Understanding the Passport Experience: Can Inclusion and Neoliberal Principles Coexist?

Abstract

<p>Of relevance to the field of intellectual disabilities is the interest in service provision that increases community inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities. In response to this interest the provincial government has recently developed individualized funding models of service provision for people with intellectual disabilities (i.e. the Passport program). The implementation of the Passport program has raised questions for the researcher about the effectiveness of individualized funding programs to increase overall inclusion in communities. In particular the researcher was interested in exploring how Passport recipients and their caregivers experience this shift is service provision.</p> <p>Reviews of literature related to individualized models of support in other regions have indicated that the move to individualized service can sometimes support larger neoliberal shifts in social service provision. Results indicated that the Passport recipients and their caregivers experienced increased opportunities for inclusion, as was indicated by increased opportunities for social relationships at various levels. But, the experience of positive emotional effects from social inclusion was diminished by consumeristic neoliberal influences on service provision that do not challenge societal attitudes about disability thereby the marginalization of people with intellectual disabilities.</p> <p>The results inform a need for social work to attribute more value to the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and their families by increasing opportunities for self determination through the promotion of self-advocacy and fostering relationships of value among people with and without disabilities. Results also warn against the erosion of service quantity and quality that accompanies shifts in service delivery which place value on neoliberal principles rather than principles of inclusion.</p>