International SRV Association Forums Report

International Social Role Valorization Association (ISRVA) – May 26, 2020 Zoom Forums Report Purpose – “To promote SRV development, education, assessment, and leadership to assist people and organizations to implement SRV concepts so that vulnerable people may have access to the good things of life.”

On May 26, 2020, the International SRV Association (ISRVA), held two Zoom focus groups, facilitated by Ray LeMay and Guy Caruso, to hear from present and past members, about their thoughts and ideas of “What is, and What Should Be?” for the ISRVA. The focus groups were well attended and the ISRV leadership truly appreciated the participation and ideas offered by participants about our present work and possible future efforts and initiatives.

Ray and Guy asked participants to discuss from their own efforts to teach, write about, research and/or implement Social Role Valorization:  What are the gaps you see – locally, nationally, and internationally, that might be appropriate for ISRVA to fill?  How would you advise ISRVA to proceed to be helpful to members and the international SRV movement?  What do you think has ‘worked’ about ISRVA, and what advice do you have for ISRVA and its member/leaders?

We were very fortunate to have Brittany Curry create graphics of both sessions, which are attached at the end of this letter. From Brittany’s graphics and notes Guy took from both sessions below are the ideas participants shared with us. In bold are some of the efforts the ISRVA is already undertaking. In red are ISRVA initial attempt at addressing some of the ideas.

1. Strengthen relationships by bringing people together around an area of interest (e.g. post‐ secondary education, adult services, homes, k‐12 education), (e.g. Zoom meeting) 2. Application/Implementation of SRV (beyond the academy idea) Utilize the tools of today – Zoom, Podcast, modern mediums, TED talk, Facebook, online modules of themes/wounds (ISRVA plans a number of Zoom events ‐ September: A Critique of Social Distancing; October: SRV and Aging; November: SRV and Congregate Care; and January: Why Disability doesn’t Trust Medicine. We certainly would entertain other members organizing and conducting events with us, as well as assisting us with Podcasts/TED talks/etc.)

3. A Central Place for all things happening in the SRV world – collection of linkages; who is doing what; people expand their horizons; help each other muck it out; collect oral histories (e.g. students with intellectual disabilities)(voices of people with disabilities from the early days of SRV); a clearinghouse; a repository of links/stories/examples of ; on‐going family series; good outcomes for people because of SRV; web‐based modules with binge ‐worth episodes 4. Mentorships (ISRVA is including mentorship in our Academy model as one way to address this idea) 5. Language & accessibility of material so it is digestible, useful for multi‐media and not so complex 6. Diversity – expand our leadership and membership to be more diverse 7. Unite the International SRV Community (e.g. Belgium, France, Holland) – create a members’ network that can tap into shared resources of others; can we have shared administration 1

8. Scholarships in research and training open to any country (ISRVA will be sending out our scholarship information on research and training in the fall) 9. Address Congregation from the SRV perspective – COVID impact on people with disabilities (abandoned, high infection rate, high death rate)(ISRVA will hold a Zoom session on this topic in November organized and facilitated by Ray LeMay) 10. Community of Practice (on‐going learning) – utilize the energy, resources of other members to defray costs; be the arborist and take care of the trees 11. SRV academy (including mentoring) (ISRVA is close to finalization of a document on a proposed academy we will share for feedback from selected allies and members, before distributing more widely) 12. Research and Scholarship ‐ A literary review of the foundational writings; a new introduction to SRV would give it a new date 13. Cultivate the Next Generation – intentional mentoring; we need new people to hold this and carry it forward (ISRVA realizes this is a paramount issue to address and it is on meeting agenda for further discussion) 14. Update and Refresh Tools & Materials – completely update PASSING; language translations for other countries (e.g. Dutch) 15. Connect the Global SRV Community – Australia (ASRVA), Ireland student groups wanting to formalize their network 16. Maintain and update the Websites (ISRVA and Wolfersberger)(ISRVA continues to do this and would appreciate feedback on the content, ease of use, and any other ideas to improve the websites) 17. Organize global events (ISRVA ones; International SRV Conferences; encourage scholarship using Wolf’s archives in Nebraska)(ISRVA is planning for 2021, in Nebraska (in‐person/virtually), a Festschrift, whose purpose is to celebrate Wolfensberger’s considerable impact on community services and the field of developmental disabilities. Also, the event will provide an opportunity to see the Wolfensberger Archives at the University of Nebraska McGoogan Library. In addition, we are working with Mary Kealy in Ireland on the 9th International SRV Conference, obviously planning around COVID issues and whether the conference will be an in‐person and/or virtual event. The conference is scheduled for June 15‐17, 2022, with a preconference on June 13‐14)

As the ISRVA leadership is a small volunteer group we are limited in what we can undertake at any particular time. Therefore, we encourage members (past and present) to contact us if they are interested in acting on some of the above suggestions. We can use all the support and help offered to advance our purpose and to better meet the needs of our membership.

Again, thank you for all the ideas and help with looking at how ISRVA can be more attentive to members needs and in meeting our purpose.

Respectfully Submitted by Guy Caruso

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