Yorkton Branch
DAY PROGRAM:
Individual – Choices, Control, and
Opportunity
SARC FALL CONFERENCE - October 2016
OVERVIEW
 1) Who we were
 2) Reasons for change
 3) What we thought we needed to do
 4) What actually happened
 5) Lessons learned
 6) Questions and answers
WHO WE WERE
DAY PROGRAM
 Quality of Life Centre
 Facility-based leisure and social activities and personal care
needs.
 Training Centre
 Sewing, assembly, sales from other Training Centre, and paper
shredding.
 Community-Based Programming
 Groups of people out into the community to do things.
REASONS FOR CHANGE
• Society and Individual’s expectations.
• Charity Model vs. Citizenship Model.
• Sustainability of present model.
• Community inclusion.
• Shift to One-page Profile PCP Model.
SOCIETY & INDIVIDUAL’S EXPECTATIONS
 Model being used today conceived in the 60’s & 70’s.
 “Is a model that segregates people for purposes of service
delivery appropriate?”
 “Can the preferences and aspirations of individuals be fully met
in this model?”
 Recent experience:





Referral rates declining to Day Program and increasing to transitioning
youth into employment.
Government reducing use of institutional service – Valley View closure.
Individuals seeking support elsewhere.
New models developing across the province: Creative Options Regina
(COR) and Saskatchewan Alternatives Initiatives (SAI).
Individualized funding.
CHARITY MODEL vs. CITIZENSHIP MODEL
Charity
Citizenship
Attitude towards Individuals with a
disability
Pity
What can you do?
Who is in control?
Professional
Individual
Community’s role
Give
Receive
Community involvement
Segregation
Integration / interdependence
SUSTAINABILITY OF PRESENT MODEL
 Increasing competition for products and services in
the Training Centre.
 Decreasing productivity as people age, seek services
elsewhere and transfer to the Tillman Quality of Life
Centre.
 Decreased support for “sheltered workshops”.
DEFINITION OF COMMUNITY
 “Communities are places or entities where each
member can give something, where they can
contribute something that they feel especially able to
give, something they are good at. The gift from each
member is valued by the whole community and all
gifts are unique and individual. The gift that the
community gives back to each member is that of a
role and a connection.”
- Ed Margason
PERSON CENTRED PLAN
WHAT WE THOUGHT WE NEEDED TO DO
 Phase out the Training Centre by December 31st,




2017.
Create job carved positions within our own
operations.
Create a mechanism for individuals to be supported
in volunteer opportunities of their choice.
Facilitate employment for individuals (less than 15
hours/week) who did not meet the mandate of
Partners in Employment in the community.
Expand the number of volunteers interacting with
individuals in the facility-based programming.
WHAT WE THOUGHT WE NEEDED TO DO
 Support individuals in entrepreneurial ventures.
 Evolve our facility into a community centre.
 Replace Training Centre revenue with other sources
of revenue.
 Change our organizational structure.
 Hold a stakeholder meeting to announce the
changes.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
Individuals have:
 Become engaged in employment opportunities in the community and at the
branch.
 Become engaged in volunteer opportunities throughout the community
with some now independent in their positions.
 Started their own businesses.
 Exposure to more customized activities through the utilization of
volunteers.
 Split their time between involvement in a variety of agencies that offer
support.
 Person Centred Plans that are “live” documents reviewed quarterly.
 Increased options – life skills classes taught by a teacher, team meetings,
and ownership of program development.
 Informed decision making – hours of programming and type of
programming support (i.e. at employment site vs in facility).
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
RESTRUCTURED STAFFING MODEL:
 Hired a Community Inclusion Specialist to focus on developing and
supporting individual and group volunteering events in the community.
 Hired an Employment Specialist to focus on developing vocational work
skills within individuals, secure work experiences throughout the
community and secure casual and part-time employment for individuals.
CREATED EMPLOYMENT ALIGNED WITH COUNCIL WAGES
 Created 7 part-time job carved positions within the branch for individuals
who were in the Training Centre program. These individuals are now
being fully integrated into the staff of the Yorkton branch.
 $12.92/per hour starting wage.
SINCE APRIL 2015:
 The number of the individuals in the Training Centre went from 20 people
to 4 people. The majority of people have secured part-time or casual
employment while the remainder have retired from the Training Centre
and are accessing other aspects of the Day Program.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
THE DAY PROGRAM HAS
 Developed a cooperative business model whereby




individuals involved in the work share the proceeds of the
contract amongst themselves.
Supported two individuals create their own businesses.
Transformed the Training Centre lunchroom into a coffee
lounge which now serves as a drop-in centre.
Offered our facility to community groups as meeting place,
more work needs to be done in this area.
Revamped our organizational structure through staff
attrition by not replacing a management position and
reducing the number of program coordinators from 3 to
one.
LESSONS LEARNED
 Community Development and
partnerships are crucial.
 Transportation to and from the
Ability Centre is a challenge,
especially accommodating
individual needs versus group
needs.
 Individuals leaving the
Training Centre more quickly
then we anticipated resulted in
us having to cancel some of the
commercial work contracts we
had in place – close Dec.
31/2016.
 Scheduling supports as we
provide more individualized
programming instead of group
programming.
 The need to offer more
consistent support to
individuals starting their own
businesses.
 Communicating our changes to
the community.
 Ensuring all staff is on the
same page as the old “rules” or
way of doing things no longer
applies.
CONCLUSION
 By no means is our journey over, it is just beginning
as we assist individuals to find his/her “gifts” they
can contribute to the community and we help the
community to be accepting of those gifts.