Strategic Planning Committee

Jason Mitschele, Ellen Cohen, Dolly Menna-Dack, Gabriel Reznick,

Doreen Way, and Robert Lattanzio

In Consultation with Calibrate

INTRODUCTION

ARCH Disability Law Centre is a specialty community legal clinic dedicated to defending and advancing the equality rights, entitlements, fundamental freedoms, and inclusion of persons with disabilities in Ontario. ARCH practices exclusively in disability rights law. Since its incorporation in 1979, ARCH has been a leader in disability rights advocacy and test case litigation. Our staff report to a volunteer Board of Directors, more than half of whom are persons with disabilities. ARCH is grateful to its core funder, Legal Aid Ontario. 

ARCH is a renowned leader in the disability law field in Ontario and nationally. Its impactful work is led and maintained by a strong foundation of dedicated staff, board members, volunteers, and community partners.

This 5-year strategic plan (2024-2029) is underpinned by the organization’s longstanding vision, mission, values, and principles. Recognizing ARCH’s broad impact and current financial stability, this strategic plan focuses on strengthening ARCH’s intersecting roles as an employer, a provider of legal services, and a capacity builder in the legal and disability sectors. The four strategic priorities below are not meant to represent a completely linear path. All priorities are interconnected.

ARCH’s Core Services

ARCH represents eligible persons with disabilities and groups in test case litigation where the outcome will affect a large number of persons with disabilities, or significantly change the law as it relates to the rights of persons with disabilities in Ontario.

ARCH provides free, confidential legal advice, information, and/or referrals directly to persons with disabilities across Ontario. Lawyers and paralegals representing persons with disabilities contact ARCH to discuss disability-related aspects of a case and providing accessible legal services to persons with disabilities.

ARCH delivers rights education to persons with disabilities regarding their legal rights. We provide disability rights education to lawyers, paralegals and advocates. We give presentations, workshops, and seminars and produce written materials, including our newsletter, ARCH Alert and our Blog.

ARCH works with persons with disabilities, disability organizations, community partners and coalitions to advance the right to full inclusion for persons with disabilities. ARCH focuses its activities in community development in the priority areas set by ARCH’s Board of Directors.

ARCH engages in law reform activities to improve the laws, policies and practices that affect the lives of persons with disabilities.

VISION

A society in which laws, policies and legal systems ensure full participation, inclusion, dignity, and equal rights without discrimination for persons with disabilities.

MISSION STATEMENT

ARCH Disability Law Centre, as a specialty legal clinic with a provincial mandate, undertakes to achieve this Vision by:

  • Advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities, including the removal of systemic barriers;
  • Promoting awareness and providing education on the rights of persons with disabilities;
  • Addressing issues that have a particular impact on low income persons with disabilities;
  • Ensuring that ARCH’s work has Ontario-wide impact;
  • Engaging in national disability rights work and influencing the realization of international disability rights norms in Canada and Ontario; 
  • Continuously developing and utilizing ARCH’s expertise in local, provincial, national and international law as it affects persons with disabilities;
  • Addressing the heightened disadvantage and discrimination faced by persons with disabilities, including as a result of other intersecting grounds of discrimination, including gender, race, age, language, place of origin, economic status, sexual orientation, and others. 

VALUES AND PRINCIPLES

ARCH is guided by the following set of core values:

  • The dignity and worth of all persons with disabilities must be respected;
  • Persons with disabilities have the right to dignity, equality, self-determination, disability-related supports and full participation in a barrier-free inclusive society;
  • Persons with disabilities themselves are in the best position to determine their own priorities;
  • All persons have a common responsibility to create inclusive communities accessible to all persons with disabilities. 

Additionally, ARCH is guided by the following set of core organizational principles:

  • ARCH operates in accordance with the above core values;
  • ARCH is a community-based organization, governed by a Board of Directors composed of a majority of persons with disabilities;
  • ARCH is accountable to persons with disabilities in Ontario, its members and its funders.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

During the Strategic Planning day, Staff and Board members identified 4 strategic objectives that will guide ARCH’s work over the next five years. These strategic objectives are presented below in no particular order.

Strategic Objective 1

To maximize ARCH’s internal capacity to delivery core services to its communities.

Impact

ARCH will continue to be the preferred resource for clients and an employer of choice.

Goals

  • Identify and address inefficiencies and organizational needs in a post-pandemic and hybrid work model context, while building and revitalizing internal relationships and team cohesion impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Continue to address staff compensation, staff retention and staff wellness, and develop strategies that address board member recruitment, retention, and overlapping terms to better facilitate knowledge exchange and institutional memory.
  • Develop metrics and improve data analysis for progress tracking, and develop and implement innovative strategies for delivering resources and information in clear and accessible language to persons with disabilities, and to the legal profession, on complex and emerging issues related to disability rights. 

Strategic Objective 2

To grow ARCH’s ability to support persons with disabilities through systemic actions by expanding its strategic test case litigation and targeted law reform activities with the goal of further advancing the rights of persons with disabilities.

Impact

ARCH’s systemic litigation and advocacy will have an increased impact for persons with disabilities and disability rights communities.   

Goals

  • Identify new and innovative methods of assessing needs and intersectional mapping of the experiences of persons with disabilities to ensure that its core services and their scope are continually responsive. Allocate resources to increase the impact of its systemic test case litigation within the core areas of its practice, as a Legal Aid Ontario designated test case legal clinic. 
  • Continue to be responsive to issues of greatest concern to disability communities, from a cross-disability perspective, from intersectional identities, and in under-represented communities.

Strategic Objective 3

To scale ARCH’s successful clinic model and rights-based approaches beyond its current core services by expanding its national reach.

Impact

ARCH will increase its impact while not interrupting its core services.

Goals

  • Complete a scan of funding options available outside of ARCH’s traditional funding modalities, including opportunities from the network of supporters/donors and the private sector.
  • Develop and implement a funding strategy to achieve diverse, stable funding outside of ARCH’s traditional funding modalities to expand its activities.
  • Develop and implement the plan to structure its national work to address internal capacity, decision-making, community involvement, and outreach strategies.

Strategic Objective 4

To enhance relationships and outreach activities with disability communities and allies.

Impact

ARCH’s work is informed by its relationships with the disability communities it serves in fulfilling its mission, vision and values in response to those communities’ needs.

Goals

  • Build and revitalize external relationships that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Build and sustain relationships with community and legal partners across Ontario and Canada to advance disability rights.
  • Continue outreach initiatives to Indigenous, racialized, Francophone, rural, isolated and vulnerable disability communities. 

Evaluation and Monitoring

Implementation plans and evaluation metrics will be developed to monitor the operationalization of this Strategic Plan and will be reviewed on an annual basis by the ARCH Board and Staff.