Social services need to matureChildren withspecial needs deservebetter care [Archives:2003/682/Community]

Ismail Al-Ghabiri
Social work or services has been based for a long time on reactive medical activities on an individual level or even groups. In recent times social work has taken a new tend that involves setting objectives and planning, yet this change is quite immature and slow.
When it comes to people with special needs, the situation proves dire especially with the lack of relevant centers specialized in dealing with the mentioned cases and there are no services as such catering to their needs, especially regarding public services.
Some of the unfortunate people with special needs don’t even have a place to live and live in miserable conditions especially homeless children.
Although state has ratified most of the international conventions for rights of the child and human rights, there still isn’t any country level projects that take into account such people and provide them with the minimum, what are within their rights, in order to allow them to live a healthy, dignified life.
Up to now, most of the work done in such issues is circumstantial and temporary, depending on individual efforts and timed projects. Some of those children were healthy children in the beginning until they fell victims of dangerous circumstances that transferred them into children with special needs.
This could have been prevented if there was a plan that took into account development and sheltering of the unfortunate. Social services should be divided equally and with justice, especially when that is what our principles dictate on us.
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