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3
Improving services to
improve lives
FOREWORD BY LUK ZELDERLOO
Secretary General of EASPD
Since its creation in 1996, the European
Association of Service Providers (EASPD) has
been working to promote equal opportunities
for people with disabilities through effective
and high-quality service systems in the fields
of education, employment, and individualised
support. We represent over 12,000 support
service provider organizations across Europe,
and we are convinced that the realisation of
the principles enshrined in the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (UN CRPD) can bring benefits not
only to persons with disabilities but to society
as a whole.
In order to build an effective inclusive society,
persons with disabilities have to be included
throughout their lives. From the very early
stages of life, we must build on the capabili-
ties, skills, and resources of the person and
their family, not their deficits. Early Childhood
Intervention (ECI) services are designed to
support young children (and their families)
who are at risk or have been identified as
having developmental delay or disabilities
during the most critical stage of human
development – from prenatal period to eight
years of age. Given the importance of this
period of life for any child, it is vital to ensure
access to interventions that can help children
with disabilities in reaching their full potential.
Under these premises, EASPD established in
2014 an Interest Group on Early Intervention.
This working group was joined by several
EASPD member organizations across Europe
that were currently providing ECI services or
were willing to develop their expertise and
knowledge on the topic.
In 2016 we decided to take action on several
fronts to address the situation of ECI services
in Europe. First, EASPD in cooperation with the
Zero Project launched a call for and selected
Innovative Practices in the ECI field. Those
Innovative Practices have been included in
this publication and can provide a source
of inspiration for other support services,
decision-makers, and professionals willing to
develop or improve ECI services and pro-
grammes in their communities.
Second, EASPD believes that the implemen-
tation of the principles and rights recognised
in the UN treaties also needs the involvement
of society at large. Since the adoption of
its multiannual strategy in 2014, EASPD is
reinforcing its cross-sectorial cooperation.
All partners and stakeholders must under-
stand the societal challenges and barriers
to persons with disabilities, and together we
can then identify the necessary tools to solve
them. To that end, EASPD is organizing its
annual cross-sectorial conference – “Growing
Together” – on the state of play of ECI servic-
es in Europe. This event, to be held 21–22 April
in Chisinau, Moldova, represents an extraor-
dinary opportunity to bring together all the
relevant stakeholders to work and pull in the
same direction: promote and secure the right
to early intervention services and programmes
that are affordable, available, accessible, and
adapted to individual needs.
This effort is not only about people with
disabilities, but also about the inclusiveness of
the society we want to live in. And this requires
one essential element: the involvement of
society as a whole.
On behalf of EASPD, I would like to thank the
Zero Project for their top-level cooperation
and to congratulate the promising Innovative
Practices presented in this publication. Each
one of them has proven its capacity and
effectiveness. Hopefully, participants of the
conference in Moldova as well as members
of colleges, think tanks, and organizations
around the globe will be inspired by these
excellent models.
Luk Zelderloo
, April 2016