Annual Review 2001-2002
The
way forward
PHILOSOPHY
INTO ACTION
Cape Mental Health Society is undergoing transformation in order to translate into action our firm commitment to providing an excellent service that meets the specific needs of people with mental disabilities.
We have people in all sorts of job descriptions who have the ideas that make for change, and all sorts of people who are helping make it happen. The real challenge facing our organisation is for us to seek them out, provide the structures that encourage them - and weld their efforts into a whole that can truly be called a comprehensive, pro-active and enabling service.
Our Management Forum (consisting of managers, project coordinators and team leaders) has been working on the core areas of change and service development that emerged from the Organisational Survey held early in February 2001 and the four-day Management Forum Workshop held in May 2001. In September 2001 all staff members gathered for the presentation and discussion of our organisation's emerging vision, mission statement and five-year plan of action.
On 21 November the Management Forum presented the Mission Statement, seven Core Strategic Themes and Plans to the General Committee, receiving its endorsement to proceed with the implementation of the plans, starting January 2002.
The core strategic themes
are:
• Advocacy " Public Education • Work opportunities for people
with disabilities • Training and Development • Caring for service-users
• Taking care of staff and assets, and • Managing the Strategic
Planning Process.
As change begins with people, we are very conscious of creating and maintaining a strategic process that is inclusive and receptive. All staff members have been invited to join at least one task group to ensure that we are all involved in implementing the plan and using our human, physical and financial resources creatively and responsibly in order to achieve our goals.
We express our thanks and appreciation to Sue Soal and Di Oliver, the consultants from the CDRA (Community Development Resource Association), who have assisted us throughout this strategic process. Ingrid Daniels, Director
ABILITY IS A POSSIBILITY
We develop self-confidence because of our ability to participate in activities, just like other people. Our ability to take part is our passport to acceptance.
Many different conditions may disable a child. However, what children with disabilities have in common with all children is that they grow and develop according to their own ability.
Children with intellectual disabilities can learn and participate actively, making it easier for their caregivers and careworkers to care for them. They need to develop the skills necessary for feeding, toileting, washing, dressing and playing, and, as they grow older, to help with domestic chores, work with money, share leisure activities with others, and enjoy greater independence and freedom of movement within the home circle and beyond.
We cannot predict the future of the children with mental disabilities that benefit from our services to disadvantaged communities. We also cannot guarantee their inclusion in mainstream education, total acceptance in our community, and future employment in the open labour market. However, we cannot rule out a "normal" life of family, friends and interests - in short, a significant life that offers more than being merely a passive spectator of other people's lives.
Not all people with mental disabilities will be able to make a material or financial contribution to our society, but they should be able to attain a life with dignity within our community.
We create a future of possibilities for people with mental disabilities through our counselling service, our day-care centres for children with special needs, our group homes, our training workshops for people with intellectual disability and our rehabilitation services for people with mental illness. We believe that ability IS a possibility and we work to equip our service-users with the life skills and the work skills they need to live meaningful and dignified lives.
DEFENDING THE RIGHTS OF SERVICE-USERS …
Cape Mental Health Society supports advocacy as an important means of improving the quality of life of service-users, ensuring their human rights and challenging restrictive and discriminatory practices.
One of our advocacy successes was the opening in January 2002 of the K1 school
for learners with special needs in Khayelitsha by the Western Cape Education
Department. It was the culmination of years of lobbying the WCED to provide
for children with mild or moderate intellectual disabilities in the Khayelitsha
area. This advocacy programme necessitated much research, fundraising and
groundwork by our organisation, a march by mothers and children with disabilities
on the Education Department in August 2001, and negotiations with Helen Zille,
then Provincial Minister of Education.
In order to advocate more vigorously and visibly on urgent issues such as disability grants, employment equity, inclusive housing, transport subsidies, and the implementation of the proposed Mental Health Care Bill, we need to exert greater influence on state departments who control resources, and improve our access to (and networking with) bodies where policies are formulated.
THE VOICE OF SERVICE-USERS
In the past others have spoken on behalf of people with mental disabilities, in the naïve belief that they lack the skills to speak for themselves. Certainly it is not easy to learn the skills of participating in meetings, to move beyond individual concerns to group ones, or to challenge existing policies.
But the voice of people with mental disabilities is making itself heard. People who have traditionally been seen as passive recipients of services are now increasingly asking service-providers to listen to what they have to say about available treatment options. They are challenging the old hierarchies, and asking for a partnership in the structures where decisions that affect their lives are made.
Cape Mental Health Society is fortunate to have two service-users serving on our General Committee, viz. Moosa Salie (representative for people with mental illness) and Aretha Folding (representative for people with intellectual disability) who is supported in her role by her mother Mercia Folding.
We are especially proud of the vital work done by our Cape Consumer Advocacy Body for people with mental illness with regards to research into the subject of "Sedation, Seclusion and Restraint". The growth of CCAB and the celebration of its second AGM in March 2002 have highlighted the need for the participation of consumers with intellectual disability in the self- advocacy programme.
