Advocacy for Inclusion

"providing individual and systemic advocacy to improve life for people who have a disability"

Position Paper

(Printer friendly version - PDF)

Post School Options

Introduction

Deciding what to do after school is daunting for most school students. It can be much more daunting for students who have a disability. Choices are limited for people who have a disability who wish to join the workforce. People who have a disability who, in the past, have been seen as unable to work have even less choice about their future.

People who have a disability have the right to make informed choices relating to their future. Advocacy for Inclusion believes that, on completing school, there should be more options available for all people who have a disability. We believe the ACT and Australian Governments, the ACT Department of Education and the community should support people who have a disability, and who are about to leave school, in making an informed choice. This choice should include a wide range of options, just like every other student about to leave school.

Most people in society have many choices and options about their future. They are free to make any choice they wish and accept the consequences (negative or positive) of their choices and actions. People who have a disability are often pressured into choices they do not wish to make or that suit the best interests of the organisation or people helping them make their choice. Sometimes people who have a disability are ‘saved’ from the negative consequences of their choices. This interferes with their experiential learning about life.

Inclusion in the workplace

Advocacy for Inclusion believes that people who have a disability should be fully included in the workforce, not just integrated. Special programs often only create barriers between people who have a disability and the rest of the workforce. Similarly, having specialist staff to help the person who has a disability do their job may also create such barriers.

There is a need for better preparation for work for people who have a disability and also more job placements where people who have a disability have valued roles, resulting in inclusion.

It is the responsibility of the Department of Education to assist students in preparing for post school life more effectively by using programs designed to teach students workplace skills. There should also be closer links between the Department of Education and Disability ACT to ensure a smooth as possible transition from school to the workplace.

While it is important to provide programs in school to give students the skills required for work, it is equally important that students get a say in what kind of work they wish to do. Just because a school offers a program in hospitality this does not mean that all students wish to pursue hospitality as an occupation. Students should not be pushed into doing the hospitality course if that is not their preferred career choice.

Some argue that it is too expensive to modify a workplace for a person who has a disability. This is incorrect. There is a program available called the Workplace Modifications Scheme where the government funds workplace modifications or specialist equipment to enable a person who has a disability to be employed in a previously inaccessible environment. Items such as voice recognition software for people who have difficulty typing, vehicle related modifications and new furniture have been purchased through this scheme. There are no restrictions to what the scheme pays for as long as the application meets the eligibility criteria.

There are also several wage subsidy schemes where the government funds part of the wage of a person who has a disability, supporting employers to employ people who have a disability.

Community Access Groups

If employment is not available for a person who has a disability, community access programs are often offered as a day activity. Community access groups sometimes only integrate people who have a disability into society, not include them. Having a group of people who have a disability going shopping together being closely monitored by staff only creates an impression to the public that people who have a disability are different and have to be looked after, and therefore cannot be included members of society. This creates unnecessary barriers between people who have a disability and the rest of the community.

People who have a disability need post-school employment options that provide valued roles within society, not just ‘day care centres’. It is far more productive, for those who have a disability, the government that funds these programs, and society itself, if people who have a disability were learning how to do jobs that they enjoy and that were also valued roles in our society.

It is far more cost effective if funding is used to determine what roles people who have a disability enjoy and then assist each person to do these roles. People who have a disability would be able to earn an income, which would decrease the amount of funding required, it would boost self esteem and provide an opportunity for people who have a disability to be seen as contributing members of the community. It is better financial sense to invest in giving people who have a disability valued roles in society rather than funding organisations that enforce segregation from the rest of the community.

Sometimes there is also a presumption that people who have high support needs cannot work. This is not true. If someone wants to work they should be given the means and support required for them to work. There have been some very effective programs. An example is the Community Work Services Program.

The Community Work Services (CWS) Program was established in Maddison, USA, in 1984. It had a zero exclusion policy, had no entry criteria and took the view that it was not the service’s place to exclude people. The service aimed to achieve employment for all applicants. CWS is an open employment service and consistently maintained an annual job retention rate over 90% (excluding career development job changes). Over 95% of jobs were created as additions to staffing. Their client group included people who had a profound intellectual disability, a severe physical disability and severe behaviour problems.

Funding Issues

Advocacy for Inclusion believes that all people who have a disability should automatically get funding when they leave school to use for their post school options. This does not happen in the ACT. People who receive funding should also be able to make choices about how that funding is spent. Currently, only a limited number of students who have a disability receive funding post school. While the recipient is able to choose, from a list, which service provider to lodge their funds, an administration fee must be paid out of the allocated money. The allocation is further eroded if necessary services must be purchased from other providers.

Many service providers are forced to stop providing services to clients if the client also wants to use another service provider for a more complete service. This is very inflexible and highlights a need for more flexibility and choice in post school options funding. More government funding could be provided to support the provision of more relevant and worthwhile post-school opportunities.

Currently funding for post school options for people who have a disability who cannot work is only provided in years when the ACT budget has allocated funding for this purpose. The funds are limited and not all applicants are successful. In addition, even if a person has received support and been assessed as having a disability during their school years, they are still required to undertake a formal assessment before being considered for post school options funding.

All students who have a disability that receive support during their school years should be given automatic funding to use for the post school options they wish to pursue. All students who receive additional support from the Department of Education in recognition of their disability, have already been assessed, so further assessment is unnecessary and a waste of time and resources. It is more effective to meet with the student, their parents/carers, their educators and funding authorities to determine how much funding will be required to support the student’s access into the workforce and post-school life. These meetings must be held well before the end of their schooling to ensure a seamless transition from school life to after school life.

Summary

· Workplaces should be more open to employing people who have a disability and take advantage of the supports available to employ people who have a disability, and recognise that they can fill unique and valued roles in the workplace.

· People who have a disability have the right to make their own choices about how they live their life. More support must be provided to people who have a disability to assist them in making their own informed choices regarding post school options.

· Post school options should focus on giving people who have a disability valued roles in society instead of segregating them from the community. Post school options organisations should ensure they find out what valued role the person desires and then target their resources to make that happen.

· More funding is required to achieve a more flexible, effective funding system.

Sources

Disability ACT - “Post School Options information package”

Disability Coordination Officer - “Funding and Assistance”

Phil Tuckerman, ACROD NSW conference - “From School to Where?”

DADHC website www.dadhc.nsw.gov.au

DHCS website www.dhcs.act.gov.au

Back to Top

Home

"working with people who have a disability, families, friends and others for a more inclusive society"