they came….

It All Starts with Person-Centered Thinking & Planning

Community ConnectionsIt’s All About Relationships!

Asdfasdfads

From Al Condeluci’s Blackboard

Phil: Home Sweet Home

THEN NOW

The way systems respond to a person with labels like those carried by Royce is almost always reactive in nature: an increasingly restrictive approach that medicalizes unmet human

needs as “behaviors.” This approach tends to feed on itself by increasing thelikelihood and intensity of challenging behaviors.

Royce is now 23 and wants to live on his own, says his father, Ralph.

But the family has been told he needs constant care, and that there are no resources available to meet his needs.

20 years ago: “Matt will never walk or talk”2 years ago: “Matt will never have paid employment”

Want to bet against Matt again?

“THIS IS TUESDAY NIGHT LEAGUE BOWLING. PLEASE COME BACK ON THURSDAY NIGHT AND SIGN UP FOR SPECIAL NEEDS BOWLING.”

Remediating Accommodating Valuing

Person-Centered Teams

MEMBERS BOARD

Executive

Staff

Director of

Operations

Executive

Staff

Marketing &

Communications

1

Employment

Supports (2)

Community

Connectors (3)

Living

Supports (2)

Coordinator of

Volunteers and

Support

Networks (1)

100 Volunteers

1

Supports

Coordinator

(1)

2

LIVEWORKPLAY ORGANIZATIONAL CHART 2014

100+ Volunteers

RISK: STATEMENT OF INTENTThe people supported by LiveWorkPlay tell us that they want to be involved in the community, access opportunities, and to achieve their goals like everyone else in society.

With an ordinary life comes risk, and sometimes accidents may happen. The people we support, as with most people, will not always choose to live in a totally healthy and safe way. We will support people to manage the risks involved in exercising control over their own lives, through offering advice and guidance.

In managing risk, we will take sensible precautions to reduce the risk of harm to staff, the people we support and anyone else who may be affected by our work. Those precautions will effectively balance what is important to the people we support with what is important for the people we support.

Risk assessments will not be used to curtail or ban activity. Sensible risk management is not about generating useless paperwork mountains. Risk assessments should address real risk, in other words risk which actually exists. Written assessments should contain information essential for maintaining safety.

As part of our commitment to enabling people we support to take planned risks, LiveWorkPlay as an employer will always support staff who have used sound judgement and taken sensible precautions, even if these have not been sufficient to avert an incident.

Celebrate!

Trying to change the

world?

Don’t forget to

tell others about it!

30

Instead of investing in segregation from life, we are investing in life.

Let us stop being innovative with people’s livesby turning them into special people in

special programs in special places.

Let us stop building the infrastructure of segregation.

Let us start building the richness of an ordinary life.

Because an ordinary life has

extraordinary features like these:

Apartment.Job.

Teammates.Friends.Spouse.

Thank You!

Please don’t

reinventthe wheel!

Instead, please visit:

buildingsocialcapital.orghelensandersonassociates.co.uk

liveworkplay.ca

You can learn more about our use of social media for social change from Keenan at 1:45 in Golden Delicious

You can learn more about our community-buildingapproach from Julie at 3:30 (also in Golden Delicious)