Advocacy for Inclusion

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

Position Paper

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Accommodation and People who have a Disability:
Towards Approaches that are Flexible and Responsive to Individual Need

This Paper contains objectives and practical suggestions that relate to an inclusive living approach. Advocacy for Inclusion recommends the Paper be used to establish a guiding philosophy that will under-pin practice when supporting people who have a disability to live in the Canberra community.

Introduction

A home of our own is a common desire for most people in modern Australian society. A place where we are totally comfortable and can express our individual tastes, likes, dislikes; reflect our personalities; gather around us those with whom we want to share our lives. A place where we have choice – where it is, what it looks like, whether it’s a house or a flat, has a native or vegetable garden or a concrete back yard, whether there are pets, whether we live alone or communally. A place which nurtures our spirit and from which we can step out into society and take our place as contributing members before returning to the security and comfort of our own space.

If the marvellous social justice, human rights, anti-discriminatory campaigns of the last decades are to mean anything then everyone’s home, including those of people who have a disability, should reflect elements of the ideals above. 1

The development of community housing and services for people who have a disability has been a national policy direction since the Commonwealth Disability Services Act 1986. The administrative structures supporting community services are typically promoting congregate and agency-controlled approaches to housing and personal assistance services. This is unfortunate and unacceptable. Policies to move to a more suitable range of accommodation options are needed now. Redirected funding options to implement desirable policies are needed now. While the number of people living in institutions and large facilities has decreased, a large number of people residing "in the community" live in residences owned and controlled by someone else. In many instances, housing and personal assistance services are dictated by government and agency preferences, rather than by the needs and desires of people who have a disability. Conventional approaches seldom ensure that people who have a disability are afforded control over, or even a voice in, the most basic decisions regarding where they live, with whom they live, the nature of the assistance they receive, and how they spend their time.

Issues

1. Housing programs do not easily accommodate or advance affordable, accessible, inclusive housing for all Australians.
   
   Commonwealth funds flow predominantly to state and territory housing authorities that offer limited housing options for people who have a disability. Commonwealth, state and territory policies have predominately financed programs, providers and buildings, as opposed to people, services and support.
   
   
2. There is a nationwide shortage of single-family housing that can accommodate the needs of people who have a disability.
   
   Most single-family housing is not physically or financially accessible to people who have a disability. In many areas high property values and rent costs prevent people who have a disability from entering the housing market. Funds need to be secured to make single-family homes physically and financially accessible. There is an ongoing need for collaboration and regulations that result in new homes being built with universal and adaptable design.
   
   
3. Individualized personal assistance is rarely available to people who have a disability.
   
   A majority of the funds available for services to people who have a disability are allocated to expensive institutional and facility based services. People who have a disability are prevented from obtaining affordable, accessible, and inclusive housing in part because of the lack of adequate individualized personal assistance to meet their daily basic needs. Public funds are flowing to agencies, not people. Therefore, agencies have a significant financial stake in sustaining congregate housing models in which housing and supports are inextricably intertwined.
   
   
4. The general public is not knowledgeable about the benefits gained when people who have a disability obtain affordable, accessible, and inclusive housing in communities.
   
   There are few examples of people who have a disability having affordable, accessible, and inclusive housing in the community. Citizens, lenders, people who have a disability and their families, builders, realtors, lawyers, and judges are often unaware of the benefits of people who have a disability owning their homes. Education must be provided that celebrates successful inclusive models and gives specific and useful details and examples of people who have successfully achieved affordable, accessible, and inclusive housing highlighting the benefits to people who have a disability and the community as a whole.
   
   
5. People who live in facilities and people who require intensive personal assistance are uninformed about the possibilities of affordable, accessible, and inclusive housing.
   
   People who have a disability, who live in facilities and who require intensive personal assistance are often not considered capable of having affordable, accessible and inclusive housing. In order to maintain a facility's financial base, people who have a disability are not informed by the people providing assistance, of possibilities relating to affordable, accessible and inclusive housing. Agencies (at all levels) who provide services to people who live in facilities and who require intensive personal assistance should be required to offer information, explorative experiences and actual support to implement affordable, accessible and inclusive housing.
   
   

Objectives of An Inclusive Living Approach

People who have a disability should have the opportunity to pursue a lifestyle that is of their choosing. Governments, agencies and the community can support people who have a disability to make, and to bring about their choices, and to participate meaningfully in the community. Objectives of an inclusive living approach are as follows:

• To ensure that people who have a disability are afforded the opportunity to direct all aspects of their lives, including planning for their economic well being; where they live, how they receive their services and supports.
  
  
• To improve access to inclusive, affordable, and accessible housing coordinated with, but separate from, personal assistance and supportive services;
  
  
• To work toward and advocate for systems change at the local, level and the collaboration of the government and non-government sectors; and
  
  
• To offer progressive alternatives to approaches that segregate, congregate, and control people who have a disability.
  
  

Inclusive Living in Practice

Inclusive living for people who have a disability, is achieved when it is difficult to distinguish the living arrangements of people who have a disability from those of others living in the community. Practices relating to inclusive living are as follows:

• People who have a disability should have the same tenancy and ownership rights as other people, including the option of owning, renting or leasing their own home, flat or apartment;
  
  
• People who have a disability should have the opportunity of living in homes that are free from the conflicting relationship of landlord and service provider. Support services should be provided by separate organisations to those that provide accommodation, so that an individual’s home is not jeopardised by a change in their relationship with a service provider;
  
  
• Services and supports should be provided in such a way that they maintain or strengthen the personal relationships and social networks of people who have a disability. When government and service providers become involved in the lives of people who have a disability, they should not disrupt existing networks and connections, but seek to support and strengthen relationships and help build connections with the community;
  
  
• People who have a disability should have the maximum control possible over their personal assistance and other support, and be independent of service agencies in making these. decisions;
  
  
• Supports must be designed to be individualized and flexible, as people with similar needs may prefer different solutions. When people have difficulty expressing choices, independent facilitation and/or an appropriate support person should be available; and
  
  
• People who have a disability should have access to the personal assistance necessary for them to use community resources.
  
  

As part of inclusive living arrangements, people who have a disability need allies who will:

• Work with them to define what matters to them;
• Support them to make genuine choices;
• Find or create forms of personalized assistance;
• Work with them to develop a system of support so that they can pursue the goals that matter to them; and
• Help them to resist intrusive and disrespectful practices.

Summary

Communities need to become inclusive of all people, recognising the unique contributions that people who have a disability make to community life.

All people in society share the responsibility to create inclusive communities.

The work of creating inclusive communities and an open society is not essentially a matter of resources, but how we think about people who have a disability.

All people who have a disability:

• Are entitled to inclusive living opportunities, and should be supported to attain them;
• Have the right to live in their own communities and pursue their own lifestyles; and
• Should play a central role in the design, operation, and monitoring of any support they receive.

1. Advocacy for Inclusion strongly believes children who have a disability should live in a family environment

Sources
The Centre for Housing and New Community Economics (CHANCE) www.chance.unh.edu
O’Brien J. (1993) Supported Living: What’s the Difference? Responsive Systems Associates, Centre on Human Policy, Syracuse University.
Rachino J.A. & Taylor S. J. (1993) “People First” – Approaches to Housing and Support” in Rachino J.A., Walker P., O’Connor S. & Taylor S. J. (eds.) Housing Support and Community: Choices and Strategies for People with A disability. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Maryland, USA.

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