CHENNAI: In a bid to take the rehabilitation services and welfare schemes to the doorsteps of disabled persons, the state differently-abled welfare department will soon establish 39 one-stop centres (OSCs) at the sub-divisional level under the World Bank-funded RIGHTS project.
Serving as the apex body for rehabilitation services, the one-stop centres will be complemented by smaller centres at the block and neighbourhood levels.
They are expected to reduce the distance travelled by the persons with disabilities (PwD). As of now, they have to visit the respective district headquarters to avail various services.
The move aims to change the services from centre-based approach to family/community-based to ensure all persons with disabilities get the required help easily.
According to the officials, the centres will have nine experts including a psychologist, physiotherapist, speech audiologist, occupational therapist and special educator apart from a case manager who will be a social work professional.
“The qualified professionals at OSCs will also cover welfare activities like receiving applications for the schemes from all the departments and ensure that they reach the deserved. They will also assess the persons to find out the need for therapeutic intervention and psychosocial counselling apart from providing disability certificates, unique disability ID cards, and CM health insurance cards,” said an official overseeing RIGHTS.
The centres at the block level will have skeletal staff with a special educator and psychotherapist while the neighbourhood centres will have community facilitators. They will train the parents and family members of PWDs with the basic therapy.
The department will also implement rehabilitation facilities through online at the block and neighbourhood centres.
“We have provision to create 97 OSCs under the project. Thirty-nine centres will be created in phases one and two, and the identification of government buildings for the phase-one projects has been completed. We have given funds to the Public Works Department to renovate the government buildings. We are trying to ensure that the centres are near government health facilities,” added the official.
The creation of the neighbourhood centres will be need-based with one centre for 60-70 persons with disabilities.
There are three components under the $162 million RIGHTS project that will be implemented in phases — strengthening state’s capability through policy decisions and creating an information technology system, rehabilitation through community and family-based services under which the OSCs fall and third, commission studies to assess and provide skill training for the PwD.
"We have also completed creating a social enrolment registry of PwD in two zones each in Chennai, Tiruchy, Tenkasi, Cuddalore, and Dharmapuri. This will be linked to the case management tool that is managed by the OSC staff. We will track the delivery of the services to disabled persons throughout their lives," said officials.
At present, there are no service provider who will impart skill training exclusively for PwD. “We will study the syllabus, curriculum, and pedagogy in detail and work on the adaptations needed. The sector skill council is carrying out a study to match the skill requirement of the PwDs and industry sectors and there is no in-depth study in the area at present. After the studies, we will implement pilot schemes under the project. This will focus on how we can productively include PwDs in economic rehabilitation,” the official added.