STEPS Project: "Strengthening the provision of social services for individuals with disabilities"

Financed through the "Leonardo da Vinci" Lifelong Learning Programme, the STEPS project was launched in August 2009. The project is a partnership between The Heart of a Child Foundation (Romania), ADO Icarus (Belgium), Friends of the Home for Children (Bulgaria), Independent Living Institute (Sweden) and the Academy of Management, Lodz (Poland).

Why this project?

In recent years, organizations which provide social services for individuals with disabilities throughout Europe have confronted and been challenged by two important social changes:

• Deinstitutionalization: Throughout Europe, a greater emphasis is now being placed of providing care and support to individuals with disabilities in traditional communities and environments, rather than through large institutions.


• Social contracting: In many countries, the way that social service programs are being financed is changing. As a result, social organizations need to introduce new methods and focus on potential entrepreneurship programs.

In light of these realities, organizations need to obtain new skills and focus on learning from each other's experience. In particular, organizations stand to benefit from learning from the strategies and methods of organizations who have already begun experimenting with these changes.

The dynamics and modes in which these new techniques have been introduced in different European states are heavily influenced by the following elements:

• The social and political evolution of social support systems in each state
• The legal framework and financing available in each member state
• The social, economic and financial condition of each member state

Providers of social services in European countries vary in social, economic and legal ways, and each proposes a unique challenge.

What do we propose?

In order to confront these challenges, the project seeks to do the following:

• Organize work visits and exchanges of experience with organizations in Belgium, Sweden, and Poland. In this way, organizations in member states with less experience can benefit from the experience and expertise of these organizations.


• With the support of partner organizations, training sessions will be conducted in Romania, Bulgaria and with partner organizations in Central Europe. The sessions will focus on deinstitutionalization and management of social services. The trainings will promote the development of managerial skills and development strategies for organizations in their respective countries.

Also, the project will create a manual of best practices for social services training and recommendations for implementing social services entrepreneurship programs..