Government's Strategy For Vocational Services

Objectives

As a result of this review, the Government has decided that the objectives of vocational services funded through the Ministry of Social Development are:

1. to increase the participation of people with disabilities in employment 
2. to increase the participation of people with disabilities in their communities.

The Government has also decided that:

• Services which are primarily focused on outcomes such as respite, personal care, therapy, rehabilitation as a result of treatment, recreation and leisure, should not be funded by Ministry of Social Development through its vocational services allocation.
• The Disabled Persons Employment Promotions Act 1960, which exempts employers of people with disabilities in sheltered workplaces from minimum wage and holidays legislation, will be repealed. This repeal will be effective in 2002, but existing providers of sheltered employment will be allowed up to five years to work through the changes.
• The Disabled Persons Community Welfare Act (Part III) 1975, which provides for the funding of vocational services, should be reviewed to ensure that it is aligned with the intentions of the new direction for employment and community participation services.

Actions

 The Government will implement seven specific strategies to achieve the objectives of vocational services.

 

1. Increase the focus on employment.

• Encourage providers to have a greater focus on paid work.
• Progressively move funding to services that focus on employment-related outcomes.
• Ensure services provide the foundation skills that are vital for people to participate in their communities and in employment and training.
• Provide better on-job support for people with disabilities who enter the workforce.

2. Encourage and enhance community participation.

• Recognise that people need different pathways, and sometimes a mix of pathways, to achieve inclusion in their communities.
• Provide practical options to removing barriers to participation in society and improve access to community services and facilities.
• Continue to partially fund community participation services.
• Improve the quality of services.

3. Ensure services are responsive to the needs of all groups of people with disabilities.

 Plan for and fund services responsive to the needs of all groups, including people with significant disability, school leavers with high and complex support needs, Māori, Pacific groups, people who experience mental illness, people who live in rural or isolated areas, and women.

4. Clarify who is eligible for vocational services funded by the Ministry of Social Development.

• Continue the 16-65 age eligibility criteria.
• Work with other agencies to ensure smooth transitions from school to work, and from work to retirement or other options.
• Continue to support people older than 65 who are employed, for as long as they need support to stay in paid work.

5. Build sector capacity and service quality.

 

• Explore funding options for services that support people in paid work.
• Adjust the overall funding level in the sector over time so that the quality of services improves.
• Widen the role of the Ministry of Social Development to enable it to support the sector to improve workforce development, undertake research and evaluation, provide quality assurance, and address recruitment/retention problems.

 

6. Improve access for jobseekers with disabilities to the Ministry of Social Development's mainstream employment-related services

 Clarify boundaries between the Ministry of Social Development specialist employment/community participation services and its mainstream work-related services, and strengthen the provision of mainstream work-related services to jobseekers with disabilities.

7. Change legislation.

• Repeal the Disabled Persons Employment Promotion Act 1960.
• Review the Disabled Persons Community Welfare Act (Part III) 1975, the enabling legislation for vocational services.

Timeframe

 These changes will take place over a five-year timeframe, so that legislative changes can be made and the Ministry of Social Development can work actively with providers, people with disabilities and their communities, to implement change. Gradual implementation will help ensure minimum disruption to the sector and to the people who use services.