Study Visit - Personal Assistance at YHD, Slovenia

Personal Assistance (PA) for persons with disabilities has been on MFOPD's agenda for quite some time. Things started moving on this issue when, for the first time ever, the national budget 2022 budget allocated a substantial sum of money for PA; discussions involving MFOPD and ENIL on a PA reform took place; MFOPD obtained national funding for research on PA in Malta the results of which concluded in October. MFOPD took a step further on this issue....it wanted to inform itself about good practices on the subject.

MFOPD's  Erasmus+ application was approved and a group of eight persons, including persons with intellectual disabilities, took part in a study visit hosted by YHD in Slovenia. The group witnessed the great change in the lives of persons with disabilities, from living in an institution to living independently in the community with the support of a PA; the group learnt about the professional Independent Living programme being offered by YHD - how it works, the training they offer etc; the group met and discussed with persons with disabilities about their PA service and how independent they have become; the group shared their own experiences and discussed with YHD representatives their hopes for Malta's way forward on this subject. Highlights from the Slovenian PA law were pointed out to the Malta delegation as the Malta PA law was still being drafted.

On their return to Malta, MFOPD officials shared all the information they gathered with the Hon Minister for Inclusion and with the PA service provider, Agenzija Sapport with the sole intention to have a professional reform for the full benefit of all persons with disabilities in the Maltese islands.