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Slide Show from "Lessons From Advacacy on Behalf of Children and Youth with Disabilities " Presentation
By Janis Douglas
Slide 1:
Creating a Profile:
- We needed to create a profile for our issue
- Show how certain groups are vulnerable in particular ways and are excluded from the benefits of what society has to offer.
- i.e. Don’t Exclude Our Children
Slide 2:
Raising the Profile:
- Building of alliances and coalitions
- i.e. - National Children’s Alliance, Canadian Coalition for Family Supportive Policy
Slide 3:
Research - We need statistics to tell the story
- Almost 30% of children in Canada are vulnerable to poor outcomes in childhood development, which
places them at risk for poor outcomes in adult life (in terms of education, employment, employment).
- More than 500,000 children and youth with disabilities live in Canada
Slide 4:
Children with disabilities and aboriginal children are disproportionately represented in welfare systems & out of home care
Children with disabilities are more vulnerable to violence, abuse & exploitation: 39 – 68% of girls & 16 – 30% of boys, both with intellectual disabilities will be subject to sexual abuse before age 18; (The Roeher Institute)
Rates of disability are 5 time higher in families with lowest income compared to highest income (McKeever, Angus, and Spalding, 1998).
Slide 4:
Access to specialized aids remains an issue for children largely because of cost. About one half
of children with disabilities requiring specialized aids did not have all the aids that they needed.
Of these children, 55% reported cost as a factor in acquiring the specialized aids they need. The additional
costs of caring for a child with a disability has direct impact on household income. The average income of
households with children with a disability was over 10% less than households with non-disabled children. (Stats Canada, 2003)
Slide 5:
Engagement
- Family Networking
- Value Based Tools
Slide 6:
Policy Development - coherent policy agenda:
- framework is overarching
- inclusive lens
- guiding principles ensure the well-being of all children
- examination of current policies and practices
- demonstrates considerable effort to ameliorate the unacceptable gap in meeting the
social development needs of populations of vulnerable children & their families.
Slide 7:
Creating a preliminary framework:
- Combining research, and consultations with key stakeholders
- NCA, disability community & families have consistently identified the following areas:
Inclusive life-long learning; Healthy Active Living; Disability Supports; Aboriginal Children;
Fostering Safe & Supportive Environments; Sustainable Monitoring Mechanism.
Slide 8:
Building & Advancing an Agenda:
- Recognition that main elements for a framework are not mutually exclusive, nor
do they comprise the totality of the necessary investments
- Undertake a detailed examination of the various element’s that would promote & enhance the
development of quality and responsive social policy for all children & in particular , vulnerable
populations, such as children with disabilities (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal).
- Ongoing evaluation of priorities
Slide 9:
Inclusion Lens:
- Understanding that developing and implementing an inclusive children’s public policy agenda is not about
improving policy for children with disabilities; it is about improving it for all children. When policy is
reflective of all children everyone benefits.
- Particular benefit by profiling & prioritization of the particular vulnerabilities that lead
to social exclusion and limits the aspirations of these children and their families to be achieved.
Slide 10:
Carve Out Specific Pieces
Examples:
- Child Disability Supplement
- Youth Disability – to extend from 18 to 25 years
- Child Care
Slide 11:
Linking of Children & Family Agendas:
- Can’t delink children’s from family issues
- Investments in strong family support policies is one of the first steps in building
a family enabling society and removing barriers to improving the well-being of all children in Canada.
Slide 12:
Strategic Incrementalism:
- Articulating the agenda – short, medium & long term
- Via tax systems, through F/P/T arrangements on an incremental and strategic process
Slide 13:
Solidarity:
- Need to build solidarity and a policy agenda that is driven at the Federal,
Provincial/ Territorial and Aboriginal government levels.
- Need to create and sustain the kinds of alliances such as the National Children’s Alliance at the Provincial/Territorial levels.
Slide 14:
Community Outreach:
- To strengthen partnerships & build capacity and the development of effective & cohesive social policy,
we must effectively engage all stakeholders.
- Need to find ways to enable the capacity of our organization and others working with children,
to build bridges, develop relationships & partnerships cross-sectorally & to engage all stakeholders.
Slide 15:
CACL website: www.cacl.ca
The central mandate of the Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL) is to
address the economic and social exclusion that people with a disability and their
families endure from birth. Many children are excluded from recreation opportunities,
childcare, and their neighbourhood school and regular classrooms. Families are excluded
from their communities and parents of children with disabilities and adults with disabilities
are excluded from the labour market. For children this exclusion results in lost opportunity
to develop relationships with their peers, to play and to learn to their optimal capacity and
to share their contributions with other children in Canadian society.
Slide 16:
Contact Information:
Janis Douglas:
jdouglas@cacl.ca
(416)661-9611
Canadian Association for Community Living
Kinsmen Building, York University,
4700 Keele Street, Toronto,
ONTARIO
M3J 1P3
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