“There are 180 thousand people with disabilities in Puglia, they represent 4.5% of the population, many of these have a serious disability and are at risk of poverty. Yet, it is as if they were invisible. Few funds, few structures, very few specialized personnel. Disabled people are almost completely left to the assistance and attention of the family who takes care of them, entangled in many sacrifices and sacrifices, not only economic ones. But the biggest problems come when the parents grow old or are no longer around, so a future of dramatic uncertainty opens up for the disabled child. Law 112 of 2016, called Dopo di noi, was created precisely to address this critical issue. This is cutting-edge legislation on the European scene which however clashes with the lack of funds and the slowness of regional administrations, effectively bogging down all the projects that could give a new future to thousands of young people”. Chiara Gemma, MEP for Fdi-Ecr, declares this, also citing the recent intervention of the Court of Auditors which highlighted the poor capacity of local authorities to implement projects and to accommodate families’ requests. “The system resembles a dog chasing its tail, because some Regions are not adequately equipped to give full applicability to the law, it is very difficult to build a long-term plan, furthermore very often the money that is made available is not spent or are dispersed in other items. Or funds stagnate and long waiting lines are created. Not only that, the critical issues are scattered throughout the supply chain. Because the resources, once allocated, take months to reach the Regions and here they get stuck because the procedural machine is complex, starting with the creation of the tenders. Some Regions have not been able to spend the funding received but in some cases you have not even been able to request it. A cumbersome system – concludes the MEP – on which it is urgent to intervene to guarantee the full functioning of a revolutionary law on disability assistance”.
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