Alberta Update
September 10, 2007
The current population in Michener Centre is 290, which is down slightly from the Spring 2007 newsletter. There are plans for another 8 to 12 people to move to the community this fiscal year. This is good news. In spite of any real political direction to close Michener, senior administration and the Central Alberta Persons with Developmental Disabilities Board are supporting people to leave the centre each year. That’s at least a partial win, but without a political decision to close the institution, any change in management or board membership could quickly reverse this positive trend.A recent survey carried out by Michener Centre asked the people living in Michener Center if they’d like to continue living there or if they would like to live someplace else. Over 90% indicated they wanted to continue living in Michener. This type of survey has obvious shortcomings. If living within an institution is all someone knows, then of course that’s what they will choose. The people living there who were surveyed don’t know any other options. When they’ve never had the opportunity to experience what’s possible, they don’t know how to answer a survey about leaving, they can’t even dream of what could be possible.
In Alberta, there are a couple of major obstacles to moving people to the community in addition to a lack of political support. There is a lack of private guardian support and unwillingness of community agencies to accept new people. Community agencies are really struggling to find and retain staff in Alberta’s booming economy and the province’s shortage of affordable housing compounds the situation.
