SHENZHEN is considering building a foster care center for the disabled in the next five years, Zu Yuqin, president of the Shenzhen Disabled Persons Federation, said.
Families will be able to arrange for disabled relatives to stay at the center on a permanent or day-to-day basis.
The center is part of a package of measures being drafted to improve public services for the disabled, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.
There are not enough public service facilities for disabled people in Shenzhen while other cities such as Dongguan have seen the rapid development of these services, including rehabilitation, employment training and others, said Zu.
She added that public service facilities for the disabled have so far failed to keep up with the city s outstanding economic progress.
Shenzhen will build a social security system to cover disabled residents, granting a monthly government subsidy to low-income families affected by disability, the paper said.
People with severe disabilities aged 18 or older will be eligible for government support.
The city government is also planning to fund preschool education for disabled children with preferential treatment for disabled families applying for government-subsidized housing.
As well as the foster care center, an employment training center, a school for the disabled and a mental health center will be established.
Districts with more then 500 severely disabled people will be required to establish a foster center, as well as a rehabilitation center in each of their subdistricts.
Shenzhen is also planning to build one or two sports training centers for the disabled, to prepare a team for the London Paralympics to be held in 2012.
There are 134,700 disabled people in Shenzhen, only 3 percent of whom hold Shenzhen hukou (permanent residence permits), according to the federation.
(Martin Li)
