Policy 6 : Valued Status

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 to provide its clients with access to well planned skill development activities by agency employees and volunteers who are properly trained and supervised themselves to provide such training. Skills development should be aimed primarily at equipping clients to participate in activities that enable them to achieve valued roles in the community. The policy has been framed around Standard 6 of the Disability Services Standards (1993).

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

The following procedures are to be implemented to enable the agency to meet its policy objective of ensuring that clients developed needed skills and achieve valued social roles in the community.

The agency will:

1. Structure its programs and services in a culturally normative and age appropriate manner.
2. Design and deliver its training programs and activities in a culturally normative and age appropriate manner.
3. Ensure that every client has a current, written training and development plan that builds on existing competencies and increases the prospect of fulfilling valued roles in the community.
4. Involve the client, family members and/or advocates in the training and development component of the individual service plan for the client and invite them to state their preferences with respect to the training that they would like to receive.
5. Make every effort, within available resources, to accommodate the client's skills development preferences.
6. Wherever practicable, deliver training to clients in appropriate community settings.
7. Ensure that agency staff and volunteers are properly equipped to co-ordinate and/or deliver the skills development activities specified in the client's training and development plan.

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 Valued Status.
2. All employees have been provided with a copy of the agency's Policy on Valued Status and a staff copy of the policy is kept in each service outlet.
3. Clients live in agency operated or supported homes that conform as closely as possible to prevailing community standards and which offer opportunities for maximum privacy, security, comfort and community involvement.
4. Clients receive out-of-home respite in settings that, as far as is practicable, are appropriate to their age, gender, cultural background and support needs.
5. Clients engage in community access and training activities that build on existing competencies and increase the prospect of fulfilling valued roles in the community.
6. All clients have a current, written training and development plan.
7. Agency staff and volunteers are properly equipped to co-ordinate and/or deliver the skills development activities in accordance with the Policy on Staff Training and Development.