Where Did This Idea Come From?

Firstly The Term Capacity Building And Capacity Development Emerged In United Nations Material In The 1990s.

 

Capacity-building is defined by the UN as the process of developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes and resources that organizations, communities and individuals need to survive, adapt, and thrive in a fast-changing world. 

AN ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT IN CAPACITY-BUILDING IS TRANSFORMATION THAT IS GENERATED, AND SUSTAINED OVER TIME, FROM WITHIN.

Transformation of this kind goes beyond performing tasks to changing mindsets and attitudes.


The Enabling Good Lives Approach

Supports Us Investing In Building Our Knowledge And Skills To Live A Good Life

  • Self-determination Principle

    Disabled people are in control of their lives.

  • Person-centred Principle

    Disabled people have supports that are tailored to their individual needs and goals, and that take a whole life approach rather than being split across programmes.

  • Long term change direction

    Building knowledge and skills of disabled people: to ensure disabled people understand the direction for change, and can exercise more choice and control over their supports.

  • Long term change direction

    Investment in families/whānau: to assist them to support their disabled family member to have a good life and help them develop aspirations about what can be achieved.

  • Key Characteristic 1;

    Self-directed planning and facilitation; All supports and services are led by the preferences, strengths, aspirations and needs of disabled people and their families. An aspiration-based personal plan is the central document to design and measure paid supports. While the core components of plans may be similar, plans make take different forms. Unique and changing aspirations are to be expected. Supports and services will need to continually adapt in the way they assist people to build and maintain a good life.

  • Key Characteristic 4;

    Strengthening families or whānau; There is direct investment in the networks of disabled people and their family/whanau . Resources are provided to assist understanding, educate and promote increased knowledge of options and how to maximise choice and control.

  • 1st Element Of System Change

    Building knowledge and skills of disabled people; to ensure disabled people understand the direction for change, and can take up opportunities to have more choice and control over their supports

  • 2nd Element Of System Change

    Investment in families; to assist families/whānau to best support their disabled family member to have a “good life” and help them develop a vision and aspirations for what can be achieved

  • Key Message; Control

    The intent of the Enabling Good Lives approach is to make changes so that disabled people and their families have control of their lives. This includes having the “say so” in how resources are used.

  • Key Message; Diversity

    A diverse group of people is included in the term “disabled people”. Disabled persons and their families require different supports, services and approaches in order to achieve equity

  • Key Message; Change

    Enabling Good Lives is both about a whole new way of doing things (i.e. systems change) and about supports and services doing things in different ways (i.e. service transformation)

Building Hope In The Future

To Dream Again

The old deficit-based system inadvertently reduced families authority to dream of positive futures for their children, by placing them on a special needs path, separated from the ordinary life dreams shared by the rest of the family.

Restoring Capacity

Helps Us To Live A Good Life, Across Our Whole Life

People exist and have reciprocal roles within a family system, defined by each individual. Roles adjust as the individual members of the family system change and age. The entire family, individually and as a whole, needs support to grow, to ensure they all are able to successfully live their good life.

5 Reasons Why We Love Restoring Capacity

Capacity restoration empowers you to facilitate your own personal development, moving from the person whose ‘capacity is being restored’ to the ‘capacity restorer’

  • 1 ... IT FOCUSES ON THE STRENGTH OF THE INDIVIDUAL ... Capacity restoration shifts the narrative around disability services from a deficit, needs-based model to an abundance, strength-building model. This allows disabled people, their parents and carers, as well as disability service providers to approach support with a growth mindset. Building on the strengths of people, rather than focusing on their disability, empowers people to become life-long learners.

  • 2 ... IT'S EMPOWERING ... One of the best things about capacity restoration is that it empowers people. The aim of restoring capacity is to show people that with proper planning, execution and support, they can achieve something that they set their mind to. This shows everyone that they can have an influence over their environment and actively create their own future.

  • 3 ... IT TEACHES PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS ... Restoring Capacity helps the development of problem solving skills. It acknowledges people as life-long learners, who will continuously learn new skills as they encounter new challenges. People play an active role in setting their own goals, choosing the right development strategies for themselves, and reflecting on their own progress ... growing confidence as well as skills

  • 4 ... IT PREPARES PEOPLE FOR LIVING LIFE AS A CITIZEN ... Restoring Capacity grows the skills and capabilities of people, better preparing them for real life. Focusing on developing who they are and who they want to become, restoring capacity aims to help people lead independent lives and better participate in society.

  • 5 ... IT TAKES A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO THE PROVISION OF SERVICES ... Restoring Capacity can be approached through a variety of strategies and tactics at the individual, organisational and systemic levels that make it sustainable and effective. From teaching skills useful in home and community life, to developing vocational skills in the workplace, capacity building overcomes multi-dimensional barriers to achieving goals .

THE ME LEVEL

Restoring Capacity For The Individual ... Making sure I have the skills, resources and confidence I need to participate in the community and access the same kind of opportunities as other people, and live a life of my choosing

Successful growth begins at the individual level, where capacity restoration activities increase disabled people and their family's knowledge and skill. An individual who’s been empowered to facilitate change can impact their family and their community, and they can further work to effect systemic change.

