The Ministry of Social Policy in partnership with NGO "East SOS" continues evacuation of elderly and persons with disabilities

After the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine implemented the mechanism for providing supported living or residential care services under the "money follows the person" principle, more elderly people and persons with disabilities who were forced to leave their homes due to war are finding shelter across Ukraine. Sometimes the journey to a new home is long. The most important thing along the way is to find support and help.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion and forced evacuations, the Charity Foundation "East SOS" has become a reliable partner of the Ministry of Social Policy. The NGO's specialists not only help people move to safer regions but have also set up the "Ocean of Kindness" Temporary Stay Center. Over six months, the organization has relocated 12 people to permanent residences in territorial social service centers under the Ministry's program.

Providing supported living and residential care services is an opportunity to give people new housing and free up space in temporary shelters to accommodate new displaced persons.

Back in 2014 at the start of the war, the Charity Foundation "East SOS" created a hotline coordinating logistics for Ukrainians leaving frontline areas or occupation. After the full-scale invasion began, the foundation had to establish an evacuation department covering the full cycle – from receiving evacuation requests to long-term placement. The target audience are those who cannot care for themselves: persons with disabilities or elderly people.

Lyudmila, case manager at "East SOS", says that everyone evacuated from combat zones is immediately brought to the partner shelter "Ocean of Kindness", which was opened specifically for such needs. Specialists work here to help people calm down after evacuation and start arranging their new lives – psychologists, lawyers and social workers. The length of stay at the shelter is unlimited. Very often people have to live here for about a year, as there are cases when documents need to be restored or updated.

"Some forgot documents because they left under shelling, some had them burned, some haven't changed their passport since Soviet times. We help sort all this out. And people stay at the shelter as long as needed until a long-term residence is found where they will definitely receive care and support," explains the case manager.

After the adoption of Resolution No. 888 regulating the provision of supported living and residential care services under the "money follows the person" principle, the charity organization "East SOS" has been able to somewhat faster "free up" the shelter and "vacate" spaces for evacuation.

"We constantly need places in the shelter to have somewhere to evacuate people. As of today, we need to place about 40 people. The Government's decision has eased the situation because new places for displaced Ukrainians are appearing. After the changes were made (service providers can join the experimental project under a simplified procedure - ed.), we expect the number of service providers to increase. For example, one institution in Lutsk plans to join the program under the simplified procedure and accept eight people," emphasizes case manager Lyudmila.

During the period of Resolution 888's effect, since last August, the organization has relocated 12 people to permanent residences. One of the recent cases of "East SOS" was transporting five evacuated residents from Donetsk region to the Social Services Center of Sukhopolovyanska settlement council in Chernihiv region. From now on they will be able to live there permanently and receive necessary services.

Case manager Lyudmila from "East SOS" says that despite the challenges of war, there is still room for happy moments. Thus, at the organization's shelter during evacuation, an elderly man and woman met. While the woman's documents were being processed, a permanent residence was already found for the man. However, he refused to go without his beloved, because in quite a short time they realized they wanted to be only together. The military-civil administration of the man's new residence agreed that as soon as the woman's documents were ready, she could move to him, and there they would have the opportunity to marry in the geriatric facility.

Supported living and residential care must develop because people who need evacuation often refuse it. They are uncertain about the future.

Yaroslav, evacuation coordinator at NGO "East SOS", emphasizes that supported living and residential care services need to be developed and provided in every community. Because only confidence that a person will receive help and be evacuated to a place where they will be cared for allows timely rescue from war.

"The fear that people have nowhere to live and no one to care for them keeps elderly people and persons with disabilities in combat zones. Now there really is a full evacuation cycle, but there is a lack of supported living and residential care services. If an elderly person can care for themselves, they have attachment to their home, to their social connections in the village or city where they lived. Neighbors, familiar space, familiar housing. It's very hard for them to let go.

Sometimes such people hold out until the last moment, when the fear of an incoming shell becomes greater than the fear of the unknown. Therefore, we always need to work with these people, calmly explain to them that they won't be left in trouble, that they will be taken care of," says the evacuation coordinator.

Yaroslav notes that Russian propaganda also plays a role in the fears of people from frontline areas. The enemy has repeatedly spread disinformation that people are being evacuated to sell their organs. Or fake stories when displaced persons are simply abandoned in the middle of a field. However, now all evacuation processes are centralized – people are registered with social protection departments in each region, assistance is arranged, and depending on needs, further placement is organized.

To recap, in order for supported living or residential care services to be received timely and in full, in 2024 the Ministry of Social Policy developed a mechanism for their provision to elderly IDPs and persons with disabilities under the "money follows the person" principle. The service recipient themselves chooses the provider and pays for services from a special account. This gives a person who needs outside help and support but was forced to leave their home due to hostilities the opportunity to integrate into a new community, build social and economic ties, and most importantly – make independent decisions about their life.

After changes to Resolution 888, services can now be received by internally displaced elderly persons and persons with disabilities who have been assigned mobility group IV (previously this right was only for those with mobility group V).

Also, thanks to the changes, service providers can join the experimental project under a simplified procedure. Now there is no need to additionally undergo compliance verification with the National Social Service – one application is enough.

Currently, 141 people receive social services under the new principle. The list of providers includes 19 organizations, with another 45 having applied to join the project

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