Alberta

Programs and Services

Through the Employability Assistance for People with Disabilities (EAPD) Agreement, Human Resources Development Canada contributes funds to reimburse some of the costs for Alberta programs and services for persons with disabilities. These are delivered under the auspices of five separate ministries and organizations: Alberta Human Resources & Employment, Alberta Learning, Alberta Mental Health Board, Persons with Developmental Disabilities, and the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission.

Service Delivery

Alberta Human Resources and Employment

Alberta Human Resources and Employment provides an array of services for persons with disabilities. Many of these are mainstream services that provide additional supports to a person with a disability in overcoming barriers to preparing, gaining, or maintaining employment. Programs include:

• Disability Related Employment Supports (DRES) provides employment supports to persons with disabilities to assist them to successfully complete Alberta Human Resources and Employment programs and services, to attend post-secondary institutions and accepted training programs, and to successfully enter the workforce and maintain employment. Workplace, education, and assistive technology supports are provided through DRES;
• Skills Development Program provides grants for tuition and books and income supports for students completing academic upgrading, basic education or English as a Second Language training; and
• Labour Market Programs. Alberta offers a number of programs to help persons with disabilities gain access to the labour market. These include:
  • Skills for Work is designed to assist Albertans to obtain basic skill training and work experience. The program provides a combination of life management skills and occupational training, academic upgrading, and the work experience needed for jobs that are in demand and which have an entry-level wage of at least $7/hour;
  • Training on the Job is designed to help unemployed Albertans acquire transferable occupational skills and work experience, and thus gain employment; and
  • Self-Employment Program assists Albertans in becoming self-employed. Program activities include instruction in business plan development, one-to-one business counselling, coaching, guidance and follow up during business plan implementation.

Alberta Learning

Alberta Learning provides funding for programs and services that support the participation of students with disabilities in post-secondary study. Funding is provided for eight transitional vocational programs, sign language interpreting services, individual assistance to students, and the coordination of services to students with disabilities.

Alberta Mental Health Board

The Alberta Mental Health Board (AMHB) provides supports for employment through its vocational rehabilitation programs. In so doing, the AMHB strives to provide an integrated vocational and clinical approach to the delivery of vocational rehabilitation services to persons with severe and persistent mental illness. Approaches include vocational counselling, skill training, volunteer work experiences, unpaid pre-vocational work units, sheltered workshops, paid work crews, workplace interventions, day programs, transitional employment, supportive employment and comprehensive approaches (e.g. clubhouses, assertive community treatment).

Persons with Developmental Disabilities

The Alberta Provincial Board for Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) is a provincial crown agency which funds six regional community boards and one facility board to ensure a range of supports, including employment supports, are available to adult Albertans with developmental disabilities. The community boards contract with community service providers to provide employment supports throughout the province.

PDD defines employment as activities which meet the following criteria:

• the individual receives remuneration for work performed;
• an employer/employee relationship exists; and
• Alberta Labour Employment Standards Code applies.

The PDD Employment Supports Program consists of two components: Employment Preparation and Employment Placement supports:

• Employment Preparation Supports: These supports are designed to assist individuals in developing skills for employment and exploring the world of work; and
• Employment Placement Supports: These supports help individuals to maintain employment/self employment.

Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission

The Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC) is mandated by the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Act to operate and fund services addressing alcohol, other drug and gambling problems, and to conduct related research. AADAC's mission is "to assist Albertans in achieving freedom from the abuse of alcohol, other drugs and gambling." AADAC has three core businesses - prevention, treatment, and information. Within the continuum of services provided by AADAC for these core businesses, the costs of selected treatment services have historically been included among those covered by Alberta and the Government of Canada under the VRDP and EAPD agreements.
AADAC's treatment programs and services help people improve or recover from the harmful effects of alcohol, other drug and gambling problems. Service delivery occurs through a network of AADAC area offices and residential centres and community-based funded programs located throughout the province.

• Crisis Services - Emergency services are provided to assist clients through safe withdrawal from the extreme effects of alcohol, drugs, or gambling.
• Outpatient and Day Treatment - Community-based services assist clients in developing personal and systemic capacities to address alcohol, drug abuse and gambling problems.
• Residential Services - These services assist clients with limited resources or severe addiction problems in a structured, inpatient treatment environment.
• Administration, research, planning and service monitoring - Administration
  and operational support services are designed to provide efficient support to enhance effective services.

Addictions have a significant impact on an individual's capacity to gain employment or ability to maintain employment. At AADAC, each client's employment issues/needs are identified. Specific employment needs are addressed through treatment planning. Treatment plans are individualized, in an effort to address employment and other issues appropriate to the nature of the client's problem(s) and his or her stage and pace for recovery. Specialized employment or career-related information and support are usually provided by referral to government/community-based career or employment services.

* Administrative costs were not reported for 1999-2000
[Source: 1999-2000 & 2000-2001 Audited EAPD Annual Statement of Expenditures.]

Consultation with the Public and People with Disabilities

The Alberta government has a long history of supporting persons with disabilities in achieving their goals of participating in society and the workforce, and actively engages in consultations with interested stakeholders and the general public.

Each ministry or organization involved in the Employability Assistance for People with Disabilities agreement has its own processes to facilitate communication with people with disabilities and the community at large. For example, Persons with Developmental Disabilities operates within the context of a community governance model, and as such engages in ongoing consultations and communications with stakeholders and the community.

In addition, a number of specific activities have been undertaken to facilitate consultation with the public and people with disabilities. In January 2001, the Alberta Human Resources & Employment Minister's Employability Council released a report focussing on employment supports. The Minister's Employability Council includes representatives from the community of persons with disabilities, employers, service providers, and Aboriginal persons with disabilities, and has been working to enhance the employability of persons with disabilities. Likewise, the Alberta Premier's Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities - composed of 15 council members representing a broad background of cross-disability knowledge and a diversity of geographic locations in Alberta - has been working on an Alberta Disability Strategy. This document (tentatively scheduled for release in spring 2002) will have a section specifically addressing the issue of employment. After a comprehensive evaluation of the Alberta Mental Health Board's vocational services in October 2000, a vocational rehabilitation conference entitled "Vocational Services Emerges Into the Light" was held in May 2001. These and other efforts reflect Alberta's continuing commitment to ensuring effective communication between service providers and interested stakeholders.

Provincial Contact
John Vellacott
Manager - Disability and Workplace Investments
Intergovernmental Relations Branch
Alberta Human Resources and Employment
7th Floor - Labour Building
10808 99th Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta T5K 0G5
Tel.: (780) 422-2563
Fax.: (780) 422-0274
E-mail: john.vellacott@gov.ab.ca