Not letting a serious crisis go to waste

Neil Crowther, October 2013

‘You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.’

Rahm Emanuel

Crisis, which crisis?

Crisis facing EU countries not only economic Crisis of old assumptions and ways of doing

things Crisis of failing to adjust to demographic change Crisis of failing to accept new place in the world Crisis of European social model and post war

welfare states Crisis of trust in institutions, politicians Crisis of social solidarity and resilience – space

for extremism

But is it a crisis for disability rights, or an opportunity that we must not waste?

“It is perhaps ironic that many of us spent the 1970s criticising the welfare state, only to find that these arguments were built upon and taken much further by a government determined to reduce state expenditure. Consequently we spent the 1980s defending what we had previously attacked. In sum, we defended the indefensible and I do not propose to spend the 1990s doing the same”

Mike Oliver

Is not a crisis for disability rights because most of our ideas have yet to be realised…

…we are defending something we don’t want and largely failing without securing an alternative

‘Our duty to take part in the building of society’

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them” - Albert Einstein

“it’s no good continuing to fight our battles within the context of the intellectual and political space which the disability movement has very effectively carved out over the last 20-30 years. Instead we have to carry those concepts and ideas into the wider arena of not only social policy but also economic policy” – Jenny Morris

“As disabled persons have equal rights, they also have equal obligations. It is their duty to take part in the building of society” –

UN World Programme of Action on Disability 1981

The fundamental problem

“public policy remains entrenched in the 1960s-era all-or-nothing approach to serving people with disabilities, in which a person must demonstrate inability to be productive to be deemed eligible for critically important supports.”

US National Disability Council 2011

From social welfare state to social investment state?

A nations social & economic wealth is its people Need to use resources to invest in ‘wealth creation’ Opportunity to posit supported decision making,

independent living and inclusive education as investments in developing the capabilities and contributions of disabled people

Getting more out of the resources we have Building blocks of an inclusive and sustainable

recovery

Rethinking independent living

Not ‘every man is an island’ About ‘being in the world’ Freedom for a person to interact with and within their

community on equal terms, for it is that interaction that sustains inclusion, prevents isolation, and though which our will and preferences can find expression.  

Focus on opening up communities, not closing down institutions

To do so we need to…. Focus on how to use resources most productively by

measuring and demonstrating value Promote an asset-based rather than deficit-based

approach supporting people to ‘be & do’ Enable people to assume responsibility & direct their

own support Develop the ‘choice and control’ architecture as part of

an overall shift to supported decision-making Release the cap on innovative solutions by focusing on

outcomes not processes & trusting people to take control

Remove costly red-tape and bureaucracy

To do so we need to….

Integrate health, social care, benefits and employment support in assessments and personal budgets to create an access to living scheme

Shift from liability culture of safeguarding to ‘supported risk taking’

Seek out, draw upon, nurture, develop and protect naturally occurring ‘ecosystems’ of support

Genuine social inclusion demands efforts to knit people into communities….

…to create inclusive communities ….a bedrock of which is….

….Inclusive education Inclusive education is a journey, not a place Inclusive education is part of process of knitting people

into their communities About nurturing receptiveness to the rights of persons

with disabilities And about equipping disabled people with the tools for

life A social and economic investment

We need to project the future we want by celebrating the progress we have made

Man with Downs Syndrome elected local councillor