The government is planning to build a residential home for people with disability in Siggiewi,  the Parliamentary Secretary for Rights for Persons with Disability, Justyne Caruana, said this morning.

She  was addressing a conference “Promoting the social inclusion of disabled persons with challenging behaviour,” organised by the National Commission for Persons with Disability.

It concluded a project which started in 2011 and which was co-funded by the EU, which saw to the training of some 60 people working with others with challenging behaviour.

Dr Caruana said disabled people with challengeing behaviour were a vulnerable cohort susceptible to discrimination. It was unacceptable, she said, that disabled people with challenging behaviour ended up in Mount Carmel.

“These people deserve to live in society.”

Dr Caruana said that the government recently concluded an agreement to help people get out of institutions and help them integrate into the community.

The necessary training and the specialisation of staff were very important because it was not easy to work with people with challenging behaviour.

It was important to have a holistic vision and specific specialties should be able to cater for the specific needs of people with disability, she said.

Dr Caruana said that the government had started to identify the model on which to base an Adult Protection Act , planned to be enacted in future.

She also said that the government was proposing a one-stop shop at the Child Development Assessment Unit, where parents would have all their children’s needs attended to.