Transformation of Social Services Project
The Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has been supporting the process of transformation and de-institutionalization of social care services on a long-term basis. The strategy of replacing institutional care for people with disabilities with community-based care in their natural environment is nation-wide and is based not only on the existing Czech legislation, but mainly on the process of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the reports of the European De-institutionalisation Expert Group.
Life in an institution is a handicap. This also holds true for the disabled.
Transformation of social services for the disabled
The transformation is a modification of high-capacity institutional services for handicapped persons for accommodation and support in a standard environment. Thanks to the transformation, persons with disabilities are crossing over from large institutions into flats or single-family residences in a standard development and live the standard lifestyle of their peers.
With appropriate support, persons with disabilities can live in regular households, assume responsibility for their own life, and manage to take care of themselves and their household, just as those, who do not live in institutions, are able to. They can walk to work, cultivate their hobbies, or meet friends in their vicinity. They need not spend their life in a high-capacity institution that limits them in such activities.
Support of Transformation of Social Services Project (2007 - 2013)
The goal of the project is to support the transition of disabled persons from high-capacity institutional services into housing and services in a regular environment.
32 institutional facilities across the C.R. shall participate in this project; these facilities provide services for approximately 3 800 persons with disabilities. All Municipal Districts in the Czech Republic participate in the project (due to conditions imposed by the European Social Fund, the Capital City of Prague shall participate in selected activities).
The project is implemented by the Department of Social Services and Social Integration under the C.R. Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
The National Centre for Support of the Transformation of Social Services is also involved in the project; the centre provides education and support of transformation process participants.
The project helps to fulfil the Concept for Supporting the Transformation of Residential Social Services into other types of social services, provided in the user’s natural community and for supporting social inclusion of the user into the community, which was adopted under Czech Republic government resolution no. 127, dated on 21. February, 2007.
The project is financed under the European Social Fund and the government budget of the Czech Republic through the Operational Program of Human Resources and Employment.
Detailed information about the project is available at http://www.mpsv.cz/cs/7058
Transformation of Social Services Project (2013 – 2015)
The goal of the project is to support the transition of disabled persons from high-capacity institutional sevices into housing and services in a regular environment.
The project continues in previous Project of Transformation of Social Services. These projects are implemented by the Department of Social Sevices and the EU Funds Implementation Department under the C. R. Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
The project helps to provide social sevices in natral community and to support social inclusion of the user into the community.
The project is financed under the European Social Fund and the government budget of the Czech Republic through the Operational Program of Human Resources and Emploment.
Main Information about project you can find at http://www.mpsv.cz/cs/14597
Frequently asked questions and answers
Does the transformation mean that services for the disabled will be cancelled?
No, the services shall not be cancelled. The conditions and method of providing services shall only be modified. The majority of persons with disabilities relocate from institutions into regular flats or single-family residences, where they receive support, e.g. in the form of sheltered housing. They make use of day care services and other methods of support.
Do some of the people leave the institutions completely?
Some of the current clients of large institutions return to their families or move into households with friends and no longer require residential social services. They are those (persons) that possess sufficient abilities and skills that enable them to lead an independent life. Meanwhile, they arrived at the institution for lack of other support options.
If a person lived in an institution for many years, how do they cope with such a change?
This change is certainly difficult for a person, who spent a part of their life in an institutional facility. It is therefore preceded by thorough preparation, which involves both an assessment of the person’s needs and planning during the transformation. The preparation also involves the selection of the future residence, visitations thereof, and establishing relationships with others or developing necessary skills. Experience has shown that despite the initial stress following moving, the psychological well-being improves and healthy relationships with the community are established.
Who, then, does the transformation affect?
Forty facilities across the Czech Republic are involved in this transformation project.
On the basis of which were these thirty-two facilities selected?
The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs appealed to districts that registered selected facilities – to take into account the high capacity of facilities and buildings, their desolate condition, isolation from the regular environment, and other indicators.
What are the criteria for selecting the districts that the people from institutions move to?
Target districts are selected based on the specific needs of people that are moving into them: they often depend on their family or family ties.
Many disabled people today live in families and do not want to go into institutions; meanwhile, they lack the necessary help when the family is no longer able to cope. Why do you not instead focus on those people, when the people in the institutions are taken care of?
Because life in an institution is a handicap. High-capacity institutions limit the personal development of a person. Everyone, meanwhile, is entitled to a normal life that is comparable to that of his/her peers.
Moreover, the transformation increases the availability of housing and support for adults with disabilities within a regular setting. Newly created housing and services may also be used by people that do not come from institutions. This background for the provision of social services shall remain here for many years to come.
Crucial activities of project:
· consultation and supervision
· education
· publicity of transformation
· evaluation of the transformation