From guardianship to supported decision making of persons with disabilities Erasmus Project

Project Title

From guardianship to supported decision making of persons with disabilities

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development); Disabilities – special needs; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

The social and medico-social sector, and in particular the field of legal protection for adults with disabilities faces a major paradigm shift: an absolute necessity – for the EU Member States and for all involved professionals and stakeholders in the field of support for people with disabilities – to respect the principles derived from the United Nations Convention on the Rights for People with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
The Convention sets out a set of values and principles including social inclusion, and concretely quoting the aforementioned document to ensure “full and effective participation and integration in society” and the positive obligation, as far as possible, to put in place supported decision-making mechanisms in line with its Art. 12 or, in case of the utmost necessity, substituted decision-making mechanisms, should be based around the best possible interpretation of the will and preferences of the supported individual.
In Europe, there is a gap in legislation related to the protection and support of persons with disabilities and the professional practices tailgating from legal frameworks are very diverse and disjointed as they are particularly different from every EU member State. Sporadically, an often in an isolated and uncoordinated manner, institutions embed themselves from UNCRPD principles and initiate, also often inadvertently, new practices in line with UNCRPD. This project aims to detect and capture this momentum to coordinate and provide structure to these practices.

The project AD-CHOISIR has the ambition – by its tangible and intangible results – to contribute filling the gap in the emerging challenge to adapt professional practices taking place in the social sector to the new professional and societal paradigm arising from the UNCRPD in order to foster the inclusion of persons with disabilities subject to legal protection and support whilst respecting their will and preferences.
This dynamic is underpinned by the construction of a new reference model of support for professionals and volunteers. To achieve this, schematically, in the field of legal protection, there’s a need to triangulate good practices taking into account: the Right and Freedom to decide; Social inclusion; Available resources (skills and tools) mobilized or to be mobilized.
Hence, the AD-CHOISIR core objectives are:
• To identify and capitalize on best practices to enable their adaptation, replication and dissemination as reference models;
• To translate these practices in terms of professional skills and tools for professionals;
• To disseminate and exploit the collected practices by creating an European Support Network

There are two types of partners, service providers in the field of legal protection to persons with disabilities and specialized training providers in the sector. Some of them perform both roles. These partners have something in common at the genesis of the project: the desire to redesign and align the service their offer to meet the values and principles of the UNCRPD.
The Consortium
Spain: Fundació Tutelar of the Gironines Comarques, Fundació Campus Arnau d’Escala
France: Regional Union of Family Associations; UNAFOR
Germany: International Guardianship Network
Luxembourg: Guardian Support Service
Slovakia: Agency for Supported Employment
The Project Coordinator is URAF

At the end of the project, the expected results are:
• The creation and provision of data from a collection of good professional practices in support decision-making and to effectively develop the role of supporter promoting the social inclusion of people with a measure of legal protection or support.
• Assessing and mapping the required skills, tools or methodologies to develop or to use in daily practice while also detecting educational and training gaps to improve professional competences.
• The creation of a European Network of stakeholders in the legal protection and support of persons with disabilities
The results will be broadcast on EPALE and on the IGN website and through its worldwide network
In the longer term, the potential benefits should be reflected in the impacts produced:
• For institutions and support service providers, in terms of forecasting the professionals workforce needed regarding its competence and skills (training policy, assignment of functions, mobilization of personal and professionals skills,…), organization of services (operational processes, internal change dynamics, quality evaluation,…) and conceptualising and designing educational or pedagogic materials.
• For training organizations, in terms of evolution of training and validation programs for the public authority, in terms of changes in the organization of social and medico-social support for people with disabilities, in terms of respect for their citizenship through an effective, accessible and affordable supported decision-making system and social inclusion support.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 120682,9 Eur

Project Coordinator

Union Régionale des Associations Familiales & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Agentúra podporovaného zamestnávania n.o.
• Service d’accompagnement tutélaire asbl
• UNAFOR
• Fundació Campus Arnau d’Escala
• International Guardianship Network e.V.
• Fundació Tutelar de les Comarques Gironines