In January 2010, the Disability Services Commission launched INSPIRE project – a two-year pilot project to push the boundaries of social inclusion and trial a new approach to supporting young adults with significant disabilities to participate in mainstream community life. The project is auspiced by Southcare Inc, and while there are links to government and non-government programmes such as the Commission’s Alternatives to Employment programme and Local Area Coordination, the project has been conceived as a separate community-based initiative. The project’s activities are centred on the City of South Perth and will run until December 2011.

The key idea of the INSPIRE project is to maximise opportunities for community participation for young adults with a disability through a deliberate investment in the process of building sustainable networks of social support. Six young adults have been chosen to participate in the project and a team of two Community Facilitators will be working with these young adults and their families. As a starting point, the Community Facilitators will explore all of the relationships and points of connection that the young adults already have, and will utilise these supports in a creative way to enable meaningful participation in everyday social activities. In pursuing the project goals, the Community Facilitators will seek to partner with all of the agencies that are involved in the lives of the young adults, so as to share ideas, experiences and maximise every available support.

The INSPIRE project evolved from a series of conversations between a family in the South Perth area and their Local Area Coordinator, and their conviction that, with creative thinking and a “can do” approach, there may be ways for their daughter to increase her circle of friends and enjoy more fully all the opportunities that community life has to offer. The project also builds on previous work done in the area of social inclusion in Western Australia. As an additional element of the project, the INSPIRE project team is working closely with local government and the Centre for Research into Disability and Society, at the Curtin University School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, who are undertaking participatory research to evaluate and study the project.

Ultimately this project will have a positive impact on the future options and services available to young adults with a disability, and will help to answer the elusive question of how to support people to form natural and lasting friendships.

Steve Moore - Inspire Project Coordinator

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