Service+History+of+ILRC

**Dr. Zephania Matanga** **July 29, 2010** ** Introduction ** In this paper, a historical examination of an organization called the //Independent Living// //Resource Centre// will be conducted. Furthermore, its mission, mandate, level of community support, funding scheme and genesis will be discussed. More importantly, the ways in which the conservative and social democratic ideologies have informed how disability welfare has emerged will be explored. For example, early on, the conservative ideology of deserving and undeserving consumers informed disability service provision. It was not until the 1960s, when the social democratic concept of participatory democracy was applied to the disability service provision. which led to the emergence of the ideological philosophy of independent living. The paper will conclude by discussing the historical development, at a global level, of societal attitudes towards persons with disabilities and how they have changed over time; and how that, in turn, has been reflected in the emergence of Canadian welfare policies. ** The Mission and Mandate of Independent Living Resource Centre ( ILRC) ** The non-profit organization I have chosen to illustrate the ideas outlined above, is the Independent Living Resource Centre (ILRC) which is located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. As Kelly (2010) enunciated, “ Support provision organisations are often centered on a mandate” (p. 104), which is “a foundational statement outlining an ideological approach to disability and support provision” (p. 104). Therefore, it is critical to examine the mission statement and mandate of the ILRC and how it informs the execution of its service provision. The mission statement of ILRC states that it “is a consumer controlled organization that promotes and enables citizens with disabilities to make choices and take responsibility for the development and management of personal and community resources” (ILRC, 1984, p.1). In order to operationalize its mission statement, the ILRC developed a mandate whose purpose is: · to establish an Independent Living Resource Centre which will encourage the self-determination, self-help, and participation of all people with disabilities in the community, · to develop several specific Independent Living Programs such as: peer support, self-managed attendant care, information and referral services and individual advocacy, · to research community and individual independent living issues and proposes alternative service models to fill in gaps in service as they are identified, and · to provide workshops in identified problem areas and stimulate public education about independent living ((ILRC, 1984, p.2). The mission statement and the mandate of the ILRC are in line with the participatory citizenship theme. Under this theme, people are encouraged to participate in the development of the policies and the delivery of services that affect them. This ensures that the policies and services instituted accurately addresses their needs. Their inputs are valued at every stage of policy development and service delivery. This is contrary to the old welfare theme of dependency which characterised the treatment of persons with disabilities since time immemorial. It also has had a huge influence on the development of welfare policies which were predicated upon the idea of the undeserving and the deserving.    ** Level of community support and funding scheme **   In Manitoba, like throughout Canada, the disability population has continued to grow as the older population increases. For example, according to Statistics Canada, in Manitoba the disability population in 2001 was 147,580. Then it increased to 169,170 in 2006 (Statistics Canada 2006). ** There is no doubt that the growth of people with disabilities poses formidable challenges to public policies and social systems because a society’s needs change as the proportion of people with disabilities increases (Moon & Mulvey, 1996). The community level support for the ILRC stems from its appeal to the cross-disability agenda and its network of grassroots organizations for the disabled. For example, in the 1980s, through its national network with the Council of Canadians with Disabilities, it influenced the Canadian government to address the disability issues within the context of Section 15 of Charter of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms enshrined in the Canadian Constitution. ** In the Manitoba context, the ILRC joined with other disabled organizations such as Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities to encourage the provincial government to initiate legislation intended to safeguard the rights of Manitobans with disabilities. This resulted in a number of legislative initiatives including Bill 13. In terms of funding, the ILRC has an annual budget of two million dollars. Funding for its core programs, which is about four hundred thousand dollars, comes from the Manitoba Department of Family and Housing. Some of its core programs involve the training of personal care attendants and the training of persons with disabilities to advocate on their own behalf. Furthermore, ILRC receives about one million six hundred thousand dollars annually for time limited projects from various foundations, and federal and provincial government initiatives. An example of one of their time limited projects was the establishment of a provincial technology-based learning network, developed and designed with the input of people with disabilities (primarily adults) in Manitoba, with the intent to promote increased control over the supports that impact their lives. **A brief history of the Independent Living Resource Centre** According to Dunn (2002), “ government policies and programmes in Canada have been slowly evolving from a focus on institutional care to traditional programmes in the community. Now, a new paradigm of services is emerging which emphasizes the concepts of independent living ” (p 216). The concept of establishing independent living resource centres originated in Berkley, California. It was “ as a result of grass-roots efforts to re-conceptualize disability issues and their solutions and to change public policy” (Dunn, 2002, p. 216). T he inception of the independent living philosophy stemmed from the challenges experienced by four disabled students who had just graduated from university in 1972 (DeJong, 1994). Upon the termination of their services, owing to their graduation, they were confronted with two unpalatable choices - either to go back to their parents or be institutionalized. However, they did not take up either of these choices and came up with their own living arrangements. They rented apartments and engaged attendant care. From this humble beginning an Independent Living Centre was established with new services such as peer counselling, wheelchair repair, advocacy, and legal services ( DeJong, 1994). As a consequence, about two hundred centres were established in the United States. More importantly, legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act was instituted to ensure funding was provided. The concept of establishing independent living resource centres was introduced in