Services for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities

For much of Ontario’s history, people with intellectual disabilities lived in institutions, where they were segregated from society and many were victims of abuse. In March 2009 the last of Ontario’s large institutions were closed and people with intellectual disabilities who had lived in those institutions moved into the community. In 2008 the Ontario government passed the Services and Supports to Promote the Social Inclusion of Persons with Developmental Disabilities Act, a law which will reform the way in which the government will deliver services to people with intellectual disabilities. With these changes comes the potential to create inclusive communities in which people with intellectual disabilities participate fully as citizens.

ARCH’s activities in services for people with intellectual disabilities include:

• conducting law reform projects with the goal of ensuring that new laws create a developmental services system that is based on values of full citizenship, inclusion and rights for people with intellectual disabilities [see services for community];
• conducting public and continuing legal education and community development projects, with a focus on educating people with intellectual disabilities about their legal rights [see services for community];
• providing summary legal advice and brief services to people with intellectual disabilities [see services for individuals];