In today’s Society Guardian John Evans, original escapee from residential care argues for big changes to independent living
John Evans is a Disability Rights and Diversity Consultant, Trainer and Researcher in the UK, Specializing in Independent Living and Disability Rights.
Drawing on his own experiences, he describes how the ILF enabled him to ‘escape’ residential care more than 30 years ago. His argument is that the imminent closure of the Independent Living Fund means disabled people risk losing their freedom as they are forced back to what he considers to be little more than prisons.
He is concerned for the future of the 19,000 people who depend on ILF, particularly because the support they will receive after they lose their ILF support will vary from local authority to local authority. Many ILF recipients are understandably scared that they may face the prospect of having to move back into residential care.
You can view the article at http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/16/independent-living-fund-closure-disabled-people-residential-care
John will be speaking at Disability Rights UK’s Independent Living Conference this Friday (18 July). The conference is fully booked but you will still be able to watch parts of it and participate.
We will be streaming parts of the event via our YouTube channel. There will also be regular conference updates via twitter - #ILvision - and we will be encouraging people to tweet in suggestions and comments which will form part of the conference agenda.
Sue Bott, Director of Policy and Development at Disability Rights UK, has written a new blog which also discusses the role of the ILF but proposes that disabled people should concentrate their campaigning towards achieving a single integrated system that assesses people’s needs and allocates assistance and support based on the outcomes people could achieve in their communities and contribute to society.
It is likely to be a day of lively debate.