<< Background >>The social inclusion of persons with disabilities is a priority for the EU. Among these persons, people with intellectual developmental disability (IDD) are most at risk of exclusion. IDD is a neurodevelopmental disorder which includes a disability in intellectual functioning and in adaptative functioning. Most persons with IDD experience difficulties in communication and, the more they struggle with difficulties in communication, the more they experience difficulties in self-determination, social inclusion and interpersonal relationships. In addition, professionals express the need for training in the field of communication. Communication difficulties lead to a risk of exclusion since communication skills are crucial to learn, to work, to develop relationships and to engage in different social contexts. Thus, it is essential to support communication to promote the individuals’ social and professional inclusion, and trained professionals are crucial in this support. Yet, there is a lack of knowledge or insufficient implementation in EU of the appropriate strategies to support communication. Specifically, support dedicated to adolescents and young adults is still scarce. There is no harmonization at the European level, or even within members states, in the supporting programs or in the training of the professionals working with people with IDD (social workers, educators, teachers...). There are wild disparities between member states in the situation of persons with IDD. Some countries have encouraged education in special needs schools while other countries have favored inclusive education associated with service providers for children with disabilities. This leads to different professional practices to support persons’ development and inclusion.<< Objectives >>COM-IN aims at promoting communicative skills in youth with IDD in three ways: by raising awareness, guiding and training professionals working with young people with IDD.<< Implementation >>We will conduct a survey among European professionals concerning the services provided to youth with IDD in the field of communication. The detailed survey and its protocol will be constructed by the consortium from the experience of the partners and from the knowledge of the up-to-date scientific knowledge. The results will be analyzed and shared by the consortium. Given the importance of data concerning young people with IDD for scientific and public authorities, we will open up the data collected in order to encourage their reuse. The second stage of the project is dedicated to three complimentary ways to provide professionals knowledge and skills on how to support communicative skills in youth with IDD. We will develop guides, a module training and a MOOC from the work and the data previously gathered and from the partnership’s experience. We will test their quality during the project: after a first training session, professionals will implement each them in a pilot phase. The first drafts will be then revised, and the revisions will be tested in a second training activity. Transnational testing groups will also test the MOOC online. This will allow obtaining certifications for the training modules. The results of the project will be disseminated through publications and multiplier events.<< Results >>Answering to the survey will bring professionals to an awareness about the communication needs of youth with IDD and the services provided in Europe. The survey will give information on these topics, that will be used for the following project results and disseminated among stakeholders (public, policy makers, families, educators, and training providers) to raise awareness. As a result of the project, we will propose three complementary and validated ways to develop knowledge and skills of professionals in IDD: guides, a training module and a MOOC. Thus, we will have the opportunity to reach a larger audience and we will be sure to provide efficient trainings.

Just under 20% of Europeans live in social rental housing and it is accepted that questions of social housing, homelessness or integration play an important role within the EU’s social policy agenda. Current policies (eg de-institutionalisation, community care, person centred services, individualised care packages at home) with recent political and economic developments have produced huge demands on social housing and staff work. It faces a perfect storm of greater expectation from users, higher demand and more complex needs as institutional care slowly erodes. The project “Towards Person Centred Housing Services in Europe” (TOPHOUSE) tackled the following need: how can we give staff in social housing & support services the training, tools and local networks needed to improve individual needs assessment and housing allocation, whilst improving person centred support? TOPHOUSE project clearly addresses these issues by identifying what these staff need to know to do their job using a person centred manner based on Human Rights principles. The project also aimed at developing local housing support networks, improving collaborative working between the related agencies in social services, health, education etc, depending on individual needs. TOPHOUSE provides updated, dedicated training and tools to do this job better and the means to promote improved inter-agency working to deliver concomitant related non-housing support on a person centred basis. Between November 2017 and November 2019 multiple online and face-to face meetings, multiplier events, dissemination activities, a train the trainer session and pilot exercises in 4 different countries, we have produced a set of very useful and customised tools for all those involved in housing & support : 1. A set of learning outcomes, covering the underpinning knowledge required by staff to do this role 2. A curriculum and a modular training programme for staff, with a train the trainer course to get things going 3. Dedicated tools around the assessment of housing and non-housing support needs 4. A guide to successful local housing support networks. Materials are available in English, Catalan, Finnish, German and Spanish. TOPHOUSE brought together key participants of the housing and support system, gathering all the necessary competences and expertise. With 7 partners from 6 countries (AT/BE/ES/IE/FI/UK) , the partnership represented the cultural and social diversity, and captured the various EU approaches towards social housing. Through the TOPHOUSE innovative tools, guide, course, learningoutcomes, curriculum and local networks, staff in this key ’borderland’ role has been given for the first time high quality learning opportunities focused on their special role and providing a blueprint for a unique Europe wide shared procedure.TOPHOUSE has become a learning foundation for the support services sector: we moved participants towards an improvement of housing & support by articulating and successfully promoting a coherent person centred approach. Staff who has used TH products clearly perceived an improved accuracy in the process; service users (Experts by Experience) clearly pointed out that this is the way to go! They felt more respected and empowered.We truly believe that it is possible to provide relevant & credible specialist training to a cross-sectoral group of staff sharing a common function. However, we have just initiated the process and more needs to be done in this respect. All partners have produced detailed exploitation plans and will keep working together for a more integrated and person centred housing and support.

"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 ConsortiumSpain: Fundació Tutelar of the Gironines Comarques, Fundació Campus Arnau d'EscalaFrance: Regional Union of Family Associations; UNAFORGermany: International Guardianship NetworkLuxembourg: Guardian Support ServiceSlovakia: Agency for Supported EmploymentThe 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 disabilitiesThe results will be broadcast on EPALE and on the IGN website and through its worldwide networkIn 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."

