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Description
In Poland, an estimated 130 000 people with certified intellectual disability aged over sixteen live in households. To date, any comprehensive system for providing community support for adults with intellectual disabilities has been created. We were involved in devising a model for community support for adults with intellectual disabilities, A Secure Future (Bezpieczna Przyszłość), which centers community work around creating circles of friendly people around people with intellectual disabilities - support circles. At the moment, the model is being tested in eight communities, and after one year of testing there are visible results and effectiveness of the proposed solutions. The aim of the project is to develop a community system for support for adults with intellectual disabilities for the time when they no longer have or live without parents/carers in three local communities: Tarnów, Bytom, and Zgierz. Direct support will be provided for 30 people (15 adults with intellectual disabilities and 15 parents/carers). We will launch, in each city, community support for families and people with intellectual disabilities: we will create a coalition of entities that wish to work to produce inclusive solutions. Awareness-raising activities will be conducted for 15 members of local communities, and this will help to devise, in each of the three communities, a concept for a local Support Circle Center (Centrum Kręgów Wsparcia). The measures will be taken in partnership with the Polish Association for People with Intellectual Disabilities (Polskie Stowarzyszenie na rzecz Osób z Niepełnosprawnością Intelektualną), using its knowledge and know-how when working with people with intellectual disabilities. The partner will deal with direct support for people involved in the project, and three of the partner''s circles will act as local operators.