Disabled Youth Occupation Centre

Disability is any restriction or inability to perform actions due to health disorder and cankered functions that are ordinary to a healthy person.

In 2002, Kaunas opened new Disabled Youth Occupation centre. The tasks of the Centre are the following:

• to provide a possibility for the disabled of Kaunas City to integrate in the society,
• to satisfy the needs of the disabled,
• to provide the information, inter mediate in protecting the interests and human dignity of the visitors,
• to provide a temporary shelter for the visitors with a severe physical disability when their parents or caregivers are away,
• to train professional skills in various spheres according to the abilities and interests of visitors.

In the Centre visitors are taken care of by social workers and their assistants, specialists of work therapy and occupation, art therapy and occupation, psychologists, nurses, etc.

Originally, the centre was established in 1997, on the initiative of Disabled Children Care Society, seeking to integrate youth with a severe physical disability into the society. Having partially adjusted the premises in the former infant-school, the Centre invited the first visitors in 1998.

When the Ministry of Social Security of the Lithuanian Republic announced the tender for the social services infrastructure development projects, the project of this Centre won financing both from European Council Social Development fund and from the budget of the Lithuanian Republic. In 2001 the European Council and Lithuanian Government allocated 800 thousand Euros for the renovation of the Centre. The Ministry of Social Security provided the Centre with furniture and equipment. Kaunas City Municipality gave means to build the recreation zone and sports ground. In 2002 the building was fully adjusted for the needs of disabled people, and the Kaunas Disabled Youth Occupation Centre was launched. Now this institution provides services for the disabled people from the age of 18 and their family members.

The Kaunas Disabled Youth Occupation Centre would like to establish co-operation with similar institutions that would like to share their experience and to co-operate.