The DECIDER project aims to cover the lack of IT educational and training resources of staff working in the disability sector, on implementing Supported Decisions Making (SDM) as a support service for people with disabilities that enhances their autonomy and Quality of Life.The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (hereinafter referred as ‘UNCRPD’) and in particular its article 12: Equal recognition before the law on an equal basis with others. It means a real shift towards a human rights approach of legal capacity. SDM has been proven as an efficient mechanism to implement legal capacity but no country has reached a satisfactory level of structural implementation. One barrier to achieve it is represented by the lack of knowledge, mechanisms and professional resources to make feasible the change of paradigm. The European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 defines objectives and concrete actions for an effective implementation of the UNCRPD across the EU and identifies Education and Training as one of the eight key areas of action.The DECIDER project partnership is made up of six expert organizations in different areas of knowledge related to the field of disability, such as IT, the provision of support services for people with intellectual disabilities, a self-help organization, and educators and trainers, both people with disabilities and support professionals. The diverse typology of profiles in the partnership allows a comprehensive approach to the main objective of providing a set of innovative, ICT-based and fully accessible educational tools that allow the implementation of decision-making methodologies supported by support systems for persons with disabilities.The co-productive work methodology, in which people with disabilities are included in the different activities carried out at DECIDER, ensures greater efficacy in products and quick results. Thus, as a first activity, a Qualitative Handbook on SDM (O1) about the state of play of SDM will be elaborated. It will be based on a series of semi-structured interviews aimed at persons with disability, their parents and families, therapists and trainers. The results of this phase are used as input to carry out the other activities. Specifically, an IT tool, called DECIDER App (O2), will be built to facilitate decision-making for people with disabilities and their environment. A Multimedia Package (O3) will also be developed that addresses the main spheres of life where decisions are made, such as health or personal economy.To contextualize Decision Support, the DECIDER project also produces a Brochure in digital version, easy to read and to understand, which contains the basic information on what is support decision making, its impact on the quality of life of people with disabilities and will include information about decision process, gaining knowledge, taking responsibility, asking for support and a specific section on how DECIDER App (O2) can be used.With the outputs of the previous activities, an ICT based Methodology (O5) will be designed for the implementation of SDM in organizations and in the environment of people with disabilities. The Methodology will be carried out both in a universal version and in a local version that takes into account the legal, structural and cultural factors of each of the participating countries. The Methodology, prepared in digital format and easily accessible, will be made available to organizations, individuals and families of people with disabilities on the project website. To increase transferability, a Pedagogical manual will be elaborated, which explains the analysis and implementation of the knowledge and IT tools produced. In order to prove and improve the quality of products obtained, a Piloting phase (O6) focusing on the implementation of the ICT based Methodology will be carried out in each of the participating countries, which will obtain the final version of all the outputs produced in DECIDER.For professionals, the central impact of the DECIDER project involves increased awareness, updated knowledge and implementing SDM Rights-based services directly to persons with disabilities (PWDs). It will be the first opportunity to benefit from a set of learning outcomes designed specifically around Supported Decision Making. As a mid-long term impact the DECIDER project will facilitate the shift of organizations to a supported decision-making approach service.Main envisaged impact for persons with disabilities is the increase on their level of autonomy and carrying out decisions, involving important benefits for them, such as enlarged self-esteem and increased quality of life.As a horizontal benefit, policy makers could adopt the DECIDER Project approach as providing an up-to-date and more sustainable social policy agenda, in line with the current needs of the EU Member States.

This 3 year project with 6 partners aims to combine the need to improve the Digital, Literacy and Numeracy (DLN) skills of adults with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities with an individual’s desire to exercise more choice and control over their lives, by becoming involved in supported decision making (SDM) affecting themselves in 3 key areas – personal finance, healthcare and consumer rights. The project also aims to improve the opportunities for and levels of social inclusion of persons with disabilities (PWDs) as a result of these activities. With the help of a local ‘supporter’ and a dedicated methodology (manuals, training and complementary tools such as an 'SDM Agreement', 'Individualised SDM Plan', and evaluation tools) around each of these three areas, people with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities become encouraged to learn how to improve their personal autonomy and independence in different spheres of life (e.g.eg budgeting, understanding money, and health monitoring, opening a bank account, etc) all of which will require them to work on and improve their DLN skills. This will enable them to have more say in decision which affect their lives on a day to day basis. Training programmes for supporters have been provided, along with capacity building capabilities through a Train the Trainer Course. Guides for users, families, supporters, managers, staff and ‘decision makers’ (trustees, directors etc) explaining the core context of SDM, how the I-DECIDE Methodology works and how to implement it in practice have been produced. Supporting organisations have been invited to sign up to a public SDM Charter to demonstrate their support and commitment. The project explored the possibility of finding local formal methods of assessing DLN skills at low entry levels, so that learning can be recognised. Improvements in DLN skill levels and the capacity to become involved in decision making had been progressively increased for PWDs during the lifecycle of the project. Other developments, such as improved social inclusion and a reduction in conflicts between professionals and persons with disabilities, not knowing how to apply a SDM methodology have been tackled. Local User groups will be set up to assist the project’s growth and development. The potential impact of the project is significant, affecting not only the individual being helped, but also their families and friends, their own ‘supporter’, other staff and services. Adult education services may be affected in that this project aims to demonstrate an effective but alternative way of providing adult education in DLN skills, which may lead to pressure for them to adopt and/or support it elsewhere.