Global-Report-Living-Colour-dr2-2

Inclusive Communities = Stronger Communities
GLOBAL REPORT ON ARTICLE 19: THE RIGHT TO LIVE AND BE INCLUDED IN THE COMMUNITY
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to pay privately. The incentives are clearly in the
wrong place and as with many places, it is a matter of
decision making, a clear violation of the intent of
Article 19, from a country that has ratified the
Convention.
In Israel families and people with intellectual
disabilities have an array of choices, running the
spectrum from very segregated to inclusive, with (as
of 2009) over 7,000 people with all kinds of disabilities
living in large residential institutions. Where a person
lives is a function of when they started to receive
services more than a function of their wants and
needs. Inclusion International’s member organization
AKIM, provides a range of places for people to live
from apartments with six people in regular residential
neighborhoods, to hostels with over twenty residents.
Public policy in Israel currently supports six people
living together, no fewer, and while many of the
people become friends, would they have chosen to
live together given the freedom to choose between
more meaningful options?
In Central and Eastern Europe including countries of
the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) there
is reliance on large institutions for people with
intellectual disabilities. The Deinstitutionalization and
Community Living – Outcomes and Costs: Report
(DECLOC) showed that over one million people with
disabilities live in institutions. 8 The actual number
may be higher because of the local control of
institutions in many countries and “under the table”
arrangements to admit people. Yet it does not have
to be this way. In Croatia, The Association for
Promoting Inclusion, API, is helping people who had
spent their lives in residential institutions move into
regular housing in the community. They are also
helping other organizations start programmes to
support people with intellectual disabilities and
families in communities throughout the region. Soon,