Understanding disability service organisations

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.

Organisation	Living	Recreation	Education	Work	Volunteer	Staff	Transport
TCCP Activ Id entity WA Stepping Stones VIP Riding for the disabled CLAN Mirrabooka Blue Skies ? AAA agency Swan taxies	X X X X X	X X X X X X	X	X X	X X X X X X X	X X X X X X X	X X X X X X

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: