For Ontario adults with intellectual disabilities and their families, finding and accessing much-needed resources is often a confusing and challenging process.
READ MORE:Yonge Street reports on the province's developmental sector
This challenging process, according to two Toronto nonprofits in the sector, is often compounded for families from ethno-culturally diverse backgrounds.
According to
Community Living Toronto and
Developmental Services Ontario - Toronto Region , a one-size-fits all model to supporting adults with intellectual disabilities is not sufficiently responsive to the diverse backgrounds of the many people with whom they work.
In order to address this disconnect, the Ontario Trillium Foundation has provided a $115,100 grant to the two organizations for a two-year project aimed at making navigating the services "easier and more inclusive."
The new program--Diversity in the Developmental Services Sector: Increasing Capacity and Sustainability Initiative--is billed as a project that "recognizes the urgent need to support adults with intellectual disabilities and families of various cultures, faiths, backgrounds and beliefs."
The grant will help both umbrella organizations train staff at specific member agencies on how to better assist people with intellectual disabilities from
all communities. The hope "is to increase the sector's capacity to respond to diversity while removing barriers to service access for ethno-culturally diverse families."
"Given the growing needs of culturally diverse families with children who have an intellectual disability, we are very thankful to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for providing us with this grant," says Sue Lynch, regional executive director at Community Living Toronto.
"This partnership will enable us to increase capacity to 37 member agencies to respond to diversity, as well as to improve access for families to developmental services through culturally-sensitive information, outreach and education. We will be working directly with Developmental Services Ontario - Toronto Region, which coordinates access to all services and supports in Toronto for all individuals with an intellectual disability over 16 years of age."
Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Community Living Toronto