Innovation Contracts

Listed below are projects CLBC has funded to help create sustainable, person-focused approaches to developing, funding and implementing needed supports and services.

2009 – 10 Innovation Contracts

This year, CLBC focused annual innovation funding on projects which support self-advocate and family capacity building.

  1. Find a Support Worker Website
    Recruiting support workers to address personal support needs and facilitate community participation is a challenge for people with disabilities and their families. In November, 2009 the Family Support Institute launched a website to provide individuals and families with the ability to create job profiles and connect with freelance support workers in their communities – www.supportworkercentral.com
  2. Family Capacity and Resiliency Project
    The PLAN Institute for Caring Citizenship will facilitate a series of meetings across BC with families, self-advocates, people from diverse cultural backgrounds, relevant community living stake holders and non-traditional partners to discuss new ways of thinking in the community living sector.
  3. Self-Advocates Seeding Innovation Project
    The British Columbia Association for Community Living will support self-advocate groups to build their capacity by promoting projects that build leadership skills and promote community engagement activities. These initiatives will identify and promote best practice for sustainable self-advocacy throughout the province.
  4. Supporting Self Advocates to Conduct Quality of Life Interviews
    Dr. Susan Powell will lead a project to train self-advocates to conduct quality of life interviews. This project is modeled on a cutting edge pilot operated by the Edmonton Region Persons with Developmental Disabilities Community Board. Project data will contribute to the development of CLBC’s overall quality assurance framework and help service providers to identify areas for ongoing service delivery improvements. For more information about this project, please click here to read the article in the June 2010 issue of The Citizen newsletter.

2008 – 2009 Innovation Contracts

In 2008 – 2009, CLBC targeted family governed projects which were developed by small groups of families who, as a group, arranged and oversaw initiatives needed by their family members with a disability or themselves.

  1. Family Based Economic Inclusion Project, now known as familyWORKS
    This project conducted research and established partnerships with families and economic leaders to identify and advance economic inclusion strategies for adults with developmental disabilities.
  2. Exploring the Options for People with Disabilities
    A day-long workshop was organized for people living in the Quesnel area on home ownership, wills and estate planning and the registered disability savings plan by the project governance group.
  3. Langley Community Living Housing Coalition
    Through research and partnerships with government and the private sector, this coalition explored a variety of mixed housing options for adults with a developmental disability. Goals included accessing a greater number of rental subsidies and exploring housing developments in Langley with a disability component.
  4. Family Education and Leadership Project
    Using regular monthly opportunities for families to gather and share information and learn from guest speakers, and educational retreats for families and siblings, Korean families focused on increasing their awareness about person centered options and identifying solutions to individual family needs.
  5. The Friendship Project
    This project provided workshops and practical assistance to help young adults in the Comox Valley to form and keep friends. Other key outcomes included creating a permanent network to continue the project once funding ended and an increased willingness by local citizens to establish relationships with marginalized people.
  6. Beaver Valley Sibling Workshop
    The governance group initially planned to conduct a two-day sibling workshop in the BC interior to teach siblings, families and service providers how to implement a quality sibling group in their own home communities. However, they were unable to interest workshop participants, and after rethinking local needs, the governance group decided to partner with Selkirk College to offer a support worker training course. The Beaver Valley Respite Certification Course has been launched and will graduate its first students in January 2011.
  7. Parenting Threads Newsletter
    The governance group issued a newsletter to share information and resources and support networking with parents in the BC interior. The newsletter contributed to the organization of social meetings and family gatherings where additional information and resources were shared.
  8. The Smithers Food Exchange Project
    This project developed a family governed sustainable low cost food outlet that provided a number of adults with developmental disabilities with employment. Low income families in the Smithers area were also able to gain access to affordable products.

2007/ 08 Innovation Contracts

Family Governed Projects

In 2007/08, CLBC targeted innovation funding for family-governed projects:

  1. The Boy Inside Community DVD project used a DVD about Autism Spectrum Disorder [ASD] to facilitate public dialogue events on issues faced by families with children and youth with ASD.
  2. The Supporting Everyday Lives project addressed the needs of a group of adults with complex needs by improving access to, and providing training for, skilled staff and providing coordination support to families who carried core responsibility for managing all aspects of their sons and daughters supports. The project also identified individualized housing options.
  3. The Mi-Ride Transportation project established a Community Inclusion Driver Strategy in Grand Forks, Christina Lake and Greenwood. The goal was to identify drivers to act as the primary transportation provider for up to 15 people who had difficulty accessing their community due to limited transportation options.
  4. The Parent Advisory / Community Resource Builder project assisted senior parents to address the needs of their sons and daughters. Key goals were improving quality of life by creating community connections and developing friendships. A resource guide of community groups, agencies and services that can be accessed to build social and community connections was also developed.

2006/07 Innovation Contracts

Young Adults Community Options Initiative

Four applicants representing service providers and family groups received funding to support young adults who had left school within the last three years to obtain employment or engage in meaningful community activities. Three one-time only contracts were awarded. Gibsons Family Network and Summerland Community Support helped young adults create businesses while CBI Consultants Ltd. conducted a research project to support people with significant disabilities to gain supported employment opportunities. A three-year contract was awarded to Theatre Terrific’s Classic Project to produce a play that featured a cast of both disabled and non-disabled actors.