Blog post by Dr. Krzysztof Kurowski, Chairman of the Polish Forum of Persons with Disabilities and President of the Institute of Independent Living Association
Poland ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2012. Although it was 13 years ago, we cannot say that the Convention has been fully implemented yet.
What is more, we cannot even see, within public policy, any system or holistic plan of its implementation.
However, we should emphasise that the Convention and the independent living philosophy have reached some level of decision-makers (for example, ministry level), but still not the highest level. If disability is talked about at the highest level, it is still done so within a charity and paternalistic model.
Yet, to be honest, we have to note numerous activities aimed at implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We mention here several legal acts, standards, guidelines and actions, through which Poland becomes more and more accessible to persons with disabilities.
Revolutionary benefit
For example, a new cash benefit, called the ‘supporting cash benefit’ – revolutionary for Polish circumstances – has been implemented. The revolutionary character of this involves the fact that it is based on a functional assessment of persons with disabilities. Moreover, it is granted to persons with disabilities themselves, so it has replaced within Polish legislation the cash benefits granted to their guardians or caretakers on an arbitrary basis.
New, interesting housing solutions for people requiring very intensive support, called supported housing communities (SHC), have also been implemented. However, these communities are running on a project basis, not based on any law, which makes the solutions totally unstable.
On the other hand, it is necessary to indicate the actions that have been introduced in recent years and which are difficult to consider as implementation of the Convention, because they cause a justified sense of injustice within some parts the disability community.
For some, not all: Complementary cash supplement
What we have in mind here is another new cash benefit, called the complementary cash supplement. This is granted only to persons who acquired their disability before they finished their education. It totally ignores persons who acquired their disability later in life, even one single day after they finished their .
The introduction of this benefit was simply a case of one group tugging the blanket in their direction by being more demanding in claiming their rights. Instead of finding a just solution, politicians met the demands of the persons – or rather of their parents – who made the biggest noise. Polish persons with disabilities do need the development of cash benefits, yet, this should be done in a rational and just way, as it happened with the supporting cash benefit (the one mentioned above). Not to say there are no problems with implementing the supporting cash-benefit as, frankly speaking, some persons with disabilities wait as long as a whole year for their functional assessment.
In this area, a tug-of-war can therefore be observed. First, a modern solution was introduced, based on a functional assessment – the supporting cash-benefit. Shortly afterwards, another benefit was implemented that completely omits the functional assessment (the complementary cash supplement) . Although in the case just mentioned this tug-of-war is a legislative one (two separate acts were passed), in other cases this tug-of-war takes place at the level of legislative works or concept discussions.
Supported decision-making
What should be mentioned here is the process to implement supported decision-making, which should replace the ‘legal institution’ of ‘incapacitation’. The draft of the act introducing changes in this field was released at the end of 2024. Even if it is not an ideal one as far as the Convention is concerned, it could be regarded as a milestone in the process of granting equal rights to those considered ‘incapacitated’. This could take place only with adequate support. Unfortunately, after the draft of the Act was published, some groups criticised it for going too far. It is interesting to see that the draft was criticised by very different parties – lawyers, some parents and other legal guardians. As a result of these comments, the next draft (from March 2025) is much more conservative and increasingly difficult to support for those for whom the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a guide.
Housing
Another area of tug-of-war is housing. For several years now, there has been a lively discussion on the ideal housing model, especially for people requiring intensive support. It particularly concerns the possibility of creating so-called small group homes, apartments for several people combined with a package of services. Some people argue that this form meets the needs of many people with disabilities. In turn, the community gathered around the Convention indicates that solutions of this type have “embedded” institutional features.
It seems that a good solution, reconciling both sides, would be the above-mentioned supported housing communities (SHCs) – as complexes of separate apartments with common parts, but without the obligatory use of other services. However, supporters of group homes (even if they initially co-created and supported this concept) argued that as part of the “free choice” there should be the possibility of creating group homes in addition to SHCs.
This is an example of stretching the concept of independent living – consciously or unconsciously. Other examples of such stretching can also be mentioned:
- thermal modernisation of residential care homes.
- creation of apartments with support in residential care homes.
- stair climbers instead of elevators or ramps.
Such stretching is facilitated by the voices of many decision-makers, scientists and some “practitioners”, in the style of:
- “Let’s not overdo it with this Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”,
- “We must take into account the realities of our country in our solutions”,
- “The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is far away, we are here, on the spot”,
- “Representatives of NGOs are radicals “,
- “Disabled persons don’t come to our office anyway”.
Personal assistance
Fortunately, personal assistance has managed to become an important part of public debate. There have been wide programs in this field since 2019. In 2023, almost all parties included the passing of the ‘Act on Personal Assistance’ within their election campaign. The Polish President also expressed interest, too. However, a tug-of-war also started here – a tug-of-war of various types.
Firstly, there were projects that did not meet all the standards of the Convention, because, for example, they did not guarantee that persons with disabilities would be able to freely choose the implementer and manage the personal assistance service. Secondly, the work on the government project dragged on. It was finally published in December 2024 (also due to protests from the disability community ) and should have been considered compliant with the Convention. However, it immediately sparked controversy, including within the government itself – especially in terms of costs. Currently, a tug-of-war is underway, as a result of which we will find out whether the election promises will be fulfilled or, in the government’s opinion, they will turn out to be an unnecessary expense.
The process of implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Poland is therefore a constant struggle. Progress can be seen in it, but even victories are not given once and for all and can be lost at any moment.
The tug-of-war continues.