Respite care as a social service for families with children with severe and multiple disabilities

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the social services for families raising children with severe and multiple disabilities – "Respite Care". The implementation of the social service is aimed at providing legal representatives of children with severe and multiple disabilities with the opportunity to take a break from performing their duties, taking care of the child. The subject of the study is the possibilities and difficulties of implementing "Respite Care" as an innovative social service for families raising children with severe and multiple disabilities in the Altai region. The implementation of the social service is analyzed in the context of the ecosystem model of social work and normalization theory, paying special attention to ensuring decent living conditions for families of people with disabilities. The authors present the results of an empirical sociological study, the main empirical method of which was the survey of specialists of social service organizations, non-profit organizations and volunteers of the Altai region. The article discusses the definition of the "Respite Care", its content, the authors analyze statistical data on child disability in the Altai region. Based on the results of the study, both the possibilities and difficulties of implementing "Respite care" as an innovative social service for families raising children with severe and multiple disabilities in the region are identified, namely: training of specialists; development of methodological and consulting support for specialists; inclusion of social service in the state list of social services.