Summary of the Seminar Conclusions
- Being included in society is a human right of every person. Comprehensive, quality community-based alternatives to institutions must be available and accessible to all people with disabilities, including people with complex dependency needs. It is important to carry out awareness-raising activities among the general public, professionals and other stakeholders, which emphasize that life in the community is a right of every individual.
- Closing institutions is not the ultimate goal - it is a vehicle to ensure a better quality of life in the community for people with disabilities. Therefore, rather than using the term ‘de-institutionalisation', we should speak about community living and developing capacity in communities for the meaningful social inclusion of all citizens.
- The development of community-based alternatives is essential to the closing institutions. To ensure that people can move out of institutions and to stop new admissions into institutions, it is necessary to shift the funding from institutions to community-based services.
- All community-based services must be person-centred. To this end, people with disabilities must be involved in constructive partnerships to shape the delivery and the quality of services.
- There is a need for quality assurance, monitoring and accountability in the delivery of community-based services. When evaluating the quality of services, we must look beyond the physical environment and evaluate the quality of life of a person.
- There is a difference between community-living and living in the community. Simply living in the community does not guarantee meaningful participation and equal citizenship.
- Activities of service user organisations and advocacy efforts of families of people with disabilities must be encouraged and supported. It is important to ensure that people with disabilities are involved in all stages of the development and provision of community-based services.
- Closure of institutions is a political decision and the important role of advocacy work in this process must not be underestimated. We need to think beyond national boundaries and act regionally and internationally. Furthermore, it is important to form partnerships with actors outside the disability movement, such as organisations of and for elderly people, other organisations active in the social field and mainstream human rights organisations.
- We need to collect and share examples of best practice, as well as instruments that facilitate the development and provision of community-based services in order to avoid repeating mistakes and to support one another's efforts. As a unique European platform focused on the promotion of community living for people with disabilities, it is important that ECCL continues with its activities and receives support from other organisations, as well as the European Commission.