DESSA Strategic Development Plan 2006 – 2009

Introduction

The rationale for DESSA is to support the work of local Community Development Projects (CDPs), Family Resource Centres (FRCs) and Regional and Specialist Support Agencies in understanding disability issues, devising strategies for including people with disabilities, implementing actions and generally striving to ensure equality for disabled people. Community development projects are ideally placed to play a central role in the mainstreaming of supports and opportunities for disabled members of their communities. DESSA enhances the capability of such projects to develop actions and ways of working to ensure the full involvement and inclusion of people with disabilities within their work.

DESSA, the Disability Equality Specialist Support Agency, was established in 2001 to work with community development organizations in promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities at community level through their involvement in community development activity. At local level, many people with disabilities continue to live their lives largely separate to the community within which they reside. Many people with disabilities do not avail of the supports offered by community development projects and in turn many projects are not supported in meeting the needs of people with disabilities, their families and carers. It is here that DESSA plays a vital role in promoting inclusion.

DESSA’s broad strategies of capacity building, networking and policy development will ensure the active and equal participation of people with disabilities in community development activity, in local community life and in Irish society as a whole.

DESSA Vision

People with disabilities will fully participate in local community development activities.

DESSA Mission

DESSA will pursue the active involvement and full participation of people with disabilities in society by delivering strategic supports to community development organisations.

The Strategic Aims of DESSA

DESSA has identified three strategic aims in the areas of:

  1. Capacity Building
  2. Policy Development
  3. Networking

Strategy 1

To enable, support and provide capacity building strategies within community development organisations and with people with disabilities within local communities.

Rationale:

Capacity building is a key principle of community development. It refers to the process involved in working with the target group to facilitate them in developing their own skills to identify and develop their own aims and objectives. For this reason capacity building has been identified as the first strategic aim of DESSA.

Strategy 2

To undertake relevant policy development to raise awareness of disability issues within the community & voluntary sector.

Rationale:

In establishing a policy development role DESSA will, through the Programme, raise awareness of disability issues within wider society and use the information and experience gained to influence national policy.

Strategy 3

To build sustainable alliances within the community & voluntary and disability sectors, working in partnership towards the inclusion of people with disabilities.

Rationale:

Networking with other agencies in all sectors is necessary in order to share information, import valuable expertise into DESSA, learn from the experiences of others and play a strategic role in shaping policies within a variety of fora. It may prevent unnecessary duplication of actions and/or policy development and has the potential of leading to partnership arrangements in carrying out specific actions.

Comment on Strategies

Strategy 1 Capacity Building Activities

DESSA’s Training & Development Programme (Objective 2) will enable community development organizations to develop knowledge and tools to combat exclusion and establish good practice systems within projects. The training programme comprises of separate training courses, which complement and consolidate existing skills and knowledge. In 2006 the courses which will be delivered to projects are:

  • Disability Equality Awareness Training;
  • Equality Proofing; and
  • ‘Access Inside Out’ information seminars.

The delivery of the Training & Development Programme will take place on a regional basis, and on a project basis in response to demands. For many, participation in training is the first point of contact between projects and DESSA. The training supports offered to projects in 2006 will be conditional upon projects’ commitment to undertake work in the inclusion of people with disabilities. It is through this follow-up work that DESSA provides the concrete supports required by projects to engage with disabled members of their communities.

Training support will also be offered to regional and specialist support agencies and departmental staff this year. DESSA’s Equality Proofing training is designed to assist support agency staff to implement Disability Equality Proofing in both their own agencies and in their work with the organisations and groups they support on a regional basis.

Objectives 6, 7 and 8 are interrelated in that work in one area builds and complements aspects of other activities. In 2006 DESSA will work in partnership with the Forum of People with Disabilities to develop and deliver the Claiming Our Rights Programme (Objective 6). Initiated by the Forum of People with Disabilities in 2005 this programme aims to provide disabled people with the necessary skills and experience to become effective advocates in their local area and within the national arena. Claiming Our Rights is about creating a new and different reality perspective as to how disabled people participate in local community structures and infrastructures. Community Development Projects (CDPs) and Family Resource Centres (FRCs) will provide part of a broader mainstream gate way enabling such participation. It is envisaged that the Claiming Our Rights Programme will build on the work that commenced in 2005 with the Making Choices Programme and the Step Forward Group Development Programme.

The Making Choices Programme (Objective 7) is the first step for CDPs and FRCs in targeting local disabled people. It has two objectives;

  • 1) to build the capacity of local disabled people through Disability Equality, Personal Development and Information focused modules; and
  • 2) to give local disabled people the opportunity to participate and experience activities within community development organisations such as CDPs and FRCs.

The Making Choices programme is a proactive strategy to engage with local disabled people who may have no previous involvement and/or understanding of community development projects. The programme is tailored to suit the needs of individual community projects.

The Step Forward Group Development Programme (Objective 8) builds on a process of awareness raising and support undertaken by DESSA with projects since 2004. Running over six one-day sessions, the programme is targeted at local disabled and non-disabled people who are interested in disability issues and want to become more informed so that they can take steps to influence policy and effect change locally and nationally. The programme is aimed at giving participants an understanding of disability within an equality context with a view to building the capacity of the group to work with CDPs and FRCs in accessing community structures and networks.

The Childcare Inclusion Programme (CIP) (Objective 9) aims to develop a model of good practice for the inclusion of disabled children within FRC and CDP childcare settings which contributes to the overall mainstreaming of disabled children within their communities. This programme will support childcare service providers in the Eastern region to take a proactive approach in ensuring the full inclusion and participation of disabled children within their childcare programmes by providing specialised training and supports. The programme will be sustained and mainstreamed through a Training for Trainers Programme which will be an ongoing resource within the region.

The Childcare Inclusion Programme entails the following elements:

  • Audit of Community Childcare provision in FRCs and CDPs vis a vis the participation of disabled children
  • Inclusive Play and Policy Training Programme within an Equality Framework for Childcare Staff and Childcare Management Committees
  • Training of Trainers Programme for Childcare Staff and Childcare Management Committees
  • Development of a good practice guide in inclusive childcare provision
  • Establishment of an Inclusive Play Network

Galway Forum Theatre (Objective 10) is an interagency western-region project initiated by DESSA in 2005. Forum Theatre is a rights-based methodology in which audiences are facilitated by disabled actors to participate in a short piece of drama. The audience is then asked to challenge & change the drama through practical advocacy and community-based pathways. A group of disabled people will be recruited to complete sixteen one day training sessions which will build their skills in Forum Theatre. The Galway Forum Theatre group will establish a stand alone independent troop of actors who will deliver Disability Equality Workshops highlighting barriers to inclusion using this methodology. This work has grown out of a similar project developed in the North East since 2004, expanded upon below.

Strategic Aim 1: Capacity Building

Objectives

Actions

Anticipated Outcomes

1. Disseminate information about DESSA to all strands of the CDP and FRC Programmes and to the Community & Voluntary and Disability sectors.
  • Update web site
  • Send out regular targeted mail-shots and policy documents
  • Issue newsletter
  • Awareness of DESSA among all elements of the CDP and FRC Programmes, the Community & Voluntary Sector and the Disability Sector

2. Support community projects in meeting their own skills and development needs around the issue of disability through the provision of Training & Development.
  • Delivery of Training & Development Programme 2006
  • Acquisition of skills enabling projects to increase the participation of people with disabilities within their work

3 Delivery of Disability Awareness Training to CDPs and FRCs on request.
  • Delivery of Disability Awareness Training
  • Evaluation of training
  • Support follow up actions identified by projects
  • Awareness of issues of disability and exclusion
  • Knowledge of models of disability
  • Identification of Action Plan to promote increased participation
  • Identification of further training needs
  • Enable projects identify the participatory needs of people with disabilities
  • Enable projects draw up guidelines and codes of practice that are positive to disability

