Lithuania - Jaunuoliu dienos centras

Jaunuoliu dienos centras is a social service institution that was established in 1996 by Panevezys Town Council. We provide day activities for disabled adults with severe and moderate physical and intellectual impairment aged 18 years and over.

These activities include work related tasks, drama, art, sport, IT and informal education. We also provide social care for our clients. Our mission is to foster the uniqueness of each person while working towards the integration of disabled people into society. We give a lot of importance to links with the community and organize special activities such as a theatre festival, sport competitions and Christmas activities.

Jaunuoliu dienos centras is constantly seeking to develop through professional staff development, creating new activities that lead to development opportunities for disabled people and cooperating with organisations in other countries, adopting good practice from abroad. At the moment the institution has 50 users with various types and degrees of disabilities: users with mentally, mobility, speech problems and long term diseases.

The age of our users is 18- 37 years. The staffs 23 persons: special needs teachers, social workers, the assistants of social workers, auxiliary and administrative staff. The Institution was founded to ensure a steady occupation for the mentally disabled young people, to advocate and promote their rights and interests and to offer wide range social services and support, to improve their educational, vocational and living skills.

We organize educational, cultural, sporting activities and social events, offer free of charge transportation with adapted vans, free of charge use of modern computer technology and internet access, free of charge photocopying and enlarging educational materials, organizing personal assistance, offer advice and help related to educational, vocational and living matters.

We collect information on educational and living conditions of disabled students and make efforts to improve them. We raise public awareness about issues related to people with mental disabilities and encourage positive change for all disabled people. We cooperate with similar organisations home and abroad. In the project ELLA we take the leadership of the working-package “Private Life Concepts” in cooperation with seven different partners of the network Caravan 2000.