Toolkit on the Use of European Union Funds for the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care

The purpose of this toolkit is to assist all public authorities in Europe involved in the programming and implementation of EU Structural Funds (and other relevant funds) to make decisions which will help to improve the lives of more than a million European citizens currently living in institutional care; and to modernise care and support systems by ensuring that respect for human rights and equality are at the heart of reforms. Structural Funds have the potential to support the development of quality family-based and community-based alternatives to institutional care, and to ensure that these services are available to all those who need them.

Hundreds of thousands of children, persons with disabilities, persons with mental health problems and older people across Europe live in long-stay residential institutions, excluded from the rest of society and facing a life of exclusion, poverty, health inequalities and reduced life chances. In order to ensure that all children have the opportunity to grow up in their families, and that all individuals with support needs can live independently and participate in their communities, countries must move away from institutional care to a system of family and community-based care and support. This is a complex process, which includes the development of quality services in the community, the planned closure of long-stay residential institutions and the transfer of resources from the institutional system to the new services, thus ensuring long-term sustainability. Importantly, it involves ensuring that mainstream services such as healthcare and childcare, labour market services, education and training, housing and transport are accessible and available to everyone. This process is often referred to as “deinstitutionalisation”, a term which is also used throughout the toolkit. This toolkit aims to explain how EU funds can support national, regional and local authorities in designing and implementing structural reforms aimed at facilitating the development of quality family-based and community-based alternatives to institutional care.