PEOPLE LIKE THAT...
People call us nasty names
or avoid us because they're frightened of us.
They don't know what we're like or what we can do.
We need to break down barriers, get rid of unwanted labels, and help change public perceptions regarding mental disability. At Cape Mental Health Society we are witnessing the positive changes that mental health promotion can bring about. We are very invested in community radio and participate actively in a range of national mental health awareness-raising campaigns. We get frequent opportunities to run workshops and are one of the biggest distributors of mental health educational material in the Western Cape.
In October 2001 we appointed a Public Education Officer whose task it is to develop our existing Public Education programme in order to provide a much-needed service to mental health workers, the public and private sectors.
LEARNING BY DOING
If we assume that people will never work, then they will not be given the chance to work. Our organisation believes that people with mental disability can do a job of value in the community and to themselves if they are given adequate training and support to develop the necessary skills.
Sadly, for many people with disabilities, employment remains unattainable. In spite of recent legislative changes in favour of employing disabled people, they are rarely granted the opportunity to prove themselves. High unemployment levels, poorly informed employers, inaccessible buildings, transport difficulties - all these limit the prospect for employment.
Our training workshops for people with intellectual disability and our work rehabilitation centre for people with mental illness provide trainees with life skills and work skills in order to open up career paths for them. We are continually revising our training courses to address the needs of trainees as well as the employment market.
We provide a range of work opportunities for our trainees through sourcing of employment opportunities within our organisation and beyond, collaborative ventures with other partners, enclave employment and a transitional employment programme. Micro-enterprises present further opportunities for trainees to generate income for themselves.
A LEARNING ORGANISATION
Our services are offered by highly qualified people, as well as by quite "ordinary" people such as workers and volunteers recruited from local communities, who bring no greater expertise than their own command of the job and a willingness to help.
We need to focus on capacity-building initiatives at all levels of our organisation, using methods such as mentoring, shadowing, formal training and development. We believe that continuous team building and the sharing of knowledge by people from different work disciplines and different cultures are essential to bring about the strategic changes we have planned.
As a "learning organisation" we want to foster a culture of ongoing learning that recognises the potential to gain knowledge and skills, change and evolve, for our staff, our service-users and our volunteers. An extension of our commitment to self-directed learning is our Distance Learning Course in Developmental Disabilities, developed by Ekin Kench of Cape Mental Health Society and Prof. Chris Molteno of UCT. The programme provides relevant skills and knowledge to community workers who wish to work with children with special needs.
Knowledge gained through the course often allows people in very poor communities to press on, in spite of many obstacles. In all the communities where we have worked in the Western, Northern and Eastern Cape, students report that the course has empowered them and showed them the way forward.
We have been running a poverty-alleviation training programme for women in the Karoo town of Beaufort West. The project is based on the premise that poor women with limited education can be trained to work effectively with children in their own communities. We received funding from the Department of Social Services, and also entered into a partnership with Diakonale Dienste in Beaufort West who are assisting us with service-delivery.
Through this training course the women have been empowered to open seven neighbourhood day-care centres which they are presently running and thereby generating their own income. We are delighted with the progress made by these trainees and their high levels of enthusiasm and determination.
FREEDOM TO CHOOSE
Service-users are individuals with unique circumstances and problems; they deserve individual intervention and treatment plans. Despite our desire to solve their problems and organise their lives for them, we have to respect their freedom of choice, and offer them options to choose from, rather than solutions.
Caring for our service-users means involving them as active participants in developing, agreeing to and reviewing their treatment plans, and allowing them to deal with the consequences of their decisions. Our approach is one of consultation and cooperation - with the service-user, the family group, and other agencies, stakeholders and providers of services. Ultimately we want to foster independence rather than lifelong dependence on our services.
CARING FOR STAFF
Our assets are more than our material resources - buildings, vehicles and equipment. Our assets are the people who work for Cape Mental Health Society at all our operations.
We are concerned about the well-being of our staff, and encourage them to take responsibility for their lives - at work and beyond. Working in the disability field does not exempt us from facing the same challenges that other people do - our staff also have emotional needs, and some have family members with mental disabilities.
We honour our staff by valuing their opinions and respecting their right to contribute to decision-making. We recognise their need for security, reasonable working conditions, equal opportunity, development and advancement within the organisation.
Our staff members are implementing the plans that will ultimately bring about fundamental change in the way we work and respond to the needs of people with mental disabilities. The success of our strategic plan lies in their capable hands.
What keeps our services going is not only money - though clearly that's essential - but the enthusiasm, determination and commitment of the staff.
Cape Mental Health Society thanks all those individuals, trustees, companies and organisations that have supported our organisation and its services to people with mental health needs, those with intellectual disability and those with mental illness. We value your voluntary service, financial support and gifts-in-kind. Thank you for your generosity and loyalty.
2001-2002 audited financial
statements are available on request.
