Requests, reports, replies

Correspondence between the Centre for Legal Resources and the Ministry of Investment and European Projects, on the topic of deinstitutionalisation of people with disabilities and the European funds dedicated to this process, in the context of discussions related to the Operational Programme for Inclusion and Social Dignity (POIDS).

2 November 2021. After countless addresses and the submission of a prior complaint to the Prime Minister’s office, the Ministry of Investment and European Projects confirms what our organisation, the  Centre for Legal Resources, has warned in all its requests and position papers: the Commission will not accept the construction of sheltered housing.
CLR solicitations/ observations:
CLR considers that investments such as family-type homes for children with disabilities and sheltered housing are a form of segregation and discrimination.
CLR proposes the replacement of these measures with interventions aimed at services in the community, and not only in the county seats, but also in the communes, childcare assistants and incentives for families, the establishment of mobile teams that can also reach rural areas, social housing for people with institutionalised disabilities, appropriate specialised rehabilitation centres in each urban/municipal environment, personal assistants, incentives for families.
The document states that: the MIPE tried to moderate the divergence, in order to be able to take a funding decision through POIDS, but the solution came from a third source, i.e. the European Commission, which informed us by correspondence of 27 September 2021 that it does not agree with the process of deinstitutionalisation through sheltered housing (neither for 12 persons nor for 6 persons). Consequently, the FONPC proposal has not been included in the revised version of POIDS.

The full correspondence with MIPE can be found on the Romanian section of the website, including the above reply (10), to which the CLR has already come back with a request (11) to forward us the correspondence between the MIPE and the European Commission. We also asked for the correction and completion of the paragraphs referring to the discussions at the POIDS Committee meeting of 10 August.