Russian CSOs ask government not to close day hospitals for children with disabilities
CSOs (NGOs) ask the government not to close day hospitals for children with disabilities
14.10.2020
Members of the alliance ‘Everyone is valued’ sent a letter to the Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, asking her to intervene in the closure of hospitals due to Covid-19.
Organisations reported that during the first wave of isolation, parents noted some serious behavioural problems in children: aggression towards loved ones, insomnia, auto-aggression – they bite themselves, or bang their heads against the wall. The parents found themselves under constant stress.
“If we do not organise respite for the parents of children with special needs, including semi-permanent day care services, in the next few years the state’s spending on social support for children and for their family members who cannot stand the stress of isolation may sharply increase” writes the head of the organisation.
The CSOs ask Golikova to intervene, and, together with the Minister for Labour, write a letter on the need to preserve service provision by both state institutions and CSOs (NGOs), in at least a semi-permanent fashion. The CSOs also want Golikova to recommend that home assistance programmes be strengthened for both children and adults. The letter was signed by the heads of 35 public organisations from 23 regions across the country. These organisations included the Foundation for the Support of the Deaf-Blind ‘Unity’, the ‘Lighthouse’ fund, and the charity ‘Downside Up’.