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Government to copy Church on disability homes http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130426/local/Government-to-copy-Church-on-disability-homes.467155 A Government pledge to create community homes for disabled people will not compete with similar Church initiatives, according to Parliamentary Secretary Franco Mercieca. The pledge was a major electoral plank for the Labour Party and the Parliamentary Secretary for Rights of Persons with Disability insisted the Church was “a partner”. We can learn from the Church but we will also continue to support it The Government will shortly appoint a consultant who will head a working group to evaluate whether existing residences could be used or new ones built. “By June, we have to give the Finance Ministry a proposal with financial parameters for inclusion in the Budget,” Mr Mercieca said. He was speaking after visiting Id-Dar tal-Providenza, a Church-run home for disabled people, with Social Solidarity Minister Marie Louise Coleiro Preca. “We will embark on our project that will work hand in hand with other initiatives. We can learn from the Church in this aspect but we will also continue to support it,” he said. He explained the Government project will focus on small residences in the community and a larger facility for those with intellectual disability who cannot live independently. The large home will include leisure facilities. There are no State homes for disabled people with the only available facilities belonging to Church-run organisations and individual priests. The parliamentary secretary and Ms Coleiro Preca were shown around the home by its director Fr Martin Micallef. Id-Dar tal-Providenza has 98 residents between the ages of 13 and 80. All, bar three, suffer from intellectual disability and most require one-on-one attention. The home also has two separate residences for independent living in Siġġiewi and Qawra. Fr Micallef said the visit by Cabinet members so early in this legislature was a sign of respect towards disabled people, their parents and the work done by the home. When viewing work done by residents at the St Isidore Agricultural Centre, where they pack home-grown herbs and other produce, Ms Coleiro Preca offered to provide space within her Valletta ministry from where the home could sell its produce. ksansone@timesofmalta.com