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Shifting Models of Welfare: Issues in Relocation from an Institution and the Organization of Community Living
Author(s) -
Bigby Christine
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of policy and practice in intellectual disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1741-1130
pISSN - 1741-1122
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-1130.2006.00074.x
Subject(s) - relocation , closure (psychology) , institution , public relations , context (archaeology) , government (linguistics) , welfare , inclusion (mineral) , business , economic growth , social welfare , sociology , political science , public administration , economics , social science , law , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , computer science , biology , programming language
The closure of institutions and relocation of people with intellectual disabilities to community living has been the focus of many nations’ intellectual disability policies in the past three decades. The author studied the relocation of 58 people from a large institution to 11 small group homes in several Australian communities. Organizational factors that contributed to a mismatch of expectations on such dimensions as individualized support and inclusion were examined. The author discusses these in a broader context of social policy developments, including the privatization and contracting‐out of service provision that shifted the government’s role to one of purchaser rather than provider of services; regulatory concerns in employment practices that impacted the flow of information about residents; and contract specifications that focused on individuals, leaving responsibility for tackling systemic issues uncertain. Recommendations that draw attention to the renewed emphasis on partnerships rather than business relationships and attend to broader community development strategies that have concurrently occurred in Australia are provided.