exist so that people can live in their homes.
NSRAA agencies now typically provide residential support for home living for adults, although we do have agencies that continue to support children in children’s homes, as well. I think it is fair to say the main focus is for adults now and as we progressed into that community living option, what used to be quite informal when it began has become quite formalized. KW: Yes, the majority of the service providers provide support to adults. There are a number of service providers that have dual services for children and adults – about three or four agencies out of the group. “That’s what community living is: community solutions.” But it’s important to note that a lot of the adults who we support now were those same kids coming back home from the training centres in late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Many of them can say that they grew up in the community with their family. Under the Homes for Special Care Act, the process is much more regulated and there’s still a lot of room for improve- ment. It really wasn’t tailored for home living or living in the community in the 21 st century. It is quite dated and still needs a lot of improvement. Amending or changing the Special Care Act is a constant state of affairs and certain- ly we work very closely with governments to try to come up with solutions that work better. There’s a great deal of due diligence that needs to be done and then coordinat- ed on the community and government ends of things. It may require an act of the Legislature to motivate the kind of change we want to see on the provincial level. Are most people surprised when they learn that yours is a struggle that invokes the most basic statutes of the United Nations and Canadian Human Rights Act? HS: Yes, absolutely. People don’t realize, usually, how much change there still is to make in Canada. What motivates these changes is a process we call ‘Transformation,’ which will inform you a little bit about the government’s efforts.
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MAY 2017 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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