Disability Services and Strategy
The Ministry of Social Development is leading the development and implementation of the Provincial Disability Strategy, a key component of government’s third Great Goal: “Build the best system of support in Canada for persons with disabilities, those with special needs, children at risk, and seniors.” The Strategy’s objective is to provide for a flexible, comprehensive, and integrated system of support for all British Columbians with disabilities to allow them to participate more fully in the province’s social and economic life.
Initiatives under the Disability Strategy are focused in five areas:
- Integrated Services and Citizen-Centred Service Delivery
- Personal Supports
- Housing
- Accessibility and Inclusion
- Employment and Income
Disability Services
The Advocate for Service Quality can help ensure adults with developmental disabilities and their families receive high quality service from Community Living BC, the Ministry of Social Development, from other ministries, or from service agencies in the community.
The Government of British Columbia recognizes that persons with disabilities want to achieve greater independence. For those with disabilities who are not able to work, the ministry provides the security of income assistance along with additional supports such as medical coverage, PharmaCare and dental and optical coverage.
An annual pass for public transit systems is available to assist eligible individuals to participate more fully in their communities.
CLBC delivers a range of supports and services throughout British Columbia to individuals with developmental disabilities, children with special needs and their families. A list of programs offered through CLBC can be found on their Website at www.communityliving.bc.ca.
The Office of the Ombudsperson receives enquiries and complaints about the practices and services of public agencies within its jurisdiction. Their role is to impartially investigate these complaints to determine whether public agencies have acted fairly and reasonably, and whether their actions and decisions were consistent with relevant legislation, policies and procedures.
http://www.ombudsman.bc.ca/
Employment Program for Persons with Disabilities (EPPD) provides a range of specialized services to assist individuals with disabilities to participate in their communities, pursue their employment goals as they are able, increase their self-reliance, and build skills and experience leading to employment opportunities.
Transition planning for youth with special needs identifies opportunities and experiences during their school years that will help them better prepare for life as an adult. Transition planning can assist youth in securing employment, pursuing post-secondary education and fully participating in community life.
The Minister’s Council on Employment and Accessibility is a forum comprised of members from the business, NGO, and government sectors as well as families and individuals with disabilities that advises the Minister of Social Development, as the lead of the Provincial Disability Strategy, on solutions and strategies to increase employment and inclusion for persons with disabilities.
Program Initiatives
Challenging businesses and communities in BC to increase the number of employed persons with disabilities by 10 percent by the year 2010. The challenge provides the focus, inspiration and tools to encourage employers and communities to explore ways they can increase employment for persons with disabilities.
The DSEF is a $25 million fund that provides grants through the Vancouver Foundation to the charitable, non-profit sector in BC and augments the array of employment supports offered by the Ministry of Social Development. It funds innovative projects that provide disability supports to enhance the capacity of agencies and communities to assist adults with disabilities secure and retain meaningful employment, self-employment and volunteer work. www.vancouverfoundation.com
This site contains information about and links to programs that provide equipment and assistive devices or other personal supports to persons with disabilities in British Columbia. You can also obtain this information by calling the Toll-Free Personal Supports information line at 1-888-818-1211 (TTY 1 800 661-8773).
WorkAble Solutions is an initiative to connect BC employers to persons with disabilities by providing valuable employment resources and support. One WorkAble Solutions tool is a job posting website which houses hundreds of job seeker profiles and a variety of employers who are posting new job opportunities everyday.
Disability Strategy Partners
The Disability Strategy recognizes that government alone cannot meet all of the needs of persons with disabilities. A key focus of the Strategy, therefore, is working collaboratively with our partners – other governments, community agencies, and private sector organizations – to provide persons with disabilities with the supports that will help them achieve their goals. Some of these partners are listed below.
