Community-Based Services

Ten submissions included suggestions relating to transitioning to more community-based disability services (DFI; NFVSP; Disability Unit, DoH; Leap; AI; Aontas; TCAID; Chime; IWA; and the IDS).

In their submission, Leap recommended that the DCEDIY prioritise the resourcing of “inclusive, mainstream, community-based alternatives to segregated and congregated disability-specific service”. This recommendation was echoed across the submissions. AI recommended the “shift away from congregated residential settings” continue, to enable people “to live and be cared for safely and in dignity in their homes and communities”. For TCAID, “progress must continue on deinstitutionalisation. Citing IDS-TILDA research on congregated settings, they noted the benefits of “smaller, community-based residences”. They argued that social inclusion and community participation are key “contributors to improved quality of life”, and recommended that the DCEDIY work to remove “barriers to community integration”. A number of submissions noted that underinvestment in community services has led to situations such as people with disabilities under 65 years of age being placed in nursing homes (DFI, NFVSP, AI).

The Disability Unit, DoH, recommended that the DCEDIY SoS commit to moving people “to suitable community-based supported housing”. They also recommended the “development of person-centred day services under the New Directions model”, to support people with disabilities “in activities of their choice in the community”. The DFI submission suggested that the DCEDIY’s new configuration provides a “valuable opportunity to commit to investing in community-based and person-centred services”. These include Personal Assistance services, home supports, respite and personalised budgets, among others. DFI suggested that, (as per the Transforming Lives Working Group 1 report), multi-annual investment in community services of at least €211m would be required per year over five years in order to achieve this.