Policy 5 : Participation and Integration

Community Enterprise Inc. is a non-profit organisation established for the purpose of supporting people with disabilities and their families living in the Shire of Hidden Valley.

The services offered by Community Enterprise include group home accommodation, in-home respite, out-of-home respite, home help and community access.

Community Enterprise is a non-profit, community organisation which is governed by a management committee elected annually by the members. Community Enterprise receives all of its operating funds from the Western Australian Government in the form of an annual grant.

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the agency's services are designed and delivered in ways that offer opportunities for physical and social integration in the general community. The policy has been framed around Standard 5 of the Disability Services Standards (1993).

This policy applies to all of the agency's programs and activities.

The agency is committed to ensuring that, wherever practicable, clients:

• Have access to the same places as the rest of the community.
• Receive their services in community settings alongside other members of the community.
• Have the opportunity to socialise and build relationships with members of the wider community.

The following procedures are to be implemented to enable the agency to meet its policy objective of ensuring that clients enjoy maximum participation and integration in and with the community.

The agency will:

1. Structure its programs and services to be provided in a way that facilitates the integration and participation of clients with other members of the community.
2. Build into the agency's programs strategies to make the greatest possible use of community facilities and services.
3. Use community facilities and services in a manner and at times that co-incide with those of the wider community.
4. Select volunteers on the basis of their own involvement and connection with the wider community, amongst other attributes.
5. Involve other members of the community in the integration of the agency's clients in participative community activities.
6. Collaborate with other community groups, and their members, to facilitate the inclusion of agency clients in their activities.
7. Avoid large group activities for clients that are likely to have the unwanted effect of stigmatising or excluding them from community contact, acceptance or involvement.

The following performance standards must be met to ensure that the procedures specified in Section 4 are implemented effectively:

1. All clients and their families or advocates have been provided with a copy of the agency's Policy on Participation and Integration.
2. All employees have been provided with a copy of the agency's Policy on Participation and Integration and a staff copy of the policy is kept in each service outlet.
3. The agency's programs and services have been structured in a way that facilitates the integration and participation of clients with other members of the community.
4. Agency volunteers are themselves well connected and involved with the local community.
5. The agency has collaborated closely with community groups and clubs that offer recreational, sporting or other activities of interest to the agency's clients.
6. The agency has arranged its community activities in manner that minimises the possibility of stigmatisation or exclusion of its clients.