4 Delivery of Equality Proofing Training to regional and specialist support agencies and Dept. of Community, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs.
  • Delivery of training
  • Evaluation of training
  • Facilitate agencies in making use of legislative equality frameworks in their work with projects

5 Delivery of Access Information seminars
  • Delivery of training
  • Evaluation of training
  • Support follow up actions identified by projects
  • Awareness of access issues and the built environment as a factor in the inclusion of disabled people
  • Identification of practical ways to make community facilities accessible

6. Develop and deliver the Claiming Our Rights Programme in conjunction with the Forum of People with Disabilities
  • Identify CDPs and FRCs who will act as a gateway to local disabled people.
  • CDPs, FRCs and local disabled people will analyse and explore effective means of participation in the local community infrastructures.
  • Evaluate the most effective ways of creating meaningful change at a local level and how this can impact on policy at regional and national levels.
  • Demonstrate and communicate to local disabled people and the wider community the pathways of participation.
  • The community development sector to act as a gateway to proactively attract local disabled people to local mainstream community infrastructures
  • The effective involvement of disabled people at all levels within local community development structures including positions of power in social, cultural and economic spheres of influence.

7. Making Choices Programme
  • Engage with local CDPs and FRCs to promote and deliver the Making Choices Programme.
  • Develop working relations with Dept. Social & Family Affairs, Disability Service Providers and other agencies in rolling out the programme.
  • To build the capacity of local disabled people through Disability Equality and Personal Development and information focused modules.
  • To give local disabled people the opportunity to participate and experience activities within community development organisations such as CDPs and FRCs.

8. Promote, co-ordinate and deliver the Step Forward Group Development Programme.
  • Engage with local CDPs and FRCs to promote and deliver the Step Forward Group Development Programme.
  • Promote awareness among local disabled people
  • Deliver and evaluate the Programme
  • To build the capacity of local disabled people through Disability Equality and Group Development modules.
  • Groups of disabled people located within CDPs and FRCs
  • Inclusion of local disabled people in the social, cultural and economic activities within their community

9. Manage the Childcare Inclusion Programme
  • Undertake a widespread consultation process with CDPs and FRCs working to include disabled children in mainstream play and childcare settings.
  • Ascertain the practical needs of childcare workers and management committees in providing an inclusive service.
  • Develop working partnerships with parents, disabled children and childcare providers in the Eastern region.
  • Develop a working relationship with disability service providers and educators.
  • Deliver a tailor-made training programme to play and childcare workers and members of voluntary management in the principles of inclusion, inclusive play practice and policy development.
  • Set up an inclusive play network in the region.
  • There will be trained, knowledgeable and confident childcare staff able to respond to the needs of disabled children within their services.
  • Due to training of childcare workers and management committees in inclusive provision, an increased number of children with disabilities who might otherwise be placed in segregated settings or denied access to any childcare will be enrolled in local child-care settings.
  • There will be an increased number of parents of children with disabilities in an inclusive child-care setting who engage with their local childcare service provider.
  • There will be a greater understanding of difference in that children from a young age will learn about diversity and tolerance.

10. Forum Theatre Galway
  • Promotion and recruitment of participants
  • Delivery of Forum Theatre Workshops
  • Evaluation
  • Trained and skilled actors to conduct Disability Equality Awareness seminars using Forum Theatre
  • Establishment of an independent and developed Forum Theatre Group
  • Sustainable employment for a group of disabled people

Strategy 2 Policy Development

The learning and experience gained by both DESSA and CDPs and FRCs who have worked with DESSA will be documented in the Opening Doors into the Community; Cast Study Tool Kit (Objective 1). The aim of this Case Study Tool Kit is to highlight models of good practice in a manner which deciphers the learning as it is broken down into logical steps. The Case Study Tool Kit will be used to encourage other projects to understand the clear stages in developing disability work which will ensure the inclusion of disabled people within their communities.

