Disability inclusion which makes a difference

 

 Disability inclusion which makes a difference

 

I like many of my disabled friends feel dejected, with all the cuts going on every where we turn, no one really wants to know. No matter what we do and try, it just seems like no one wants to listen. I know that my friends and I have unsuccessfully been working with various organisations including the government, both local and national on matters of inclusivity and participation, in all manner of ways. One of the main issues with current thinking in both national and local politics is that participation and inclusion always seem to happen after decisions are made.

Many officers both nationally and locally beaver away writing polices and carrying out Equality Impact Assessments, then as required by law put these out for consultation. Views and responses are given but little seems to change. I’ve seen many an impact assessment done where the writer really does not have any ideas of the needs of the disabled communities and writes almost a standard response. This results in various communities like disabled people setting up challenges to the decisions via judicial reviews, based on authorities not taking heed of what has been said to them.

Having worked in local authorities in the past, I’ve always thought this to be a waste of time and effort, in the long run not actually financially efficient anyway. “But hold on” you say, “aren’t the authorities just doing what the law says?” My counter would be “yes, but it’s not working and there is a better way”.

How about including the communities from the beginning? Officers should not write policies! Instead, at the start stage of a policy or decision, how about including the communities in the writing policy process? So the needs of the people are considered at the beginning of the process not at the end when the policy is already written. This way the policy is written with the people contributing to the issues which can be included and resolved before the policy is written. If this truly happens then is there really a need for impact assessments?  The policy will already state that it has been written with all relevant communities or protected characteristics as known under the Equality Act and their participation can be shown via the inclusion and changes made.  

To make this happen, the people in authority, who are supposed to work for the public, need to let go of the power they hold. They need to help the communities manage the processes instead of creating them. Let the people who know best lead the way. Can this work? It already is!

My disabled friends and I, all of who went through a Partner In Policy making course last year, were invited to meet with Lincoln University. They were interested in the group being included in participating in the Social Care Work degree course. Right from the start a difference was felt by all participants of the group, all issues with regard to access, parking and the actual needs of the participants including  venue and timing of the meetings where catered for.

The group included a cross representation of people with disabilities and carers. It soon became evident that the people managing the course were actually interested in what we had to say and wanted us to be involved. This lead to a number of meetings, where we worked with university staff in designing from the bottom up the recruitment and selection for the next tranche of Social Workers who would study at Lincoln for the next three years. Our views were listened too and included, resulting in an assessment type process, which included all members of the group actually participating in the design and delivery of the recruitment process. 

This involved designing a video based group session where small groups watched a clip from a news report of the Winterbourne review, and discussed it with students whilst group members were watching and helping to facilitate the discussions. To carrying out individual practise assessments with the students based on them being able to gather essential and relevant information in an empathetic manner, almost like an actual Social Services assessment and finally, being involved in the interview process with university staff, asking questions that we had earlier helped  develop.

On the day the university told the students that we have been involved in designing the process, and at the meet and greet meeting, I told all the students that they would be going through almost a process from the interview stage that would help them see if this is what they actually wanted to do and from our point of view, we would actually be having an effect on the future of social work. As I said to the students, in three year’s time you might be sitting in my house talking to me, and I want to make sure I and my colleagues get the best service we can. 

From the feedback from all parties, the two days of interview we have been involved in were a great success for all parties concerned. The university got their involvement, students applying got a feel of what it would be like to meet and talk to clients and the people from the disabled community felt heard, involved and felt that they may just had made a difference to the future of Social Care. We’d actually had a choice in who might be visiting us! It doesn’t stop there.  We already have six dates for this year where our participation and involvement will continue through this process and work is ongoing as to how the disabled group can actually help further by helping to deliver the course.

On discussion and reflection my friends and I feel that at last we’re actually being included, listened to and what we have to say has value. It’s not all been easy as being involved has, due to our disabilities made us feel tired, but this does not take away from the smiles we all have at the end of each day.

This is what participation and inclusion should be about. Involved from the beginning Ihelping the organisation all along the way through the process. The people who the policies affect are right there from the start, not just giving their opinions but helping the organisation develop and implement the needed processes. The benefits to this are obvious in the long run; it’s a win win situation for all concerned. If only we could work with other organisations who can take the time, to learn what inclusion and participation really means.