Grant: Healthy and Productive Work - PDG

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) recognizes "the right of persons with disabilities to work on an equal basis with others in a work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities," and article 27 admonishes "State Parties to safeguard and promote the realization of the right to work." In Canada, however, people with disabilities continue to face significant barriers to labour market participation with only 49% of individuals with disabilities reporting employment (Statistics Canada, 2012). The employment situation for people with intellectual disability (ID) and/or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is significantly worse, with working age individuals representing the most unemployed and underemployed citizens. According to the Canadian Survey on Disability (2012), only 22.3% of individuals with ID and/or ASD indicated some kind of employment, and, when employed, these individuals receive low wages, work few hours, and their work often takes place in segregated settings. In spite of this, work is an aspiration for people with ID and/or ASD and employment is a key mechanism for enacting social inclusion. Further, improving employment outcomes for individuals with ID and/or ASD is a provincial priority promoted by government, self advocates -- individuals with ID and/or ASD -- service providers, and family members. The BC Transitioning Youth with Disabilities and Employment Project -- The TYDE Project -- aims to improve employment outcomes for individuals with ID and/or ASD with a focus on youth ages 14 -- 25 in British Columbia. We will focus on transitioning youth because research has demonstrated that interventions aimed at this important transition time (from school to adult life) can translate to positive employment outcomes for individuals with ID and/or ASD. Employing community-based participatory research methods and informed by a human rights understanding of disability, the goal of "TYDE" is to create a partnership of stakeholders committed to collaboratively develop and implement a program of research to increase labour market participation for youth with ID and/or ASD with attention given to exploring how sex/ gender might be a mitigating factor influencing employment outcomes for youth in BC. The objectives of phase 1 of the TYDE Project are to: 1. Create an interdisciplinary cross-sectoral network of stakeholders with a commitment to enhancing the employment outcomes for transitioning youth with ID and/or ASD in BC. 2. Generate knowledge about current employment initiatives and programs for transitioning youth with ID and/or ASD in BC. 3. Explore and theorize how sex/gender is operating in labour market participation for transitioning youth with ID and/or ASD. 4. Explore how the TYDE Project can be scaled up to a National level for phase 2. 5. Collaboratively develop and design a Partnership Grant Application for phase 2 of the "Healthy and Productive Work Initiative" that incorporates a gender-based analysis. This new partnership brings together the University of British Columbia, BC People First, the BC Family Support Institute, the Ministry of Children and Family Development, the Ministry of Education, the BC Employment Network, the BC Aboriginal Network on Disability Society, the BC Council of Administrators of Special Education, Inclusion BC, the Autism Society of BC, and the Canadian Association for Community Living. In addition to including health and social science researchers, government partners, and community organizations, self advocates and family members are integral to this partnership. All partners are commitment to social inclusion and the advancement of employment success for individuals with ID and/or ASD.