This document discusses opportunities for workforce participation for people with disabilities in Nova Scotia. It outlines the mission to create opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities and a vision for a community that creates such opportunities. Key messages discussed include employment services, school to workforce participation, social enterprises, and partnerships. The document calls for a shared vision and increased collaboration between government, industry, education, unions, First Nations, and community organizations to better support the aspirations and participation of people with disabilities in the workforce and community.

2. Mission
• To create and facilitate opportunities
for people with intellectual disability

3. Vision
• A community that creates
opportunities for people with
intellectual disability.

4. OneNS Presentation
• Workforce Participation

5. “Our greatest asset is our people”
• “communities, educational settings and
workplaces need to demonstrate that we are
an open and welcoming society.”
• “we need to be more inclusive in our
responses to the needs and aspirations of our
own citizens in visible minority communities –
Mi’kmaq and African Nova Scotians – and
people with disabilities.”

6. “Opportunities”
• “social enterprises are doing impressive work”
• “Expanded training and employment support
is available for women, older workers, at risk
youth and people with disabilities”

7. “Successful Models”
• “roundtable of leaders from gov’t, industry,
educational institutions, unions, First Nations,
and community organizations”

8. Four Key Messages
• Employment Services
• School to Workforce Participation
• Social Enterprise
• Partnerships

9. Employment Services
• Employment strategies must help
people with disability connect to the
workforce

10. School to Workforce Participation
• Strategies must help students with
disability connect to the workforce

11. Social Enterprise
• Strategies must help people with
disability participate in the workforce

14. In general Social Enterprise in NS
• Well established
• Locally operated
• Innovative
• Job creators
• Socially driven
• Help define what it means to be
Nova Scotian

15. Partnerships
• Nothing happens without committed
partners.

16. Employment Services
• Last year our employer partners
helped our clients earn
• $606,000 in wages
• an increase of $59,000 over the
previous year

17. Volunteerism and Work-Experience
• Last year our employer and not-for-
profit partners helped our clients
contribute
• 12,300 hours to their community.

18. • “The Commission sees a profound need
to come together around a shared
vision for real change in the province,
one in which the different regions,
communities and economic sectors can
all see a better future, and are willing to
pursue it through dialogue, cooperation
and collaboration rather than isolation,
competition and conflict.”

19. What can you do

20. Shared Vision
• With and for people with disability
• On strategies and services that
support the aspirations of the
person

21. Cool things are happening
• Development of proposed legislation on
Accessibility
• Services for Persons with Disability Program
roadmap for transition to a more Person
Centered model with an increased emphasis
on employment

22. Mixed Messages
• Decrease in funding for Job Coaches
• Slow progress in development of Funding
Framework for the sector
• Disincentives for workforce participation

23. What could change
• STOP practices that discourage workforce
participation

24. What Could Change
• Enhance partnership with social enterprise
• Infrastructure investment
• Government Purchasing

25. What Could Change
• School to Workforce Participation Partnerships
that build on existing services

26. What Could Change
• A culture of partnerships that increase
workforce participation of people with
disability

27. Directions Council
• 29 agencies like Summer Street
• 2000 people with disability engaged in a
variety of employment services
• Willingness “to come together around a
shared vision” for real change

28. Partnerships
• Private Sector
• Economic Development
• Labour & Advanced Education
• Community Services
• Directions

29. What will you we all get

30. What do our Clients want

31. How can you help
• Support DCS in the development of a funding framework
in cooperation with our sector that supports the person
• Support the initiative by DCS and Directions to pay sector
clients $5.00 a day
• Support our sector by encouraging government
departments to purchase from social enterprises
• Support school to workforce participation between
education and our sector

32. Vision
• Our Vision - a community that
creates opportunities for people with
intellectual disability.
• OneNS – “an open and welcoming
society”

33. What will it take
• “a shared vision for real change in
the province”
• And