Avenues

What is Avenues?

Flexible Supports for People's Lives

For People and Families Information
For Personal Assistants Information
Making the Choice to Self-Administer Funding
Resources

Avenues is a project that has evolved over many years in the Windsor-Essex community. Many people, families and support organizations spent a lot of time discussing the necessity for an innovative payroll and human resource support for people who have a disability who have individualized funding and are self-directing — this is Avenues. Avenues provides tailor made human resource and financial supports. This means that you can choose the types of supports you want — it really is up to you. We can help you with support for the recruitment, scheduling, interviewing, monitoring, training, and/or payroll for personal assistants.

In a system that supports people and families with individualized funding (person-controlled)Avenues is one of three links to ensure that people have they lives they want.

funding graph

History of Avenues

Many families in Windsor-Essex County had been administering their own Special Services At Home (now Passports) contracts since 1982. This was a direct funding program for adults with developmental disabilities. When individualized funding arrangements began to increase in our community, around 1995, discussions were initiated regarding the need for a payroll/human resource support service. Initial concept work occurred from 1995 to 2000. The idea of a community bank was recommended as part of restructuring plans. During this time an attempt was made to incorporate as Payroll Services Cooperative for Windsor-Essex; however, incorporation was denied.
In 2001, the community bank concept was revived and the Central Disbursement Mechanism (CDM) was created. The CDM was set up solely as a banking function for people and families who were receiving designated individualized dollars. Payroll and human resource supports were not part of the model.

In 2005/2006, the community decided to return to the idea of a payroll and human resource support service for people and families. The work was funded through an innovations grant.
In 2010 through the Ministry of Community and Social Service's increasing the Community Capacity Initiative, annualized funding from within the Windsor-Essex County developmental services system was identified and approved to implement the human resource support component of Avenues. It is at that point that Avenues became a program of Family Services Windsor-Essex.

Why Avenues?

We listened to people and families who are self-directing their individualized funding and they told us:

People and families are asking for flexible financial and human resource supports in a different way;
People and families want to choose how they pay their Personal Assistants;
People and families want to choose their Personal Assistants and the types of supports they can provide;
People and families want different ways to value their Personal Assistants i.e., the option of offering benefits

Operational Values of Avenues

The statements below describe the beliefs on which the services within Avenues are designed and offered to people and families. They guide the decisions and actions of the program.

a) Person is the Leader

People are valued for their gifts and contributions
Nothing about me, without me
Avenues is accountable to the person

b) Goal–Focused

Goals should reflect the person's dreams, gifts and strengths

c) Facilitation Support

Facilitation is independent from the service system

d) Flexible

Service is flexible because individualized funding reflects that a person's life changes as they have the opportunity to experience new things and to enhance their life,
New goals will always have to be created

e) Citizenship

Through individualized funding people have the opportunity experience citizenship, to be involved and give back to their community

f) Relationships

Real connections are encouraged, including good rapport with personal assistants

g) Family Growth

Opportunities to meet and talk will strengthen families

How Avenues services work and are offered to the community

Your personal assistant(s) are self-employed OR you can be the employer. *see For People and Families for a more detailed explanation. Avenues helps you recruit these personal assistants and allows you the option of personalizing the services to suit your needs and to run non-traditional services.

Provincial Respite Services Network 2018 Update