GAOORDI charity foundation
Support
CSS contribution, rubles
Total budget, rubles
Implementation period, months
Project idea
The primary objective of the project is to equip the parent community with the understanding that their adult children with mental disabilities can and indeed should lead independent lives, with the support of specialists. Through moderated video conferences, parents will receive necessary information from both specialists and other parents like themselves, based on the "peer-to-peer" principle, which will help reduce tension and fears that inevitably arise when "separating" from a child transitioning to supported living.
The professional community will not be ignored either. Specialists from 7 regional organizations will undergo professional retraining and skill enhancement. During the training process, online consultations and supervisions will be conducted, along with an in-person internship in Saint Petersburg. This will equip them with practical skills and a methodological foundation for scaling the supported living techniques in their organizations and regions.
The project also seeks to foster a collaborative partnership among NGOs, parents of individuals with disabilities, and governmental entities to facilitate supported living programs. These initiatives enable individuals with special health needs to live autonomously with professional assistance, while providing assurance to their parents that their children will receive the necessary support and care.
Relevance
More than 396,000 people of working age with mental disabilities live in Russia. Traditionally, the primary form of life support for them has been closed specialized institutions. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to move away from this model in favor of a more effective and humane alternative—supported living.
Supported living enables individuals with mental disabilities to reside in a typical home setting while being productive and integrated into the local community. This innovative social services technique is still in the development stage in Russia and is being implemented in a fragmented manner across various regions.
The proposed project aims to spread the supported living model to the regions, which will improve the quality of life for people with mental disabilities and provide them with greater independence and social integration.
Social effect
Advancing social partnerships to establish an alternative living arrangement model for young adults with mental disabilities. Scaling assisted living techniques across seven new regions in Russia. Training for the professional and parental communities.
KPI
KPI
Project Results
The project's activities corresponded to the set goals and objectives, and the project involved seven regions (in addition to Saint Petersburg): Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh, and Ulyanovsk regions, Republics of Sakha (Yakutia), Dagestan, Mari El, and Buryatia.
At the time of the application submission and grant agreement signing, the Chelyabinsk and Lipetsk regions were expected to participate in the project as partner regions. As the Chelyabinsk region later joined a federal social impact project and selected a different operating organization to prevent duplicate funding, it was replaced in the project by the Voronezh region, for which supported living is a completely new area for development. The Lipetsk region declined participation in the project and was replaced by the Republic of Dagestan, where an organization that maintains a robust partnership with GAOORDI is operating.
The organization carried out research to evaluate the level of awareness and to ascertain the preparedness of families and professionals for the adoption of supported living programs. The research was conducted at both the beginning and the conclusion of the project to evaluate the social impact it generated. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Federal State Budgetary Institution for Further Vocational Education SPbIUVEK of the Ministry of Labor of Russia.
Throughout the project, specialists received training, and the awareness and preparedness of both parents and professionals to implement supported living programs were enhanced. Additionally, understanding of alternative living arrangements for individuals with mental and physical disabilities was broadened. A dialogue has been established between government representatives, NGOs, and beneficiaries in the regions to implement such programs. The inclusion of individuals with mental disabilities in socially significant activities has been ensured, and consistent employment opportunities for young adults participating in the project have been established.
Participants of the internship program noted that the examples they observed strengthened their confidence that parent organizations in their regions could successfully organize and develop supported living projects. In their opinion, the seminars and work with GAOORDI specialists helped them see different approaches to organizing supported living and life arrangements for people with disabilities and start communicating with colleagues in other regions, which may serve as the beginning of new joint projects.
The expert assessment from the FSBI G. A. Albrecht Federal Scientific Center of Rehabilitation, under the of the Russian Ministry of Labor, was also obtained, corroborating the importance and efficacy of the work conducted.
Project progress after CSS funding
The activities started within the project will certainly be continued. Three regions, with which GAOORDI interacted in the project and which showed the greatest readiness for implementing new technologies, will participate in training on assistive technologies in supported living, which is planned in the "LIKE AT HOME" project that won the 2022 grant competition announced by the Presidential Grants Foundation.
All specialists trained through the project are eligible to receive methodological and advisory support from GAOORDI for the execution of their programs and projects. The courses developed within the project are placed on the GAOORDI distance learning platform and will be used for further training of specialists and people with mental disabilities both in the regions participating in the project and in other regions of the Russian Federation.
