History
It is unlikely that there was much thought of accessibility when Carleton University decided to link its buildings by underground tunnel. However, as the university expanded, the tunnels did as well. Students with disabilities soon discovered they could travel around campus with relative ease.
As more students with disabilities enrolled at Carleton, the need for further structural improvements and increased services became apparent. Since Carleton was founded as a college for returning war veterans and was one of the first schools to actively recruit women, it was natural that the school embraced students with disabilities.
When students with disabilities began to live in Residence, they were placed on the second floor of Glengarry House. There was a nurse on duty in the mornings who would assist students to rise and prepare for school. During the rest of the day, these students had to be independent or to get assistance from floor mates. As service demand grew, problems arose. The nurse on duty was responsible for the entire residence population, but was spending most of her time with a few students with disabilities. Furthermore, students had no support other than the morning assistance.
Beginning in 1986, limited attendant services became available. Two local health care companies provided attendants, who were primarily residence students at Carleton.
The attendants assisted students with disabilities with morning and evening care allowing the nurse to return to regular duties. However, outside of morning and evening routines, students with disabilities still had no assistance for the majority of the day. The attendants had little training, there were no policies to follow, and since the assistance was available for only very limited times during the day, only students with low level disabilities could live in Residence. The service operated on a small grant from Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS); this organization had never funded this type of unique arrangement. Although the service showed great promise, there was little chance of increased funding from VRS.
Larry McCloskey, Director of the Paul Menton Centre applied to the Ministry of Health for funding to expand the service to provide 24 hour on campus attendant services. Although this type of service had never been offered before, the Ministry of Health could see the merits of a program that allowed students with disabilities to live on campus from September to April and to study alongside their able-bodied peers.
The two community agencies that had been providing the attendants both wanted to exclusively manage the service beginning in September of 1987.
However, Mr. McCloskey disliked the idea of a company receiving a high per diem rate of funding for each student with a disability, retaining a large percentage of the funding for off campus management, and paying a much smaller amount to attendants on duty. Mr. McCloskey envisioned a “made at Carleton” solution and so pursued the idea of the university managing all aspects of the service.
That September, an early version of the Carleton University Residence Attendant Services Program began. Moving away from the medical model where only health care professionals provided personal care, student attendants were hired and trained in the philosophy of independent living. A part time program coordinator was hired by the university to schedule attendants and oversee the program budget. This allowed a person to be on site to deal with management issues, and by excluding outside agencies, more funding was available for direct service.
In the initial stages of the service there was little formality but plenty of goodwill. The program lacked organization but made up for it with enthusiasm and a sincere belief that something worthwhile was being accomplished. In recognition of the unique service, the first of its kind in a university setting, the program was given an award by then Minister Responsible for Persons with Disabilities, Remo Mancini.
The program had more flexibility and offered more hours of service. Clients enjoyed a higher level of independence since they could access an attendant at any time of day. Not only did existing students have more flexibility, the increased service also allowed students with a higher level of disability to join the program.
In the summer of 1990, funding for the program was increased to allow students to receive service year-round rather than just the eight-month academic year. Clients could now stay in Residence and study during the summer rather than being forced to find alternative accessible housing, which is extremely scarce.
In late 1992, Matthew Cole began managing the program and soon the services and capacity of the program expanded.
A program guide was created and sent out to every high school in Ontario and to disability-based organizations across the country. By September of 1994 the program was again filled to capacity with students from Calgary to St. John’s while many recent graduates were fulfilling their aspirations by starting promising careers or by moving on to graduate schools.
The program also took on a larger role on campus. Rather than just serving students with disabilities in residence, having attendants available for other events on campus was becoming commonplace. Off campus events such as Orientation and the annual Charity Ball, were also made more accessible by the availability of attendants.
As the year 2000 approached and persons with disabilities continued to make gains at all levels of society, the service at Carleton was swelling beyond capacity every year. In addition, Algonquin College was making great strides in accommodating students with disabilities at its Woodroffe campus. A new initiative was forwarded to the Ministry of Health to expand Carleton’s service and to operate a new program at Algonquin, and its newly constructed residence. Despite a difficult fiscal situation in the province which resulted in a freeze in new program approvals, in September of 2001 Algonquin College became the first college in Canada to offer 24-hour attendant services.
At Carleton, physical accessibility continued to improve particularly with the construction of Leeds House in 2001 and Prescott House in 2003. The program steadily increased the number of students being served including from across Canada including Prince Edward Island and Nunavut. The service also began receiving international recognition and attracted clients from England, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, South Africa, and Botswana.
By 2012, the Attendant Services Program had been operating for 25 years and celebrated the anniversary with a formal ceremony on campus headlined by the Honourable David C. Onley, former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. The ceremony brought former clients and staff back to campus and included congratulations from Rick Hansen among others.
In 2015 the program was recognized as one of the unique aspects of Ontario that make the province accessible.
After decades of service, the program shut down in March 2020 in response to the worldwide pandemic and did not re-open until January 2022.