The Inspectorate for Care and Care, IVO, recently decided that the municipality of Umeå must pay a fine after a person has been without a contact person since the summer of 2021. The inspectorate writes in the decision that the individual is in great need of a contact person to break the isolation.
Harder to recruit
Currently, there are 380 people in Umeå municipality who have been given the right to a contact person, but 132 people have still not been assigned one.
- It is more difficult to recruit today, we have a skills shortage and low unemployment in Västerbotten, which means that applications for voluntary assignments are fewer, says Maria Vestin.
Break insulation
A contact person is a remunerated assignment to a person who must act as a fellow human being to a person with a disability.
- Many people with disabilities lack friendships and have a small social network, so the contact persons are important to break the isolation, says Maria Vestin.
In the clip, you will hear how the municipality is doing to resolve the situation and how to think if you are waiting to get a contact person.