Redaccion
The General Director of Disability, Dulce Gutiérrez, participated in the state commission for Coordination and Monitoring of Disability Degree Assessment
The responsible parties of the Institute of Older Persons and Social Services (Imserso) have applauded the measures taken by the General Directorate of Disability of the Government of the Canary Islands, attached to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Equality, Youth, Children, and Families, to reduce the waiting lists for disability degree applicants in the islands. The director, Dulce Gutiérrez, presented alongside the rest of the autonomous communities, the significant structural changes being implemented from the area she leads, such as personnel reinforcement, the creation of new technical assessment teams in rural areas and non-capital islands, or innovative measures like the introduction of Artificial Intelligence in the initial management of files, in the State Commission for Coordination and Monitoring of Disability Degree Assessment.
The director noted, in the meeting held at the Imserso headquarters, «the serious problems» and the increase in waiting lists for assessment that all communities are facing after the entry into force of the new Real Decree 888/2022, and highlighted the importance of this meeting to «share the experiences, obstacles, and solutions of each territory in disability matters, which allows us to progress and collectively improve the situation.»
Dulce Gutiérrez stated that the first commitment of the Government of the Canary Islands in this legislature was materialized with the creation of the new General Directorate of Disability and, from there, «the measures taken have sought to structurally transform the system, reduce delays, optimize resources, and ensure a more agile, fair, and accessible response for people with disabilities in the Archipelago.»
Among other actions, the General Directorate has undertaken the complete digitization of the procedure, the incorporation of artificial intelligence and automation of processes, professional teams have been reinforced in collaboration with FUCAS (Canarian Foundation for Social Action), a mobile application has been developed for citizens, and the new Disability Management Decree Law is being processed.
Dulce Gutiérrez explained that the reinforcement of personnel in the teams «was a pending and urgent task to advance in processing» and detailed that «the new program contract approved by the Government of the Canary Islands guarantees the sustainability of personnel reinforcement for this area in the coming years.» However, the director pointed out that «human resources are still insufficient, we need to hire more professional profiles to ensure a greater number of assessments.»
This year, the Ministry has allocated 4.8 million euros to prevention, integration, and autonomy of people with disabilities through the competitive grant call; another 3.3 million through the grant call for Personal Income Tax (IRPF); 69,859 euros in direct grants, and another 2,618,724 euros in named grants for non-profit entities dedicated to family support for people with disabilities.
Another action aimed at improving accessibility has been the investment of European funds in the purchase of 252 magnetic loops to facilitate communication for people with hearing impairments in public agencies and the purchase of 76 amphibious chairs that will be installed on various beaches in the Islands.
12,000 people in the Canary Islands already have the new Digital Disability Card
Regarding the entry into force of the new Accreditation Card for Disability Degree, on May 25, the director reported that more than 12,000 people are actively using it, out of a potential 137,000 beneficiaries, who can carry on their phone the document accrediting their disability degree. «Through this card, we are managing to dignify the lives, situations, and conditions of people with disabilities in the Canary Islands,» she affirmed.
The card is a public, personal, and non-transferable document, available in digital format, with the purpose of providing clear accreditation of the disability degree of the cardholder. The advantage of this system is that it can be used through a specific app to carry on the mobile device.
