Parliamentary Secretary Justyne Caruana wants 10 new residences for disabled people by the end of the legislature. Photo: Jason Borg

A house in Siġġiewi will be the first of three community homes for the disabled the government plans to unveil this year, according to Justyne Caruana.

The Parliamentary Secretary for the Disabled said the other two homes would be in Żabbar and Victoria.

The housing project forms part of the government’s key electoral pledge to provide small communal residences for the disabled.

“By the end of the legislature, we will deliver 10 such homes that will give disabled people the possibility to live an independent life within the community,” Dr Caruana told Times of Malta.

The project, called ‘A Just Society’, received a €1 million cash injection in the Budget and EU funds have been earmarked to provide training for carers.

Addressing the Labour Party general conference earlier this month, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the disability sector is a priority for the government.

The houses in Siġġiewi and Żabbar belong to the government and will be converted to accommodate a handful of residents each, Dr Caruana said.

While work is at a very advanced stage in Siġġiewi, architects are drawing up conversion plans for the property in Żabbar.

The Gozo property was chosen from the private sector after a call for expressions of interest, and the secretariat is waiting for the Finance Ministry’s approval to finalise the contract of purchase.

Encouraging disabled people to live independently in the community will minimise the trauma for them when parents die

Dr Caruana said the Siġġiewi residence will house four or five residents. “We are in the process of identifying the group of people who will move in and once the decision is made they will be responsible for choosing the type of furnishings such as curtains.”

The choice of residents will be done through a matching exercise carried out by professionals.

The exercise will determine the compatibility of the people to live together.

Dr Caruana said the responsibility to choose furnishings is part of the empowerment process that goes hand in hand with the project. “It is not just a question of having a roof over your head because the project has to cater for the residents’ personal and social needs.

“They have to be able to invite friends at home, do the shopping, cook and interact with the community.”

Each resident will have a tailor-made programme designed to offer empowerment.

This will enable them to make their own decisions, including how to manage finances. The homes will cater for adults and live-in carers will also be present.

Dr Caruana said professionals had advised that the homes be mixed gender but this would also depend on parental input.

“Professionals tell us that having the homes mixed gender will help nurture respect and make it easier to define gender and personal boundaries but this also requires work with parents, who might justifiably be worried,” she said, adding parents also have to learn how to trust their children more.

The biggest fear for parents is what will happen to their children after they have died and this project is aimed at addressing this concern, Dr Caruana said.

“Encouraging disabled people to live independently in the community will minimise the trauma for them when parents die.”

She said a different project is needed to cater for under-18s, given that homes for children also require open spaces for play.

The government is planning a different model but this will depend on EU funding, she added.

The delivery of small residential homes will only start to help address the matter as the government has a waiting list of about 200 disabled people.

“We are doing this gradually because it is also a learning curve for us.

“The 10 homes will not solve the problem but they will go a long way to start addressing it in earnest,” Dr Caruana said.

kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com