YOUTH with developmental disabilities will get extra help to transition from school to work through a $2-million provincial grant.
Impact, run through the Delta Community Living Society, helps youth between 15 and 19 with developmental disabilities find employment through supports and services. As many as 360 more youth could get jobs through the three-year grant, which expands the program’s reach to 10 B.C. communities.
“We want youth with developmental disabilities to have work options where they are valued and can grow,” said Sheila Malcolmson, B.C. Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, on Wednesday. “We’re funding programs, like Impact, to help young people get jobs that matter to them.”
Impact and supporting youth with developmental disabilities is further supported through the recently released Re-imagining Community Inclusion Workplan, which was developed with community partners and people with lived experience. The workplan includes a 10-year vision that sees people with development disabilities thrive fully and equally, as well as work to ensure access to meaningful employment, while contributing to a more inclusive and barrier-free economy.
“Getting into the Impact program and getting a paid job greatly increased my confidence in myself,” said Matt Pettengell. “I learned a lot of things about what it’s like to be employed by the government. I look forward to working at my job again this summer.”
The $2-million provincial grant to extend and expand Impact comes from the 2022-23 Canada-British Columbia Labour Market Development Agreement. Under the agreement, the Province receives more than $300 million each year to fund employment services and supports, including those provided through the 102 WorkBC centres throughout the province.
Learn More:
Delta Community Living Society:Â https://www.dcls.ca/pages/
For information about the Re-imagining Community Inclusion Initiative, including its workplan, visit:Â https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/
BACKGROUNDER
List of Impact partners
Agencies
* Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion
* Chilliwack Society for Community Living
* Delta Community Living Society
* Inclusion Langley Society
* Community Living Society (New Westminster), new for IMPACT 2.0
* Inclusion Powell River Society, new for IMPACT 2.0
* Aspire Richmond (formerly Richmond Society for Community Living)
* Uniti (formerly Semiahmoo House), Surrey
* PosAbilities Association of British Columbia (for Metro Vancouver)
* Community Living Victoria
School districts
* School District 41, Burnaby
* School District 33, Chilliwack
* School District 37, Delta
* School District 35, Langley
* School District 40, New Westminster, new for IMPACT 2.0
* School District 47, Powell River, new for IMPACT 2.0
* School District 38, Richmond
* School District 36, Surrey
* School District 39, Vancouver
* School District 61, Victoria
Other partners
* British Columbia Employment Network
* University of British Columbia (research partner)
