Throughout the world, children with disabilities are separated from families due to stigma, discrimination, and economic marginalization. Children with disabilities are more at risk of being placed in institutions than other children, and they are often left out of deinstitutionalization and community programs. Without community-based supports to help families keep their children with disabilities, children in many countries are increasingly placed in a new generation of smaller institutions being created to replace orphanages – often with international funds. These may be called “residential” programs, family-like residences, or group homes, but they leave children without the opportunity to grow up with the love and permanent bonds they can only form in a family.
To read the full position paper on ‘The right to live and grow up in a family for all children’, written by Disability Rights International and endorsed by ENIL, Validity and TASH, please click here. For the accessible version, please click here.
