The Mobile Team from Bălți has recorded its first results in the rehabilitation of children with disabilities

Starting with September 2022, the Mobile Team social service has been working under the General Directorate of Social Assistance and Family Protection of Bălți municipality, providing free rehabilitation and counselling services to children with disabilities at their homes. So far, the team has helped 29 beneficiaries. The families of some of them say that they notice the positive effects of this assistance in the development and rehabilitation of children.

The team, consisting of a speech therapist, a psychologist, a physiotherapist, and a social worker, works with each beneficiary according to a personalized plan, making weekly home visits. “The children I work with are diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorders, severe mental retardation, and other issues. They periodically need exercise to strengthen sounds, since they have difficulties in pronunciation, in the movement of facial muscles, and require help to develop communication and socialization skills,” said the speech therapist Alina Ghilețchi.

“For us, the fact that specialists visit us at home is a big advantage, as it is very difficult for us to go to some center for treatment. I want to tell the specialists that they put in a great effort and we have results. Alexandra pronounces the consonants B, P, M much better, communicates more easily, and interacts much better with children and educators in kindergarten,” said Vasile Ciobanu, the father of a little girl who benefited from the services of the Mobile Team.

The Mobile Team in Bălți municipality was created as part of a project implemented by the public association CREDIS in partnership with the General Directorate of Social Assistance and Family Protection (GDSAFP) of Bălți municipality, within the project “Civil Society Organizations Act for Better Social Services”, financed by the European Union, co-financed and implemented by Soros Foundation Moldova. The service will further be financed by the Bălți Municipality Council.

“We have over 500 children with special needs in the municipality. The Bălți Municipality Council, due to lack of resources, could not create such a service until now, because it was and is, in fact, quite expensive. Thus, in the context of establishing partnerships with civil society and with the support of the European Union, the Mobile Team social service has finally been created in Balti municipality. The local public administration will continue supporting this service and will ensure its sustainability in the future, because it is very necessary. Every day we have beneficiaries who request to be admitted to this service,” explained Veronica Munteanu, head of the Bălți GDSAFP.