This report originated from the initiative of the Institut Valencià d’Atenció Social Sanitària (IVASS), the public body of the Generalitat Valenciana responsible for providing social services, with a particular focus on disability policies and guardianship practices. Within this framework, a group of students from IPC – Facultés libres de Philosophie et de Psychologie (Paris) joined IVASS through an internship during June and July 2025, under the Erasmus+ European Programme, supported by the International Federation for Family Development (IFFD) as part of its Advocacy Training project. The team, composed of philosophy students with complementary backgrounds in law, political science, and psychology, brought an interdisciplinary, justice-oriented, and comparative perspective to the project.
The overarching goal of the study was to contribute to global reflection on the efficiency, fairness, and inclusiveness of social policies for vulnerable populations, particularly persons with disabilities.
The methodology combined a thorough analysis of legal and administrative frameworks, including national and regional legislation as well as IVASS governance; direct field observations within IVASS facilities, examining professional practices, team organization, and user experiences; and a comparative analysis with European models from France, Sweden, and Germany, using targeted criteria such as legal norms, governance, care culture, personalization, family involvement, effectiveness, inclusion, and evaluation.
On this basis, recommendations were formulated for IVASS, the United Nations, and IFFD, addressing both structural and operational dimensions. These include digitizing and individualizing guardianship management; diversifying care options with an emphasis on community-based and home-based alternatives; reinforcing user and family participation in decision-making; developing sustainable human resource strategies and training programmes; fostering a culture of continuous qualitative evaluation; promoting collaboration between public and private actors, as well as across regions; encouraging anticipatory legal tools such as advance directives and self-guardianship; advocating for the recognition of “communities of life” and reinforcing family support mechanisms; and enhancing IVASS’s involvement in European networks, research initiatives, and innovative pilot projects.
The five authors of the study.
The report concludes that, while IVASS demonstrates notable progress and valuable practices—especially when compared with other European systems—important challenges remain in terms of personalization, inclusion, and the effective participation of all stakeholders. The proposed recommendations are intended to further align the Valencian model with international standards, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and the evolving demands of inclusive social policy.
