To expand the availability of community-based social services for individuals with severe mental and multiple disabilities, new social service infrastructure will be established in Riga and Liepāja by the end of 2027 with support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). These facilities will include specifically tailored solutions to provide support for this target group.
Starting no later than January 1, 2028, with support from the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), the provision of these newly developed services will begin for a two-year period. The target group includes adults with severe mental and multiple disabilities who have been assigned Group I disability or the third or fourth level of care, as well as children aged 16 to 17 (inclusive) who have been granted disability status and received a statement from the State Medical Commission for the Assessment of Health and Working Capacity regarding the need for special care due to severe functional impairments, or a decision from a medical council indicating the need for palliative care.
The initiative includes individual needs assessments, development of support plans, and the provision of day care center and group home services.
This is stipulated by the implementation regulations of the third round of the European Union Cohesion Policy Programme 2021–2027 support objective: “Improve equal and timely access to quality, sustainable and affordable services; enhance social protection systems, including promoting access to social protection; improve the availability, efficiency and resilience of long-term care services,” approved at the government meeting on September 30 of this year.
Funding recipients will be the municipalities of Liepāja and Riga, as well as social service providers established or contracted by them. The planned total funding amounts to €2.6 million, including €2.2 million from ESF+ and €0.39 million from municipal budgets.
This support is crucial for municipalities to launch new services and will enable the continuation of established best practices by ensuring a complete cycle for piloting newly developed community-based social services—starting with infrastructure development (ERDF initiative) followed by sequential service provision funding (ESF+ initiative).