The Support for Citizens with Disabilities in Moscow. Part 1

The main principles for the city are the development of inclusiveness and creation of an accessible environment. The capital is ready not only to provide modern medical care, help in rehabilitation, registration and receipt of social benefits and payments, but also to support in training and employment.

The system of support for city residents with disabilities is organized in such a way that people receive help in a targeted and timely manner. The capital’s early intervention service was established in 2021. In the case of children, individual support is offered as soon as it becomes known about the peculiarities of the child’s development. A coordinator solves legal, organizational issues together with family, and a multidisciplinary team of specialists develops baby intellectually and physically according to a personalized program. The team composition depends on the tasks set. Support lasts until the child is three years old. Every sixth child is fully rehabilitated, and 40% of children go to regular kindergartens after comprehensive care.

Five special family centers specialize in the comprehensive rehabilitation and habilitation (adaptation to life in society) of children. Education is combined with rehabilitation activities in eight rehabilitation and educational centers. Vocational guidance classes are held for children to help them choose a future profession to their liking, taking into account their health.

The model of such training is unique and available only in the capital. The work in each center is organized taking into account specific diseases, because children with cerebral palsy and, for example, with blood diseases require different conditions. And on the basis of Boarding school No.1 for training and rehabilitation of the blind, a federal center for blind children has been created, where gifted children from all over the country study.

Adult Moscow residents with disabilities also receive support from the city. First of all, this is comprehensive rehabilitation. The course is prepared individually and after a detailed rehabilitation check-up. This allows to understand what procedures under the supervision of specialized doctors are required in each specific case.

Every year the capital city provides technical rehabilitation equipment to all those who apply for it, which is more than 230,000 people. The “New Possibilities” [“Novye Vozmozhnosti”] service has been created for Moscow citizens who have faced amputation of a limb. A team of specialists will advise on how to register disability and individual rehabilitation and habilitation program, provide psychological support, assistance in prosthetics and employment.

Social institutions for permanent residence of people with mental peculiarities have changed radically. Today, the capital has modern social houses, and their main goal is habilitation and social integration of citizens, their involvement in the normal life.

The Department of Labor and Social Protection cooperates with non-profit organizations (NPOs) whose programs complement city support measures for people with disabilities. Moscow engages NPOs in the sphere of caring for people with disabilities by providing them premises where, for instance, inclusive workshops are opened. Since 2019, a grant competition for socially-oriented NPOs “Moscow Is a Good City” has been held. For five years, 548 organizations have become its winners, and two billion rubles have been distributed among them.

The source: https://www.mos.ru/

The photo: Press service of the Department of Labor and Social Protection of Moscow

19.12.2023

Back to the list