THE WE LEVEL

Restoring Capacity In Our Community ... Making sure providers, schools, workplaces and community spaces see disabled people as fellow citizens, can happily use the Enabling Good Lives Approach, and have the skills and confidence to play their part, as disabled people create a life that is meaningful to them.

For organizations, capacity restoration activities may focus on shoring up sustainability, improving governance, supporting collaboration, or strengthening infrastructure. All have a common goal: Strengthening the skills, resources, and abilities that allow an organization and its workers to grow and thrive, so they can be 'OF' service instead of 'A' service.

THE US LEVEL

Restoring Capacity At The Systemic Level ... Making sure the system redesign is understood, supported and is coherent with being trusting and trustworthy partners

At the systemic level, restoring capacity can be complex. With multiple layers and moving parts involved, capacity restoration activities may focus on policy development, redistribution of power, and political advocacy efforts, and authentic partnership with disabled people and their whanau. Restoring capacity is a social justice issue, and the antidote to compliance controls over peoples lives.

  • Current Situation 1

    People maximise their deficits to maximise resources allocated to them because they have no trust that additional support will be available when and if they need it.

  • EGL, Without Restoring Capacity

    People continue to focus only on funded supports

  • EGL With Restoring Capacity

    People know that positive lives are built on high expectations and relationships. An overstatement of deficit inhibits the development of both. People are better equipped to seek a mix of unfunded and funded supports and have confidence in the availability of the latter when they need it.

  • Current Situation 2

    People are frightened to use their initiative lest it reduces their eligibility or priority for government funded services and supports

  • EGL, Without Restoring Capacity

    People lack examples of the type of initiative that can lead to positive outcomes ... Little will change

  • EGL With Restoring Capacity

    People have ideas and can develop confidence. They understand that paid support contributes to positive lives but understand the need to balance paid support with freely given relationships that are central to a meaningful life.

  • Current Situation 3

    People defer to others as the experts on their lives

  • EGL, Without Restoring Capacity

    People will not take control as envisaged by the EGL and continue to defer to service providers as the centre of expertise

  • EGL With Restoring Capacity

    People have improved confidence to negotiate what they want and how they want it. They exercise choice and take the level of control they feel comfortable with

  • Current Situation 4

    People have service plans

  • EGL, Without Restoring Capacity

    EGL connectors encourage people to identify goals but many people have little experience in thinking about outcomes they would like to achieve or the different ways they can achieve them. A key focus for families is to get as much as you can

  • EGL With Restoring Capacity

    People develop goals for the life they want to live and for many this translates into capitalising on EGL resources to compliment the support provided by family and friends.

  • Current Situation 5

    Funding is allocated to services that provide assistance to the most needy.

  • EGL, Without Restoring Capacity

    Funding is used to purchase services from traditional service providers

  • EGL With Restoring Capacity

    People are actively choosing from a range of services and supports including mainstream and informal supports. The EGL personal budget assists people to identify and build informal support

  • Current Situation 6

    People are dependent users of services.

  • EGL, Without Restoring Capacity

    People are consumers of service who have some choice but limited opportunity to avail themselves of the choice and control anticipated in EGL

  • EGL With Restoring Capacity

    People are active citizens, exercising choice and control, contributing to social, economic and political life.

Let Curiosity Lead You Forward

What Could Restoring Your Capacity To Craft A Good Life Look Like?

  • It Might Look Like Going To Workshops

    These might be disability specific workshops or business building workshops, or they might be focused on a topic that makes life good for you. They could also be workshops that build your leadership skills and confidence, or to create an awesome life plan.

  • It Might Look Like Getting Coaching

    This might be coaching to help learn a skill, or to help guide your thinking as you move towards a different path in life. It might be coaching to help you optimize Enabling Good Lives and navigate the new system, or to help you build a sense of being able to direct your own life.

  • It Might Look Like An Online Course

    These might be courses helping you to understand EGL, or the things that make life good, like how to build relationships, or create a home, or find a way to contribute your gifts. check out our page on International Learning for a multitude of online courses from around the world focused on the good things in life.

  • It Might Look Like Hiring Professional Help

    Directing your own support doesn't mean doing it alone. You could hire some industry professionals to help guide to become great at delivering your own service. This could be accountants, recruitment specialists or a service coordinator just for you.

  • It Might Look Like A Peer Group

    Peer groups are a great resource to inject some fun into life with others who are interested in similar things to you. These might be disability specific groups, or they might be in an area of life that you are interested in, like sports groups or other community groups. Being an active member of groups that share your interests is a great way to build citizenship and a sense of belonging.

  • It Might Look Like Building A Business

    If you are self-directing your support funds and hiring your own staff, it is like running a business, so you might want to gain some more skills in recruiting, hiring and training people. This might be accessing your local chamber of commerce courses or seminars, or attending business breakfasts to gain confidence or find a business mentor.

  • It Might Look Like A Community Of Practice

    An EGL community of practice could be a group of people who are actually activating the Enabling Good Lives approach in their lives, and who come together to fulfill both individual and group goals. Communities of practice often focus on sharing best practices and creating new knowledge.

A Good Life, Well Lived