Disability Programs

Community Life Skills Program

The Community Life Skills Program (CLS) is a community access program, for adults who are perceived as having a disability.

Committed to the principles of Social Role Valorisation (SRV), the program's focus is to assist service users to gain social acceptance and a sense of community belonging, through their ongoing participation and engagement with all facets of their community.

Service is provided on an individual and small group basis. CLS encourages the development and retention of skills and relationships relevant to the individual service user.

One person is supported to participate in volunteering with Meals on Wheels.
Another volunteers his services with a local Auto-parts business.

Independent living skills are developed through activities such as personal shopping trips and via accessing public facilities such as transport and libraries.

Social contacts and specific personal interest activities are supported by participating in art classes; exercise classes; regular, small coffee groups; attending theatre, music performances and other community events such as Floriade. Activities and experiences are selected in consultation with the service user.

The WCS CLS program recently undertook a voluntary evaluation based upon SRV principals using the in-depth PASSING (Program Analysis of Service Systems Implementation of Normalisation Goals) evaluation tools. Recommendations from this review will influence ongoing practices.

The CLS program is an outreach, community access program which has its office base in the WCS building.

Ph: 6234 6825 or email at cls@wcs.org.au
Program Manager: Dawne Ballard

*The CLS Programme receives funding from the ACT Department of Disability Housing and Community Services

Click here for our Community Supported Respite Program

Local Area Coordination (LAC)

"To build individual, family and community self sufficiency so that individuals with a disability can achieve what they want to achieve, live how they want to live and are valued as full and equal members of the ACT community." (Disability ACT)

ACT Local Area Coordination (LAC) services:

• Place a high focus on people with a disability who have limited links into the formal disability system and assist them to plan, build their natural supports around them and link them to universal services where possible and to specialist disability services when those informal and universal supports have been exhausted.
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• Provide a range of formal tools that assist families to build natural supports, establish a plan for their future needs and lifestyle choices and implement their futures plan.
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• Build strong relationships with generic and universal services within the local, and across the ACT community.
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• Work with families, universal services and the broader community in a community education role, using Asset Based Community Development principles and practices. This incorporates a community development approach that identifies the resources and skills that already exist within a person and community and to encourage these links into these supports.
  
  It recognises that LAC plays a central role in educating families and the broader community, such as organisations, workplaces, schools and recreational services. This involves a variety of community education tools, such as providing information, developing networks and partnerships and engagement with the community through community coordination groups.

The target population:

All people with a disability.

The focus:

People with a physical, sensory, intellectual, developmental disability or degenerative disorder; and their families and carers.

The priority includes and is not limited to:

• Families, children and young people to assist them to plan for longer term life outcomes
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• Young people transitioning from the education system to adult life
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• Older adults who have yet to commence planning for their adult son/daughter's future life outside of the family home

Key LAC considerations:

• All families plan for their children's/young adults life transitions, including people living with a disability
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• Families do not have to fit into what is currently available - they can create their own future; Disability ACT and funded services are there to assist them to put that in place within the resources available
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• Government is not able to provide for all disability needs nor should it be expected to except in the most extreme circumstance
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• When planning, access to all government services irrespective of entitlements (e.g. Disability Support Pension, universal services or prioritised funds) need to be taken into account
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• Building sustainable and natural supports is vitally important.

Eligibility for the program

Individuals must be between the ages of birth to 65 years and live in Gungahlin, Belconnen, Woden Valley or Weston Creek areas.

If you want to know more about how we can assist you, please contact your Local Area Coordinator.

Woden Valley and Weston Creek Local Area Coordination
Office Address: 79 Dundas Court
Phillip ACT 2606
Telephone: (02) 6260 5622
Facsimile: (02) 6260 5633
Email: lac@wcs.org.au
Postal Address: As above

Gungahlin and Belconnen Local Area Coordination
Office Address: Suite 1.3 The Marketplace Gungahlin
33 Hibberson Street
Gungahlin ACT 2912
Telephone: (02) 6255 7911
Facsimile: (02) 6255 7922
Email: debbie.moger@bcsact.com.au; tamarah.sherd@bcsact.com.au
Postal Address: As above

This program is provided by the Belconnen Community Service Inc and Woden Community Service Inc partnership and is funded by Disability ACT.