The project Disability Social Innovation Lab brings together a diverse team of experts from multiple sectors to co-design, prototype, test and document training and employment models for youths with intellectual and mental disabilities in Nairobi. The project is prototyping, testing, documenting and learning how peer-to-peer support networks, dual employment and co-designed inclusive learning and working spaces can be applied to solve the training and employment dilemma facing the youth with intellectual and mental disabilities in Kenya.

Specifically, the project develops and demonstrates innovations that exploit the higher dependency between youth with intellectual disabilities and their care-givers to improve the quality of care and livelihoods for the youth and their families. For mental disabilities, the project demonstrates how co-designed workspaces, dual employment and integrated employment increase access to jobs through effective and supported learning and employment models.

Solutions developed and experiences learnt will be used by CDSK and Agency for Disability and Development in Africa (ADDA) to place 100 youths with mental and intellectual disabilities in training and employment. The lessons will also be shared within the Action for Children with Disabilities (ACD) network to inform government and private sector programming for youths with mental and intellectual disabilities.

At the beginning of their project, Cheshire Disability Services of Kenya (CDSK) and Agency for Disability and Development in Africa (ADDA) seeked to address the following learning questions: 

1. How  might  we support  youth  with intellectual  and  mental  disabilities  into Technical Vocational Education Training  institutions(TVETs)and  community based training centres(CBTCs)? 
2. What  are  the  specific  employment  pre-placement  and  placement  pre-conditions  and how  might  we  design  effective  and  sustainable  transition  services  from  training  to employment for youths with mental and intellectual disabilities? 
3. Which  inclusive  employment  models  already  exist  and  how  can  they  be  adopted to enhance employment of youths with mental and intellectual disabilities? 
4. How can we utilise the close relationship between the  youths and their caregivers to add  value  to training  and  employment  of youths  with  mental  and  intellectual disabilities? 
5. How can  we  create  sustainable  peer  to  peer  support  systems  among  families  with youths with mental and intellectual disability? 

This was achieved through the Social Innovation Lab Project.  The Innovation Lab  set out a prototype to test  and  document  and  learn  how  peer-to-peer    support  networks,  dual employment    and    co-designed  inclusive  learning  and  working spaces  can  be   applied  to solve  the  training    and    employment    dilemma    facing    youths   with    intellectual  and    mental  disabilities  in  Kenya. Solutions developed and experiences learnt were used by CDSK and ADDA   to place 100 youths with mental and intellectual      disabilities in      training      and employment. In the Intellectual Lab, models for testing community acceptance of youth with intellectual disabilities and their families were tested.  

Through use of the  universal  design,  design  thinking  and  rights  based  approach,  the  lab has  documented  the  pre-requisites  necessary  to  increase  access  to education  and  employment  for  youth  with  intellectual  disabilities.  The youths  organised  a  community  fun  day  event  that  was  attended  by community  leaders  and  administrator which increased  knowledge  of community members on intellectual disabilities. Through various iterations of   the   social   lab,   the   economic   empowerment   model   developed   a community  based  organisation  and  registered  a  company  limited  by Guarantee  (waiting  due  diligence  from  the  Government)  fully  owned  by the CBO as vehicle for accessing Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO).   

The lab also  tested  the  access  to  training  and  employment models with 33 youths who were placed in training and employment. In the Psychosocial (Mental) Lab, twenty four parents/care giver are able to advocate on behalf of youth with psychosocial disabilities to challenge the   myths,   stigma   and   discrimination   experienced   by   youth   with disabilities, thirty youth with psychosocial disabilities are able to carry out advocacy through story-telling so as to break the barriers experienced by persons  with  psychosocial  disabilities  in  the  society  and  sixteen  with psychosocial disabilities were trained on business skills and are currently running their business ventures.