A Social Innovation Approach to Transforming Communities – Local to National

Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion and Society’s (IRIS) and the Canadian Association for Community Living

Presenter Doris Rajan, Director of Social Development - IRIS

Presentation Format1. The Problem: social change is slow

1. Example – education attainment of people with disabilities in Canada

1. A Strategy - The local to national community development strategy – can it work for education?

1. How about in your country?

The Problem

Research - people with disabilities andeducational attainment nature and

prevalence of exclusion and promising practices.

Impressive models of inclusive education inCanada

But the statistics are not changing...

People with disabilities experience a shortfall in education because they have not, and continue not to be, adequately included and accommodated in the educational system.

The example of children/adults with intellectual disabilities 52% of young adults with an intellectualdisability (aged 20 – 29 years) are neitherworking nor attending school, compared

with12% of those without a disability.

Young adults with intellectual disabilities are

five times more likely than those withoutdisabilities to have no formal educationcertificate.

No education No job No money!

Canadians with disabilities have lower levels of educational attainment than non-disabled Canadians.

25% of non-disabled Canadians are without a high school diploma compared to 37% of those with a disability

Children in exclusive schools ...

Research demonstrates that if proper supports

are in place to have children with disabilities

included in regular classrooms, all studentsbenefit.

Yet schools and classrooms are inadequately

supported and the system generally resists a truly inclusive school environment.

More inclusion means more students get to know children with disabilities = less bullying…

Recent study - 41% children withdisabilities felt threatened at school or on

the school bus within the past year and

more than a third (36%) were assaulted at

school or on the school bus.

Reason for lack of progress complex

How funding is given out Competing priorities of advocacy groups Weak partnerships Absence of a sense of solidarity and

common vision Tight fiscal realities.

Successful Community Development Involves all key sectors, i.e. schools,

relevant government bodies, disability organizations

Leadership comes from families and self- advocacy groups

Equal attention is paid to process and outcome.

UN Millennium Project Report - 2005

The need to scale up arises from the limited impact of pilot projects, or “islands of excellence” amidst a sea of inertia – small projects aimed at local or district levels without a measurable impact on national indicators…

Scaling up ...

National scale-up is the process of bringing essential services to most or all the population quickly, equitably, and lastingly… Equality and non-discrimination, ensuring the services reach all of the population, especially the most disadvantaged, are central.

The Approach ...Needs a national framework

Rooted in local communities

Intentional attempts to build the capacity of local communities

People with disabilities lead

Work with key local sectors

Multi-level

At the same time leveraging multi-level support and

influencing broader level policy change.

A community development strategy – rooted in the local community...

What does this really mean?

Bring people together from all levels, diverse sectors to have

conversations that they typicallywould not have.

A child with a disability has difficulties going to school due to the attitudes of teachers, school boards and possibly parents who are unable to adapt to students with different needs and learning capacities.

Does child walk or prefer to

run?

On the individual level

People with disabilities and families from that same community are supported in developing self identified, realistic short and long term plans.

The framework for these plans matches individualneeds and wants with what is actually available or could be made available in the community.

Plans are built around individual’s needs and wants

On the community levelDisability sensitivity training for

educators and school boards.

Teachers, local school boards are given tools to help them support individuals.

Inclusive youth programs in schools

On the broader provincial /territorial/ national levels

National advisory groups made up of provincial/territorial organizations who bring local learnings to a national forum

Customize learnings to each P/T

Provincial/territorial/national investments are made

Why will this strategy work? It is specific to a local community – the process

develops community-specific inventories of resources, programs, policies, and community information that would support people’s dreams

Children/adults with disabilities and their families are supported to be the leaders of this process

Outreach process that identifies isolated people

More on outreach

The outreach process really understands where people are located and how to communicate/reach them, i.e. immigrant families

The outreach process is delivered by organizations and partners that have relationships in local communities and are thus trusted

The outreach process understood diversity and how to make the process sensitive and accessible to all segments of the target population.

Why will this strategy work?

Supports/services in both the education sector and disability sectors are brought together.

Information on supports will be presented in an accessible, straight forward, uncomplicated manner and context specific manner.

Successful because it works on many levels

Identifies individual solutions;Identifies collective group solutions;Identifies and engages the broader local

community to examine themselves and respond to those specific individual and group needs;

Identifies broader policy & program solutions for advocates/relevant advocacy groups to pursue.

Based on a similar CACL project - positive evaluation results Gains in knowledge about their rights and

entitlements Exposed to the range of options and

brought all service/support info together Stress the need for individual

plans/building of support circles around individuals

Acquired a better sense of what people need, rather than having to fit into what the system offers;

Importance of a collective identity for social change.

Questions to guide the work... What is the role of a national coordinating body in

a local to national strategy?

What is needed to establish a national infrastructure with

the capacity to support local communities to organize

around the issue?

What partnerships need to be in place and what types of

social and economic investments need to be committed at

the national level?

More questions ...

What is needed to establish a local infrastructure

that supports a community to organize around the

issue?

What partnerships need to be in place and what

types of social and economic investments need to

be committed at the local level?

Questions ...What is the best way to convene local level community dialogue around the issue? Who needs to be involved andwhy?

What are the socio-environmental and historicaldeterminants of marginalization experienced by the

affected population?

What are the key components of an inclusive consultationprocess that recognizes the barriers to communication andthe articulation of needs for the affected population?

And more...What are the key characteristics of a social

problem thatare critical to understand in order to address it?

What is the past and present policy and programframework related to the social issue?

What characteristics of the local geographic community

can be seen as assets or liabilities in addressing the social

problem?

Still coming at you with questions!What are the kinds of tools and resources thatwould best support that strategy?

What ways can local level results have an impact and influence national policy and broad scale social change?

What needs to be in place to support the sustainability of local work in

order to ensure curative short term outcomes and positive long term

quality of life results?

The most important question...

How can the people withdisabilities/families be

empowered and supported to be leaders of the local level process?

The Concept of Inclusion

The strategy empowers the group who has been marginalized to self facilitate

towards better articulation of their needs and the development of strategies that

will mobilize and also empower the various sectors towards an effective

community and broader societal response.

Buildingstronginclusive communities