The aim of the Inclusion in Childcare Seminars (Objective 2) is to support community childcare service providers to take a proactive approach in engaging with the relevant stakeholders to ensure the full inclusion and participation of disabled children in their childcare programmes. Many community development organizations are involved in some form of childcare provision from pre-school support to summer projects.

Community childcare service providers can play a role in opening up opportunities for disabled children and their parents to participate in a more inclusive way in their communities. These opportunities lie in the support services that they provide to families, whether in pre-school, play school, after-school or summer camp provision.

As a result of these seminars community childcare service providers will be informed about policy and practice in the development of inclusive services for children with disabilities both in terms of service provision and accessible play areas. In keeping with the partnership approach and ethos of our work, DESSA will engage with partnership companies, county and city childcare committees, the HSE and other agencies engaged in social inclusion work in the co-ordination of the seminars.

Strategic Aim 2: Policy Development

Objectives

Actions

Anticipated Outcomes

1. Develop and disseminate the Opening Doors into the Community; Case Study Tool Kit in conjunction with the Forum of People with Disabilities.
  • Develop the Case Study Tool Kit on implementation of good practice in projects
  • Provide support for the implementation of the Case Study Tool Kit as required
  • Implementation of practical strategies that enable projects be positive to disability in the areas of accessibility of services, participation on voluntary management committees and consultation with people with disabilities

2. Promote ‘Inclusion in Childcare’ best practise among community-based childcare service providers and agencies involved in childcare provision
  1. Co-ordinate two regional seminars on exploring inclusive best practise in the south-east and north-west
  2. Establish networks of relevant stakeholders to oversee seminars and seminar outcomes
  3. Develop a ‘how to’ guide on inclusive practise for childcare providers
  1. Awareness of the value and benefits of inclusion in childcare
  2. Access to community-based childcare for parents of disabled children
  3. Increased contact between disabled children and their peers within the community setting
  4. Development of practical skills among childcare workers, managers and management committees

3. Influence the development of disability policy and practice within the statutory and community & voluntary sectors
  1. Delivery of training to Departmental staff in Equality Proofing in the context of the Disability Act 2005
  2. Promoting awareness of legislation
  1. Awareness of statutory responsibility under the Disability Act 2005

4. Promote the value and role of using a community development approach in the inclusion of people with disabilities
  1. National conference
  1. Heightened awareness and increased confidence in the value of community development process as a way of including people with disability within society

Strategy 3 Networking

It is in using the principles of community development that DESSA tackles issues of exclusion and inequality that affect people with disabilities. In doing so DESSA adopts a partnership approach to its work In 2006 DESSA will maintain established working relations with organisations such as the Forum of People with Disability, Disability Federation Ireland, Centres for Independent Living (CILs), Chesire Ireland, Comhairle and many more. In 2006 DESSA will work on agreed joint projects with Comhairle, the Forum of People with Disabilities, several childcare committees and the following Partnership companies:

  • Paul Partnership in Limerick;
  • Dublin Inner City Partnership;
  • Galway Rural Development,
  • Galway City Partnership and
  • Donegal Local Development Company.

DESSA plays a vital role in linking the community & disability sectors, and is proactively engaging community and disability organisations, at a local level, in identifying and implementing joint actions to promote the participation of people with disabilities. DANE, Disability Awareness North East was an interagency pilot project initiated in 2004 which focused on the development of Forum Theatre to develop the active involvement of disabled people in awareness-raising in the region. In 2005 DANE evolved and an independent group of disabled actors called Disability Awareness Forum Theatre (DAFT) emerged. DAFT is working within the community and disability sectors to deliver Disability Equality workshops using the methodology of Forum Theatre. The DAFT group is rooted in the community development sector not only by the ethos and approach they use but also by the direct supports they receive from a local CDP and the Regional Support Agency. While DESSA prepares to withdraw from this project, DAFT will continue to access supports from local community development projects in 2006.

