“Equal Partners Foundation is being discriminated against because eight years after its establishment, it is still one of the organisations that does not receive any financial support from the government,” Equal Partners Foundation executive manager, Anabel Mifsud told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

EPF’s bank balance reached a desperate low when it went down to Lm3,400 at the end of October, Ms Mifsud said.

Total support services provided by EPF in 2006 amounted to Lm28,869, 26 per cent (Lm9,957) of which was sponsored by the Foundation with funds generated through fund-raising and donations.

“It is evident from our audited accounts that the amount of support services provided by the Foundation has increased drastically over the years as more partner families have joined,” she said.

However, the total number of support services is much higher as every professional with EPF gives one hour of voluntary work out of every 10 working hours.

EPF, a parent-run, non-profit foundation, was set up in January 1999, supporting families who have a member with a disability and learning difficulties in the community.

The foundation currently supports close to 200 families.

Following the social model of disability as the guiding philosophy of the foundation, all the foundation’s support programmes are delivered in the community; in the natural environment where the individual requires support – in homes, schools, places of work and recreation and the community at large.

The support the Foundation gives relies on the fees the families pay, the sponsorships and donations it receives, the fund-raising it organises, and many hours of voluntary work. The commitment towards the Foundation by all those involved is translated in more than 5,000 hours of voluntary work per year, Ms Mifsud continued.

“We have written several times to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi about this issue. We have also organised meetings with several ministers, starting from the ex-finance minister, John Dalli, Education Minister Louis Galea to Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina. This has all proved futile,” Ms Mifsud told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

“We have even been told that there is no light at the end of the tunnel.”

“Running the foundation on this financial balance is very difficult especially when you know the many sacrifices our families make to support their children.

“If we had been told back then that the services provided by the Foundation were not up to standard, we would certainly have done something to set right what was inadequate. Instead we were told that there were no funds available and that the arrangements the government made to help other organisations date back many years and thus cannot be changed.

“Over the years, we have patiently acknowledged the fact that government cannot give extra funds to the Foundation. However, Equal Partners believes in the principle of self-determination even when it comes to funding,” Ms Mifsud said.

In fact, “the Foundation has been proposing to the government to adopt the principle of individualised funding whereby State support would be tied to the family and not to a specific agency. We believe that such a move would shift the control to parents by giving them the right to choose which educational support they deem most beneficial for their child.”

This measure would restore equity among the various organisations providing support in this field. As an organisation, EPF understands that clear procedures for accountability should be in place, Ms Mifsud said.

According to the Spiteri document, a review on inclusive and special education, issued by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment in 2005, equity should be implemented with regard to the allocation of State funding to NGOs. Equal Partners Foundation notes that although Budget 2008 does mention that the recommendations proposed by this document are to be implemented, it still bypasses this issue.

Equal Partners Foundation claims it is being discriminated against on two fronts. On the one hand the Foundation has never received any State funding to sustain its work in the community.

In addition, partner families with the Foundation are being treated differently from other parents who receive services from other agencies, as their children’s support programmes in these agencies are being financially supported by the government.