Deinstitutionalisation of CUDV Črna na Koroškem
Since June 2020, IRSSV and CUDV Črna na Koroškem have cooperated with the project Deinstitutionalisation of CUDV Črna na Koroškem, co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund.
The project envisages the transformation or the beginning of the deinstitutionalization of the CUDV Črna na Koroškem, as dictated by the Common European Guidelines for the Transition to Community Forms of Care. The IRSSV provides professional support for implementing the deinstitutionalization project CUDV Črna na Koroškem.
The Center for Training, Work and Protection (CUDV) Črna na Koroškem, operating since 1968, provides institutional care and education for children, adolescents, and adults with intellectual disabilities. They carry out a special education program for persons up to the age of 26, and from the age of 21, they also carry out a training program for life and work.
CUDV Črna started working on the first attempts to move into the community by opening the first housing units in 1981 and introducing the first housing groups in 2008, which reduced the number of capacities in the main building.
CUDV Črna has housing groups and units in 11 different locations, with 63 residents. The long-term vision is to transform the institution into a network of various community services for users and other people in the community who would need support.
At least 70 people will move into housing groups as part of the project. We will develop new services for users to improve their quality of life and strengthen the community. Together with users, we will create services that align with European trends and international documents in deinstitutionalization. In addition, the project will contribute to the creation of systemic solutions for the transformation of institutions in Slovenia.
The project will enable a shift towards realizing human rights and fundamental freedoms for users of CUDV Črna na Koroškem, improve their quality of life, strengthen their strength, and provide various forms of community services to support independent living.
As strengthening and developing employee competencies will have a decisive impact on the quality of services and transforming care, the project also provides education and training of staff, transfer of good practices from abroad, and the organization of diverse professional support.
Establishment of the project unit for the deinstitutionalisation implementation
As a project partner, the Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Social Protection (IRSSV), together with the Ministry of labor, family, social affairs, and equal opportunities, seeked to provide a basis for completing the deinstitutionalization process (DI) in Slovenia.
We strive to meet the requirements of many international documents at the European Union, the European Council, and the United Nations. The Common European Guidelines for the Transition from Institutional to Community Care emphasize that institutional forms of care are segregating, unfit for life, and even harmful to residents.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to which Slovenia is a signatory, also recognizes the right of all persons with disabilities to live in the community and calls on States to take effective and appropriate measures to ensure that they enjoy this right.
Despite European trends of deinstitutionalization, Slovenia faces a significant lack of community forms of living and community services. The care for people with psychosocial and mental disabilities is still covered mainly by institutional care.
To meet the requirements of international documents, the project unit has been established at the Ministry of labor, family, social affairs, and equal opportunities.
The project unit has completed the following:
- Studied the situation in the field of DI in Slovenia in cooperation with IRSSV.
- Identified areas of DI that still needed to be regulated.
- Prepared draft laws and national strategies to enable the coordinated implementation of activities for establishing the DI system.
- Brought together all relevant stakeholders in the field of establishing a DI system and provided them with professional resources and materials.
- Prepared expert bases for implementing other operations within the competence of the investor in the field of DI.
- Supervised the progress of the construction of the DI system.
The main goal of DI is to organize and establish services that will better address each person’s individual needs and replace inadequate institutional care. We strive to ensure that people living in institutions can move back into the community, and those in need of care will never have to leave it, as they will have the adequate support of long-term health and social care providers available.
The ultimate goal of DI is that someday all people could live in a home environment. We know that the road to get there may be long and challenging, but we also know the goal is achievable.
A prerequisite for this is quality community care staff and an extensive network of community services. We have already set out on this path with deinstitutionalization being in full swing in the special social welfare institution Dom na Krasu in Dutovlje and the Center for Training, Work and Protection (CUDV) Črna na Koroškem. In both institutions, our team is implementing a community resettlement program.
Our activities are also related to the implementation of the analysis of the situation and the review of existing institutional care and community care services, as well as informing and raising awareness of various publics.
