The main objective of the project was to provide a holistic and personalised approach to transition into independence for young people, especially for young people with an Intellectual Disability. We also wanted to equip youth workers with a set of skills and guidelines that would help them to best support the youth with ID. This was mainly done through: - Bringing together different stakeholders for research on independent living and taking a holistic approach - Creation of an online interactive Assessment Tool in order to highlight which are the main priorities to work on with regards to independent living of persons wit ID - Creation of a one-year programme using the assessment tool, targeting different skills and providing mentoring sessions for the mentees with ID, taking person-centred approach to be able to improve their skills needed for the independent living - Implementing a training course for the youth workers in the field so they would be able to assist persons wit ID in the future even better and in a more wholesome way - Producing a policy recommendation based on the project results.
People with intellectual disability (ID) represent one of the most disadvantaged social groups in European countries. The nature of ID creates levels of support often throughout every aspect of the persons’ life. In line with the Social Model of Disability; it is important to have individualized and integrated services that aim to support the full inclusion and holistic empowerment of people with ID. And this is why quality youth work together with working hand in hand with policymakers is essential. The project “Connect: Transition into Independent Living for Persons with Intellectual Disability” arose from this context. Facts show that there is a lot of training already in place promoting independent living for persons with ID. However, these can very often be disintegrated from one another, and the young person goes through different training leaving him/her lost. Traditional trainings are often generalized and carried out by support workers. Following the 'Freedom to Live' Strategy for Disabled Persons, Prisms, together with the consortium came together to focus on one-to-one approach through mentoring; to work with our mentees specifically targeting their individual needs in order to bring them closer to independent living.