Reforms to ensure independent living
In recent years, Romania has embarked on important efforts to deinstitutionalize children and adults with disabilities and strengthen social welfare services. Through the implementation of the National Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2022-2027, Romania aims to ensure independent living and community participation, which are essential to fostering economic growth that works for all.
Romania has demonstrated a strong commitment to deinstitutionalizing children. In 2018, 50,000 children were in public care in the country, and 7,000 were still living in institutions, of which about half were children with disabilities. At the request of the National Agency for Child Rights Protection and Adoption, the World Bank provided technical assistance to (i) develop a comprehensive analysis of the public care system, (ii) develop a deinstitutionalization guide that includes various institutional and child-level tools, (iii) design and implement a thorough monitoring system for children in public care, (iv) provide insights on best practices to prevent children from being separated from their families, and (v) support the development of service development plans at the community level. In addition, the technical assistance helped strengthen evidence-based policies to prevent child separation.
For adults with disabilities, Romania has 16,000 people in residential care institutions as of June 2023. Most of these people are under 45 years old and the majority have intellectual disabilities. Technical inputs from the World Bank helped develop the National Strategy for Prevention of Institutionalization and Accelerating the Deinstitutionalization Process 2022-2030. The strategy is in line with the requirements of Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan and aims to reduce the number of institutionalized people to 11,500 by 2026. The strategy introduced a person-centered approach that brings a paradigm shift in how support is provided to persons with disabilities in the country. It also introduces a deinstitutionalization guide that outlines the responsibilities of the different stakeholders involved in the process.
Through a rights-based and person-centered approach, the World Bank is committed to supporting efforts to move people with disabilities out of institutions and to the overall transformation of social services and supports provided to people with disabilities.