The ministerial policy promoting the social participation of people with disabilities asks the CRDITED (Centres de réadaptation en déficience intellectuelle et en troubles envahissants du développement/Intellectual disability and pervasive developmental disorder rehabilitation centres) to transform their service offer, placing more emphasis on providing support for the various living environments of these individuals and to other players (families, care and school facilities, community organizations, municipalities, etc.).
Yet, across the province of Quebec, there are various initiatives calling on new practices involving many players, about which we have very little knowledge, in particular concerning the motivations and collaborative methods used by the various players as well as their effects.
The initiatives that were documented during the study highlight the new needs of disabled people and their families.
The present research was designed to document emerging practices in employment and housing insertion in Quebec. Other research goals included detailing what constitutes an improvement in the social participation of people with disabilities, and observing how the players involved in the documented initiatives tie themselves to employment-housing-income programs and policies.
The initiatives that were documented during the study highlight the new needs of disabled people and their families, reflecting our new representations of people with intellectual disabilities and their new aspirations. The results also show that there is a surge of new players in the service offer, such as health and social services centres, and that community organizations are particularly present. Now the employment and housing sectors are being called on to work together to support the social participation of people with disabilities, often through access to various programs, including income support programs.
In summary, the emergence of new needs in people living with an intellectual disability presupposes the development of new players to ensure that these needs are met, and actions that are increasingly cross-sectoral. This new context raises important issues and challenges in terms of the sharing of responsibilities between the various players, interfaces between these players, and a harmonization of relevant ministry policies.
Main researcher
Lucie Dumais, Université du Québec à Montréal
Deposit of the research report: February 2010