This week saw the 32nd International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Many charities inevitably see this as an opportunity to highlight the challenges faced and opportunities afforded to people with disabilities through their support. As with so many things, this year is different.
Last week, the Care Provider Alliance surveyed 1,180 care and support providers like us. Following the recent Budget, 73% will refuse new care packages. Over half will hand back existing contracts; 77% will draw on reserves and 64% will make staff redundant. More than a fifth will close their doors. Kisharon Langdon also has been burdened with an additional £400,000 as a consequence of changes to national insurance. So, there we have it, we are all now “aware”.
As reported in these pages last week, Kisharon Langdon will be “calm and considered in its approach” and yet will plan for all eventualities.
Over the last 25 years, despite numerous commissions and enquiries, little progress has been made since a Royal Commission found social care to be ‘chronically underfunded’. Awareness campaigns are not enough. Kisharon Langdon’s work, supporting the Jewish learning disability and autism community throughout life’s journey, demonstrates the power of meaningful action.
Kisharon Langdon is a £24m Jewish Learning Disability and Autism provider, reliant on £4m from the community just to cover unfunded operating costs, before even funding much needed infrastructure. Our staff, parents and people we support have been overwhelmingly positive in our recent (independently assessed and anonymous) post-merger surveys.
This is reflective of the increased calibre of recruits, training, breadth of opportunity and indeed increased engagement within the community after Kisharon and Langdon merged in 2023. With 4 out 5 mergers reportedly failing, this one has thrived, in-keeping with our vision that all people with learning disabilities and autism should thrive.
What the merged organisation has been building is a rare beacon of global excellence. If this sounds hyperbolic, earlier this year a visiting educational and child psychologist of some 40 years’ experience specialising in inclusion in LA, San Diego and New York said she had “never seen such a comprehensive programme that even approaches the quality of what you have achieved”.
Indeed, it is Kisharon Langdon’s entire purpose to offer opportunities and support for people within the Jewish learning disability and autism community and yet disability services in the UK are at a critical crossroads. Rising costs, the cost of living, shifting demographics and ineffective government strategies have placed overwhelming pressures on us.
These demand an answer to question for the ages: if we are forced to exercise the wisdom of Solomon, what would we sacrifice when behind every service stands a person whose dignity, opportunities and quality of life depend on it. As a community, how are we to exercise our responsibilities to ensure those with disabilities not only survive but thrive.
Many commentators from Maya Angelou to Niall Ferguson have opined how society is defined by its treatment of ‘the most vulnerable’, and how as the social contract wanes, so society becomes less coherent.
For us, Rabbi Sacks’ commentary on Parshas Eikev (Why Civilisations Fail) suggests Moses teaches us an astonishing even greater imperative. By each person bearing and sharing responsibility, we are playing our part in the creation of a society capable of defeating the normal laws of the growth-and-decline of civilisations.
The Care Provider Alliance Survey suggests disabilities services should retract. Our Jewish response is to defy logic – to ensure our services can be nurtured, flourish and grow.
This is not a task for one person, one organisation or even a select group of people; it is our collective responsibility. The question posed this week by the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is not whether we are more aware of people with disabilities – but what will we do with that awareness.
Our individual response to that question determines our future.
We do not need an awareness day to fight for what is right, to support our community, friends and relatives, or their families without fear or favour of their background, nor do we stand in judgment of anyone or their circumstances. We know this because of the outstanding work we can and do achieve. So, on reading this, please discuss the issues raised at your table, encourage others to play their part – keep going, even when some are dismissive or say no. We need not wait for an “awareness day”. This is our challenge and our opportunity. Let us rise to meet it.
