Adult persons with mild mental retardation, with full legal competence and who have no home or who need accommodation improvements will be able to benefit from a new social service called “Protected Home”, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to Social Protection Minister Valentina Buliga, this social service, whose instituting documents and regulations have been approved by the Government, will contribute to the support of persons with such disabilities, to the improvement of their living standards and to the prevention of offenses. The idea of the service is to offer dwellings to such persons, with local authorities or NGOs acting as tenants. Such a dwelling will be supervised by a case manager, the community assistant, and the social worker employed in the service. “The number of personnel will be determined based on the number of beneficiaries accommodated in a dwelling, usually from 2 to 6, as well as on the degree of autonomy and necessities of such persons. Most of the countries that implemented this service, in particular Croatia, Lithuania, Poland and Hungary, offer a host of innovational services created to suit the individual needs of each beneficiary. These additional services enable the persons with deficiencies to adopt active lifestyles, to participate in the social life”, said Valentina Buliga. According to the minister, the annual costs of maintaining one person with mental retardation in state-funded residential institutions, like the Balti Psycho-Neurological Residential Hospital, amount to 27,300 lei, whereas the costs involved in the Protected Home project are 18,200 lei for one beneficiary. “The economy is evident, but more importantly, these people will be able to live an independent life, find a job and participate in community activities”, said the minister.