Press review

COFACE


Founded in 1998 by COFACE to improve representation for people with disabilities themselves and their families, COFACE-Handicap links together a score of national associations, all members of COFACE. Its member organizations actively take part in the COFACE working group "Inclusive policies for disabled and other dependent persons and their families".

COFACE Handicap's mandate is to improve the fulfilment of people with disabilities throughout their entire lives, in particular within the family, which is one of the best places in which they can be assured of lifelong self-fulfilment. COFACE Handicap wishes to give a European dimension to this mission. COFACE-Handicap works actively to see that a policy for family carers is mainstreamed across all policy spheres, and that the family is given a central place in policy on disability.

COFACE-Handicap acts to promote the availability of sufficient, appropriate care provision and services, close-to-home and home help services for people in need of care in all Member States. COFACE-Handicap wants resources, assistance and provision harmonized within the EU to avoid the disparities which would deny freedom of movement to families with care-needers.

COFACE-Handicap sits on the EU High level group on Disability, tasked to develop the synergies between national policies in the framework of the Un Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. COFACE-Handicap is a member of the EDF (European Disability Forum).

Key aims

 

  • COFACE-Handicap strongly believes in the need for people with a disability to develop as a whole person within their family, and seeing that their disability and already vulnerable social situation is not made worse.
  • COFACE-Handicap works to promote a tax policy which is favourable to family carers by making allowance for the costs of caring for someone with a disability.
  • COFACE-Handicap campaigns for all EU countries to implement a real policy to increase the number and quality of jobs, within the subsidiarity principle, in which all working parents, within their abilities, would have access to responsible, decently-paid jobs in order to forestall any risk of exclusion and poverty.
  • COFACE-Handicap defends the rights of individual and family carers looking after care-needers whose disability is too severe to enable them ever to work, even if offered appropriate employment.

Priorities

  • Splittable parental leave to accommodate the needs of a family providing constant care to a care-needer in the household.
  • The wages for such leave periods paid out of social insurance.
  • Because of the constant high levels of stress created by caring for people with complex dependency needs, negotiable early retirement opportunities in splittable periods of time after a minimum period of caring.
  • Close-to-home workplaces and flexible working hours.
  • Dismissal to be unlawful on any grounds other than dereliction of duty.
  • Free movement within the EU with preservation of rights to the highest levels of benefit payments.
  • The right to a career and advancement.
  • EU-level harmonization and convergence to improve services to help achieve the work-care balance.


Best Practices

 

Charter for Family Carers

The European Charter for Family Carers is the result of a European project on Help the Carers carried out by COFACE-Handicap Members during the years 2005-2006. The aim of this European Charter for Family Carers is to draw attention of National and European Institutions, at all levels, as well as employers and trade unions on the needs of family carers and on the necessary legal recognition of their work.

 

Help the Carers Project

Several member organisations of COFACE-Handicap came together to work on the help to carers issue. Indeed, it appears urgent that the help provided by families of disabled persons in their daily life be carefully studied at European level. The question of help to carers is, for Europe as well as for associations of disabled persons, of capital importance. With regard to the current advance of the project, the work carried out by the partners consists of a research phase. Two main axes can be distinguished:

  • The statement of needs expressed by families on the basis of a common tool namely The guide of the needs of family carers.
  • The statement of rights and support measures for family carers implemented by the authorities or organised by associations in several European countries.

The long-term objective of this project is to obtain the official recognition, in Europe, of the status of family carer.
 

Good Practices

The project is directed to differently abled people and to all those subjects that for many reasons are risking deviance and disadvantage: foreigners, poor people,roma people ecc. The choice of including in the different scheduled actions is due to the consideration that among difficulties a mutual help relationship can be created....Read all the good practice"Compagnia danza reggina"  
The service of the socio-health assistant was born in july 2004 on proposal of the Ministry of health, the Region of Lombardy Higher Health Institute The aim of the project is to catch espresse and not-expressed needs by the weaker elderly people which live in unconfortable areas of Milan metropolitan area areas. The action has been realized through a convention between ASL City of Milan, Municipality of Milan, ALER and Don Gnocchi Founfìdtaion, with the third sector support and of the local volunteering and with the new private societies contribute as promoter of Corporate Social Responsability....Read all the good practice"Social-health assistant and social assistant in Milano area"  
AMAT DEUS promotes the world of volunteering in a creative way, revealing its importance in social life. Born as a movie project, wher the starting plot is uploaded and changed during works by partecipants. Disabled, elederly people, artists, technician and known characters and musicians, contributed to bring in the story an original contribute to build a quality product and creative cooperation. ...Read all the good practice"AMAT DEUS"  

Agenda

Rome, March 24, 2011 Final Conference of the DSE project "Disability and Social Exclusion. Best Practices for Social Inclusion"   The final conference of the DSE (Disability and Social Exclusion) project will be held in Rome on...
Castel Sant Angelo, February 15, 2011 Conference: "Sport and disability: inclusion, which eliminates the gap”, Sport has many advantages both in terms of physical activity and also many positive effects from a psychological and...

Project

To overcome prejudices and stereotypes, to enhance experiences and best practices, to spread information through concrete initiatives on the territory in order to allow for a full participation of the people with disabilities. This is the goal of the project “Disability and Social Exclusion” (DSE) co-financed by the European Commission. Through territorial and communication plans, the programme aims at carrying out a real cultural change for the overcoming of discriminatory behaviours towards people with disabilities, that are still widespread in our country.

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