


De-institutionalisation ! Understanding communities !
Dysfunctional communities !
Building better
communities
Understanding
disability service organisations ! An
alternative model ! Community
research ! Community survey
Understanding
disability service organisations
Organisation: refers to any service that is provided by a
service group or organisation that specialises in looking after the
needs of
people with disability. The organisation may specialise in a particular
area of
care (accommodation, recreation, education or employment), or provide
services
that include all aspects of a person’s life. Organisations are
generally funded
by the Disability Services Commission (DSC) and contracted to provide
the
service within the policies of the DSC.
The organisation evolved
according to
a set of standards and principles designed to support people with
disability.
The
organisation’s role:
… to actively promote the
needs of people with disability
through the principles of normalisation, social integration,
empowerment and social
role valorisation,
… to
actively support, through direct intervention (accommodation,
recreation,
education or employment), people
with disability in the community.
By
fulfilling an active role above, the organisation also takes on a
certain
amount of ownership (in providing for the needs of people with
disability), and
as a consequence, the community sees its role as a passive and
supportive. The
higher the profile of the organisation, the higher the expectations of
the
community in the organisation in fulfilling its role. The community has
not had
an opportunity to develop the necessary skills for an active role, and
as a
result a co-dependent relationship is unintentionally created between
the
people with disability <> organisation <> community.
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Organisation
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Living |
Recreation |
Education |
Work |
Volunteer |
Staff
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Transport |
TCCP
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Id entity WA
Stepping Stones
VIP
Riding for the disabled
CLAN Mirrabooka
Blue Skies ?
AAA agency
Swan taxies
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Organisations
(not
inclusive) and the services that are provided.
Organisations that provide
services
for people with disability can be seen as communities within the
broader community.
These organisations sometimes
provide
duplicate services etc.
Disability Service
organisations and the hidden agenda
Disability service organisations generaly specialise in a particular
area of disability:
... provide an area of knowledge within
that area
... provide skills and resources within that area
... provide a service within that area
... provide employment
The
organisation has two broad functions:
1) Supporting and
maintaining the needs of the clients
2) Supporting
and
maintaining the needs of the organisation
Sometimes the
needs of the
organisation become greater that the need of the clients supported by
the
organisation:
… income, The organisation
cannot function with out
donations, Gov funding, etc.
… qualified
staff, Lack of
competent staff means that the clients are not getting the proper
support, etc.
…
maintenance, The organisation
needs to maintain the facilities, equipment to a standard that is
required by
the service uses (staff and clients) to maintain service delivery.
…
management, the
management hierarchy increases to cope with its own needs.
Etc.
Other
factors also impact on the organisation’s ability to provide for the
needs of
its clients.
… current workforce: the
organisation is limited to the
available workforce to draw on.
… costs of
goods and
services (electricity, petrol, external labour costs etc) all impact on
the
organisation’s ability to function.
… reliance on
the
community to support the organisation through Gov funding, donations
etc.
… increasing
community
demand for services also put a strain on the ability of the
organisation to
provide the proper support.
… services
are designed to target specific groups that fulfil the criteria of the
service
(specialised). This means that where there are no services available
for the
person, that person does not get the support needed.
…
organisations also
have a limited capacity, which means that people that qualify for the
service cannot
receive the service if there is no room. People who share a
characteristic that
is rare in the community often become marginalised because of a lack of
services or resources to support their needs. This is a problem in
country
areas where resources are limited.
Etc.
As the
organisation grows, the demands of the organisation increase and put an
increasing strain on existing internal and external resources to the
point
where the organisation cannot provide the care needed in supporting its
client
base.
It is in the interests of the
organisation to raise awareness of it's activities within the
community.
Organisations
actively engage in supporting and promoting the needs of people
with
disability in the wider community. Generally, the community is
approached by
the organisation to support the activities of the organisation through:
… advertising their various
development programs and
promoting people with disability generally.
… volunteer
programs.
… sponsorship
programs
through business and company support.
… community events
organised by the organisation.
The higher the profile of the organisation:
… the more
likely it is to
receive funds:
… has an
advantage where there
may be two or three organisations
providing similar services (accommodation, work, recreation etc).
… has
an advantage
in a competitive market with other
organisations for staff, donations, sponsorships, research etc
… the more
dependant the community is, in the organisation fulfilling
it's
role.
… the less
likely the community is, in becoming more actively involved in direct
intervention in supporting people with high support needs.