Personal Assistance Tables
ENIL – European Network on Independent Living is in the process of carrying out a European survey on personal assistance. The goal of the survey is to gain detailed information on the situation of personal assistance services in as many of the EU member states as possible and also to have a proposal for model legislation for personal assistance as per Independent Living (IL) ideology. The proposal will be to help members lobby in those countries that still have not enacted legal frameworks.
Several variables are comprised within the survey. Which countries have legislation and which countries have a proposal for legislation on personal assistance in the pipeline? Those countries with existing legislation; is it part of the social service legislation or is there other rights based legislation for personal assistance such as in Sweden? From which level of government does the funding for services come? What assessment tools are being used to decide on the amount of assistance to be acquired, and what is the time span for reassessment? Which groups of impairment are covered by the legislation? What is the age limitation for legislation?
The European Commission's online tool for disability through the Academic Network of European Disability Experts – ANED's website was used to find the information on the existing legislation for the ENIL survey. The website has the following address www.disability-europe.net and then you click on DOTCOM at the top of the page for the database. The ENIL network is then being used to find experts in the different countries for the specific details of the legislation and legal situations in each of the different countries. Results so far show that countries do have a variety of different kinds of legislation covering personal assistance including: Social Services Acts, Social Benefits Acts, Community Care Acts and Direct Payments Acts. Sweden has the only rights based legislation, with IL members from Norway lobbying for the same since 2000 when personal assistance was covered in the Norwegian Social Services Act. There is national legislation in Sweden, Norway, the UK and in France but also local acts for example in Sofia, Bulgaria. Iceland and Slovenia have legislation in the pipeline for the respective years of 2014 and 2013. Members from Estonia who were expecting legislation report that it has been put on ice. Some countries without legislation are for example Cyprus and Poland.
Please click the following links to view the Personal Assistance Tables from each country
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