We have created a website where it will be possible to find a knowledge base with relevant information in the field of DI, professional and scientific literature, good domestic and foreign practices, and visualizations of data and studies. We will add content, notifications, and news about various DI-related events and other content.
We want to create a modern, up-to-date, and interesting website aimed not only at those who are directly affected by DI but also at the general public. We are convinced that it is an important topic for every citizen.
As we believe that opposition to and disinterest in deinstitutionalization can stem from unfamiliarity with the complex processes and professional expertise behind these complicated terms, we will organize one-day consultations and focus groups.
We hope that these and other events will help people know more about this issue and loosen all the contradictions. At the same time, we hope to arouse the interest of as many people as possible. We will also prepare other materials that can be found on the website.
Getting a Life
The purpose of the project is to support the client in deinstitutionalizing the special institution Demir Kapija in Northern Macedonia into community care.
The activities aim to assess the situation, prepare a plan for the institution’s transformation, prepare a methodology for monitoring the transformation process, prepare a plan and carry out employee training. We are also involved in other support activities. It is similar to the pilot projects in Slovenia for the transformation of Dom na Krasu and CUDV Črna na Koroškem. The goal is to relocate at least 45 residents from the institution to the community.
The project runs from September 1, 2020, to December 31, 2022, and is funded by the People in Need project, Czech Republic.
For more information you can visit their website.
Assessment of the situation in the field of community services and deinstitutionalization in Kosovo
The project aims to assess the current situation in deinstitutionalization in the Republic of Kosovo.
As part of the project, we are preparing an analysis of policies and legislation in social protection, collecting basic data on people with disabilities, existing providers, and available services in Kosovo. We will also list examples of good and bad practices in deinstitutionalization.
The target groups of the research are children, adults, and the elderly. The project’s main product will be a report on the state of deinstitutionalization in Kosovo. We will also make recommendations on how to support the deinstitutionalization process.
The survey, including fieldwork and report preparation, will run until the end of January 2022.
IRSSV employees are implementing the project in cooperation with the People in Need (PIN) organization. It is a non-governmental and non-profit organization working in the field of humanism, freedom, equality, and solidarity. At PIN, they believe that all people have the right to a dignified and free life.
See their website for more information.
Voices for Justice: Communicating with Victims of Crime with Disability
Access to information and effective communication are essential for people with disabilities who are victims of crime to be able to participate in criminal proceedings like others.
Directive 2012/29 / EU and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognize the right of persons with disabilities to justice, information, communication, etc. When people with disabilities in criminal proceedings do not receive information in a way they understand or are not given the opportunity to express their needs and experiences, these rights are violated.
The aim of the project is to improve the access of beneficiaries to their rights under the Directive and to the necessary support and communication tools through action research, networking of different disciplines and the creation of practical tools. In addition, we want to provide professionals in the justice system with the necessary tools to improve communication with people with disabilities who are victims of crime.
As part of the project, we will prepare four manuals for experts and beneficiaries and seven national reports on research findings. The task of the IRSSV is to develop the methodology and tools, coordinate the implementation of research and data collection in seven project countries, prepare a national report for Slovenia and carry out an advocacy campaign.
See their webpage for more information
Towards a more Inclusive Europe
The aim of the project is to evaluate the four-year program “Delivering the Inclusion Europe Work Program (2018-2021)”, funded by the European Union. We want to find out what impact the program has had on the lives of people with intellectual disabilities in Europe over the last four years. Based on the evaluation, we will make some suggestions for the development of Inclusion Europe.
In evaluating, we will pay particular attention to involving and representing the voice of people with intellectual disabilities. We will use secondary material, conduct focus groups and interviews to prepare the evaluation. We will also prepare an easy-to-read questionnaire, which will be available on the IRSSV DI website together with an explanation of the project in Slovene and English.
In addition, we will organize two more online meetings to consult key stakeholders and people with intellectual disabilities. A summary of the easy-to-read evaluation will be attached to the final evaluation.
The project runs from 1 November 2021 to 28 February 2022 and is funded by the Inclusion Europe project, Belgium.