Canada in the 1980s. The first Independent Living Resource Centre was established in Kitchener, Ontario in December in 1982. Then, among others, the Winnipeg centre was opened in February, 1984. The establishment of such centres was mandated by “ the report Obstacles, undertaken by the federal Special Parliamentary Committee on the Disabled and Handicapped (1981). This report documented the major barriers confronting people with disabilities throughout Canada, making 130 recommendations” (Dunn, 2002, p. 216) The concept of independent living was modelled around the ideas of civil rights, equality, self determination and participatory citizenship. These ideas can be accomplished by people with disabilities by strengthening their community-based organizations and through a process of deinstitutionalization. Thereby, moving disability organizations from a permanent state of dependency to the development of self-sustaining programs. This is a shift from the authoritarian medical model to the application of the individual empowerment paradigm through which one can define and meet one's own needs. As articulated by DeJong (1994), unlike the medical model, the independent living model locates problems or deficiencies in society, and not in the individual. Under this approach people with disabilities no longer see themselves as broken or sick, and certainly not in need of repair. Therefore, remedies to their challenges should be centered on changing the society’s attitude and stereotypes about people with disabilities. That is, fixing society, not people with disabilities. Most important, decisions must be made by individuals with disabilities, not by the medical or rehabilitation professionals who serve them. Using these tools, people with disabilities began to engage in self-empowerment activities and self-directed pursuits, as opposed to being passive victims, objects of charity or cripples. They began to view disability as a natural, not uncommon, experience. **The impact of the theme of participatory democracy on the emergence of the** **philosophy of independent living** As enunciated by ):   “ In the history of Canada, various approaches have been utilized to address the needs of individuals with disabilities. First Nations people offered supports for people with disabilities within their bands in a collective fashion. Early European settlers provided services in the community for individuals with disabilities who were considered deserving, although many ended up in poorhouses or jails. By the mid-nineteenth century, people were placed in newly built permanent institutions which, over time, grew in size and specialization” (p. 222).    More importantly, the provision of services to persons with disabilities was informed by religion in the early days and a scientific interpretation of disability in the latter days. From a religious perspective, disability was viewed “as the result of sin. This tradition punished, separated, and restricted people with disabilities. It barred them from full participation in the Church and its rituals” (, p. 101). Such an approach justified the institutionalization of persons with disabilities. It is important to note that, “However, as Christianity developed, a second tradition emerged that saw people with disabilities as needing compassion and that God accepted everyone” (Covey, 2005, p. 101). Regardless of this change in attitudes towards people with disabilities, Christianity still retained its charitable view of disability and categorization. Scientifically, Gleeson (1999) stated that, “the medical explanations of disability informed law and institutional practice in Western countries until recent decades. The medical model alleges that disability is sourced in individual 'deficiencies' or physical 'abnormalities’. The medical approach is deeply conservative because it focuses on individual limitations rather than the deficiencies of society. (p. 11) Furthermore, based on the medical conceptualization of disability in Ontario and the four western provinces the “idea that a person with an intellectual impairment needed protection was the main justification of the asylum model of care from 1860 to 1890. By the end of the 19th century there was pressure to build more institutions because these provided places in which to confine people with mental illnesses and intellectual impairments” (2003, p. 207). Therefore, the Canadian government policy towards people with disabilities was informed by the medical interpretation of disability for over two centuries. It was not until “the late 1980s and 1990s those government policies began to shift toward the independent living principles of consumer control, choice and flexibility. Housing adaptation programmes were expanded to include more types of modification and some universal housing features” (Dunn, 2002, p. 222). It was during these period disabled organizations run by disabled persons for disabled persons were established and funded directly by the government. This also led to the formation of the Winnipeg Independent Living Resource Centre. ** Conclusion. **   A non-profit organization in Southern Manitoba, the Independent Living Resource Centre was discussed in terms of its mission and mandate within the ideological framework of the independent living philosophy which emphasises participatory democracy. This is contrary to the social policy of dependency which characterized the treatment of people with disabilities for centuries. In addition, the level of community support and funding mechanism of ILRC were briefly described. Finally, a brief history of the ILRC and noted changes in how it has provided services to people disabilities were discussed. ** References ** Covey, C.H. (2005). Western Christianity’s two historical treatments of people with disabilities or mental illness//. The Social Science Journal, 42, 101-114.// DeJong, G. (1994).Toward a research and training capacity in disability policy. //Policy Studies Journal, 22(1), 152–60.// Dunn, P. (2002). The evolution of government independent living policies and programmes for Canadians with disabilities. //International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 25//(3), //215-224.// Gleeson B. (1999). Beyond goodwill//. The Materials and view of disability Social Alternative, 18 (1), 11-17**.**// Independent Living Resource Centre (1984). //The Independent Living Resource Center: Mission// //Statement/Mandate.// Retrieved Mar. 25, 2010 from www.ilrc.mb.ca/sub/about/index.html Jongbloed, L. ((2003). Disability Policy in Canada an overview. //Journal of Disability Policy studies. 13// (4)//.//   Kelly, C. (2010).The role of mandates/philosophies in shaping interactions between disabled people and their support providers.  // Disability and Society 25, 103-120. //  Moon, M. & Mulvey, J. (1996). //Entitlements and the Elderly: Protecting Promises, Recognizing Realities//. The Ubarn Institute Press. Washington, D.C. ** Scharlach, (1994). **Care giving and Employment: Competing or Complimentary Roles? //Gerontologist, 34, 378-385.// Statistics Canada, (2006). Retrieved Mar. 25, 2010 from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut- 
 * Service History: Independent Living Resource Centre**