As part of its policy development remit DESSA will provide information on the National Disability Strategy in 2006 through the delivery of information seminars and the provision of information via our website and newsletter and will continue to support organisations in rights-based initiatives.

Strategic Aim 3: Networking

Objectives

Actions

Anticipated Outcomes

1. Network with organisations of people with disabilities:

  • Disability Federation of Ireland
  • HSE
  • National Disability Authority
  • Forum of People with Disabilities
  • Schizophrenia Ireland
  • Chesire Ireland
  • Mental Health Alliance
  • Inclusion Ireland
  • People with Disabilities Ireland PWDI
  • Centres for Independent Living CILs
  • Disseminate information on DESSA
  • Formal Presentations on DESSA work
  • Development of Training Programme Content and Delivery
  • Awareness of DESSA among Disability organisations
  • Development of a partnership approach to joint projects
  • Expertise of specific Disability organisations reflected in quality of DESSA’s support to projects
  • Recognition of value of DESSA within the Disability community

1.a Liaise with Regional Support Officers from DFI and regional networks of CILS.
  • Develop working relationship with regional support officers and regional networks.
  • Formal linkage of disability and community groups at a local level.

2. Network with and support specific elements of the CDP and FRC programmes.

2.a Consultations with regional support agencies and networks of CDPs.
  • Disseminate information
  • Consult with projects and take feed back around specific initiatives and the general work of DESSA
  • Awareness of DESSA and supports available to projects

3. Build working relationships with relevant agencies in the statutory, community and voluntary sectors.
  • Invite inter-agency participation in the rolling out of DESSA activities
    • Inclusive Play Seminars
    • Forum Theatre
    • Making Choices Programme
    • Step Forward Group Development Programme
    • Claiming Our Rights Programme
  • Awareness of DESSA within the Community & Voluntary Sector

4. Maintain support the development of Galway Forum Theatre Project
  • Facilitate inter-agency meetings of Galway Forum Theatre Project
  • Access funding support to undertake Galway Forum Theatre Project work
  • Deliver training programme
  • Develop Forum Theatre methodology as a training tool
  • Evaluation of Galway Forum Theatre Project
  • Disabled people delivering disability equality awareness training in the Western Region
  • Training and employment opportunities established for local disabled people

Accountability Framework

The purpose of structured evaluation is to ensure the effectiveness of DESSA. Specifically, it is to assess the extent to which the number of people with disabilities, who are actively involved in the Programme and in their local communities, increases.

The evaluation methodology can be divided into two strands:

1. Self Evaluation Strategies

Self-evaluation will form a central part of the ongoing evaluation of DESSA and will be carried out in the following ways:

  • Staff meetings
  • Management committee meetings
  • Consultation with CDPs and other groups involved in DESSA’s work
  • Evaluation of specific events

2. Twice Yearly Review and Planning Sessions

These daylong sessions will be facilitated by an external facilitator and will involve members of both management committee and staff.

Role of DESSA Management Committee

The DESSA management committee continues to play an active and full role in the implementation of the work-plan and the ongoing development of the agency.

In 2006 eight DESSA Management Committee meetings will take place to oversee implementation of the DESSA Strategy Document 2006 – 2009 and specifically, the DESSA 2006 Workplan.

References

  • Access Inside Out: A Guide to Making Community Facilities Accessible was published by DESSA in July 2005. The aim of the guidelines is to support projects in proactively creating accessible community environments.
  • In light of the Disability Act 2005 Equality Proofing training will be offered to staff of the Community & Voluntary Services, Department of Community, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs and the Family Support Agency.
  • Inclusion means everyone having the right to choose to take a full part in all local services - and in being equally welcomed and able to do so. Inclusive provision is open and accessible to all and takes positive action in removing disabling barriers so that disabled and non-disabled children can participate.
  • DESSA, Forum of People with Disabilities, Comhairle, Club Rea Loughrea, Galway Rural Development and Galway CIL