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Chief Executive's Report
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In the past year policy statements from the Scottish Executive have continued to grow closer to what self-advocacy movements say that people with support needs want for themselves. 'The person is at the heart of everything', 'People that use services will have more control over the services they are getting', and 'More of the same won't work', is the message of Changing Lives, the report of the 21st Century Review of Social Work. However, the progress that ELCAP has made in working towards this goal of person-centred services, has owed little to public policy, because there is a fault line between those statements and the actions of those charged with implementing them. Many local authorities are still using public funds to purchase services that perpetuate old ways of thinking and doing, on the grounds that this is what is affordable (and occasionally claiming that this is what people really want). For all the rhetoric there is still no consensus about what a person-centred service actually looks like.
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When I started with ELCAP as its first employee in 1989 my 'mission' was fairly simple and straightforward; to help people with learning disabilities get out of long-stay institutions and live their lives in ordinary homes in ordinary communities. We closed the local institutions but while everyone moved to mainstream housing, for many this was in shared homes with two or three others. Since then, despite cuts in funding we have supported many people to move to their own home and to develop their interests and relationships through mainstream opportunities. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has made this possible, in particular the people who use our services and their dedicated support teams. In 2004 the Board agreed that we would not take on new work that involved group homes. Our services in Midlothian and Edinburgh are all individual support services. In both authorities and also now in East Lothian we support a number of children with additional support needs, and their families. We continue to work with East Lothian Council, seeking ways of personalising those services that are still shared.
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Whatever the obstacles we remain committed to delivering person centred services and the promise contained in 'Changing Lives'. Some of the stories in this report are snapshots of what people are achieving in their own lives, with ELCAP's support. I hope you enjoy reading it, and that we can continue to count on your support as we work to help more people achieve their version of a good life.
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LINDA HEADLAND
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Chief Executive
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