Inclusion of People with Disabilities You Can Lead the Way

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Inclusion of People with DisabilitiesYou Can
Lead the Way

• AJFCA 2009 Conference
• Jewish Family and Childrens Service of
  Minneapolis
• Presenter Shelly Christensen, MA
• Program Manager

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The Current Landscape

• Direct Support Services
• Person-Centered Planning
• Special Education
• Housing
• What does your agency provide?

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Trends in Inclusion

• Identification of a spectrum issue by
  synagogues, agencies and community organizations
• Not just about kids anymore
• Growing autism spectrum diagnoses
• Ready to respond and act

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Jewish Values Inclusion

• Bzelem Elohim
• Abraham and Sarah
• Moses and Aaron
• Miriam and the People

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JFCS of Minneapolis

• Early leadership role
• Identify the need
• Fund the Inclusion Program
• Create the model to effectively address the
  challenges within the Jewish community
• 2003 Goodman Award-Program is cutting-edge
  replicable

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Inclusion in Family Service Agencies

• A great match!
• Woven into existing programs
• Establishes leadership within the community as
  the resource on inclusion and disability issues
• Creates new client and volunteer opportunities
• Builds on collaboration model

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To be known you have to be shown.

• Zadie Max Horn

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What is Inclusion?

• the act of including the state of being
  included
• the act or practice of including people with
  disabilities in community life
• to take in as a part of a whole or group
• inclusive describes a group or organization which
  tries to include many different types of people
  and treat them all fairly and with respect

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Minneapolis Jewish Community Inclusion Program
for People with Disabilities

• The mission of the Inclusion Program is to lead
  the Jewish community to become inclusive and
  welcoming, where all people with disabilities
  have an opportunity to fully participate in
  educational, spiritual, social and recreational
  activities

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Raising Awareness

• Identifies common issues and needs
• Invites organizations at many levels to take
  responsibility for inclusion of people with
  disabilities
• Puts a face on the others
• Builds relationships with Jewish organizations
• Promotes collaboration

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Educating the Community

• Assume good intentions, teach the basics
• Open the door for questions
• Evaluate community collaboration opportunities
  for training
• Disability Awareness Training
• Teach like a lighthouse-scan Jewish organizations
  for opportunities
• Sermons
• Speakers including people with disabilities
• Jewish Disability Awareness Month

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Consultant

• Portal for people with disabilities families
• Provide information, insight and maintain
  understanding of collaborative process
  problem-solving
• Resource connection
• Facilitation of inclusion process for synagogues
  and agencies

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Advocacy

• Community Voice of Inclusion
• Recognized as the go to person on inclusion
• Raises awareness in your agency
• Advocates to expand or develop services
• Supports self-advocates and parent advocates
• Liaison between your agency/Jewish community and
  disability agencies

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Collaboration

• Bring Jewish organizations together to create
  training, programs and educational opportunities
• Community-wide events
• Jewish Disability Awareness Month
• Interfaith Inclusion initiatives
• ALWAYS seek collaborative partners develop
  those relationships

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Building Partnerships

• Synagogue and organizational professional and lay
  leadership
• Jewish organizationstogether we can do amazing
  things
• Secular disability organizations
• Funding organizations
• Within your agency
• No one does this alone

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Ask the Question

• What are we doing to support Jews with
  disabilities?
• What can my agency do to be a leader in the
  community response?

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We Listened

• Synagogues, schools, and agencies asked JFCS to
  develop a mechanism to systematically develop
  their own inclusion plans
• What they got was a broad-based guide book of the
  components that are necessary to encourage
  meaningful participation in the Jewish community
  by people with disabilities and their families

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The Roadmap to Inclusion

• Jewish Community Guide to
• Inclusion of People with Disabilities

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Matching Intentions to Action
Good intentions alone not accompanied by action
are without value. The main thing is the action
as this is what makes the intention so
profound. Yehudi Hakadosh
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Community Liaison Committee

• Purpose
• Build relationships around inclusion
• Share challenges and resources and discuss
  solutions
• Stream information back to the organizations
• Develop community collaborations
• Create ownership of inclusion at the
  organizational level-including using the GUIDE
  and Jewish Disability Awareness Month

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Inclusion Committee

• Purpose
• Raise awareness
• Keep inclusion on the front burner
• Be the internal go to committee. Resource to
  individuals with disabilities, families and
  professional staff
• Ownership of the inclusion initiative belongs
  here
• Facilitate the assessment and visioning processes
  in the GUIDE
• Maintain the organizational Inclusion Plan

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Self Assessment

• Self-assessment can draw professionals lay
  leaders into the process. Questions designed to
  help them think differently.
• Meet with professional staff, including rabbis,
  education directors, executive directors, youth
  directors, camp directors, and some committee
  chairs to learn what challenges they face, to
  learn what they are currently doing in their
  areas and what changes they have made.

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Envisioning the Future

• Outside facilitator
• Brainstorm
• Imagine the future
• Define goals and priorities
• Develop an Inclusion Plan

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Weaving Inclusion into the Fabric of Your
Community

• Options for Family Service Agencies
• Sponsor Inclusion Roundtable or Liaison Committee
• Training professionals, lay leaders, staff,
  religious school students, parents, peers
• Congregational Support
• Inclusion at your Agency
• Jewish Disability Awareness Month

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Inclusion Roundtable

• Convene a group of interested community
  organizations to discuss inclusion and the
  challenges
• Ask any organization that has called you for
  resources and information to join you
• Opportunity to identify common needs and
  opportunities for the next step--training

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Training in the Community

• Training event
• Seminar One for synagogue professionals and lay
  leaders about roles, establishing a committee on
  inclusion
• Seminar Two for inclusion committee chairs and
  assigned staff person about assessments and
  vision for inclusion
• Follow-up with each congregation
• Peer, staff parent training

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Congregational Support

• 411 on disability issues and inclusion
• Refer to agency staff to meet with individuals
  and families
• Participate in events
• Problem-solve
• Share resource information trends

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Inclusion at Your Agency

• All Jewish organizations have a responsibility
• Assess current practices
• Make recommendations
• Review policies and compliance issues
• Expand communication
• Increase client base
• Disability awareness training staff development
• Join the community as a participant in
  inclusionWalk the Talk

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Turning Challenges into Opportunities

• Increasing programs and services
• Expectations from the community

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Jewish Disability Awareness Month

• Communities across North America
• Supported by Association of Jewish Family and
  Childrens Agencies, United Jewish Communities,
  Orthodox Union, United Synagogue for Conservative
  Judaism, Union for Reform Judaism, Jewish Special
  Education Consortium

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Jewish Disability Awareness MonthFebruary 2010

• Time to implement inclusion plan
• Highlight achievements and needs
• Engage as community partner
• Begin the dialogue
• Programs, training, events
• Resources on the web

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Questions Answers

• For more information contact
• Shelly Christensen
• Program Manager
• Jewish Community Inclusion Program for
• People with Disabilities
• Jewish Family and Childrens Service
• of Minneapolis
• schristensen_at_jfcsmpls.org 952-542-4838