Individuals with disabilities: Rehabilitation and Care

Government support for "Social Support and Assistance Programs" in the budget for the fiscal year 2023 contributes to strengthening the social support and care system for citizens and providing a decent standard of living for all citizens. In conjunction with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development aims to achieve its strategic goals derived from Saudi Vision 2030 in empowering and providing all possible services and support for people with disabilities. The ministry has shown significant interest in this valuable segment, launching numerous initiatives and taking substantial steps to empower individuals with disabilities, ensuring them a dignified life.

•              Diverse Services to Empower Individuals with Disabilities

The ministry offers a variety of services to empower individuals with disabilities, including financial support services. The number of beneficiaries of financial support has reached 419,750 as of 2023, contributing to providing a dignified life and rehabilitation for individuals with disabilities.

Additionally, the ministry provides a service for the classification and assessment of disabilities, allowing beneficiaries to update their disability information and benefit from the ministry's services. The service has benefited more than 900,000 individuals. Moreover, over 292,000 individuals have benefited from the visa fee exemption service. Furthermore, the ministry issues an electronic facilitation card through its digital application, enabling people with disabilities to access public facilities and use designated parking spaces. Cardholders also receive discounts on government transportation. The number of beneficiaries of the "Facilitation" card has exceeded 183,000.

In addition, the ministry offers disability classification services for university students with disabilities and organizes various cultural and sports events for them.

The ministry is actively engaged in vocational rehabilitation for individuals with disabilities—physical, sensory, or intellectual—matching their remaining abilities after disability. The focus is on their employment to achieve humanitarian, social, and economic goals, transforming them into productive individuals capable of interacting and adapting to society both socially and psychologically. The number of individuals with disabilities qualified to enter the job market has exceeded 5154.

• Launch of the Social Rehabilitation and Guidance Platform

As part of its efforts to facilitate services for people with disabilities in the Kingdom, the ministry has launched the Social Rehabilitation and Guidance Platform. The platform aims to meet the needs of people with disabilities and rehabilitation centers simultaneously. It has contributed to the development and governance of rehabilitation and care services by facilitating the process of obtaining information and providing unified powers and procedures for all branches of rehabilitation centers in the Kingdom.

The Social Rehabilitation and Guidance Platform has provided various services, including empowering the private and non-profit sectors to apply for the establishment of centers for the elderly and providing appropriate services for them. The platform also allows for requesting accommodation and monitoring the social aspects of the elderly who have no family. The ministry, through the developed social security system, provides cash support, rehabilitation and training support, empowerment, and employment support through partners from all sectors. It ensures the disbursement of Zakat funds to eligible recipients, improves the workforce, and enhances the skills of beneficiaries to improve their social and economic well-being. The developed social security system targets the most vulnerable categories in society, regardless of the previous social status classification. The current system's provisions ensure that pensions reach the eligible recipients while enabling them to strive for financial independence and support their transition from needy individuals to productive members of society.

• Ministry-affiliated Rehabilitation Centers:

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development oversees numerous centers that provide services to individuals with disabilities based on the degree of their impairment. These centers include:

1. Vocational Rehabilitation Centers:

These centers specialize in the continuous monitoring of procedures related to education and vocational training for individuals with disabilities. They focus on matching individuals with suitable professions based on their remaining abilities after the disability, working towards their employment, and transforming them into productive individuals. This process helps them adapt psychologically, participate, and achieve self-realization within their family and social environment. This is achieved through ongoing training, whether conducted within or outside the centers.

Categories included in Vocational Rehabilitation Centers:

   - Individuals with physical disabilities, such as upper or lower limb amputees, paralyzed individuals, and heart patients.

   - Deaf individuals, mute individuals, or those with both deafness and muteness, as well as individuals with hearing impairments.

   - Blind individuals and those with visual impairments.

   - Individuals affected by tuberculosis.

   - Individuals with intellectual disabilities, including mild intellectual impairment and cases that have improved among individuals with mental illnesses.

2. Daycare Centers:

In an effort to provide alternatives to institutional care, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has established daycare centers, which operate during daylight hours in the morning period. The aim is to alleviate the burden on some families of individuals with disabilities who are unable to provide suitable care for their children during this time, as well as for working men and women who cannot provide care for their children during official working hours. These centers focus on offering diverse services and programs for severe disability cases during specific periods of the day. These services include social, psychological, health, recreational, and training programs, along with family counseling and education programs, tailored to the needs of each case and according to carefully planned individual plans.

Daycare centers and departments provide appropriate care and rehabilitation programs for individuals with disabilities during daylight hours, including physical and occupational therapy, training in various life skills, and intensive educational and counseling programs for the families of individuals with disabilities and others.

The number of non-governmental centers affiliated with the private sector, charitable committees in service and social development centers, and charitable associations is 202, distributed across various regions of the kingdom.

The ministry also oversees numerous charitable associations specialized in supporting, training, and rehabilitating individuals with disabilities, numbering 76 as of the present time.

Achievements:

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has achieved numerous milestones to reach the highest levels in serving individuals with disabilities, including:

1. Launching volunteer opportunities for social work in rehabilitation centers, reaching a total of 3,182 opportunities.

2. Developing a guide for standardizing social services in comprehensive rehabilitation centers.

3. Referring approximately 100 beneficiaries to their families through family counseling during the first quarter.

4. Updating data for over 270,000 beneficiaries from all services.

5. Fully automating services that cater to over 900,000 beneficiaries, such as disability assessment, visa issuance, financial aid provision, issuance of service cards, provision of devices for people with disabilities, handling objections, and assistive devices. This is aimed at facilitating service delivery in a way that alleviates the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities.