The purpose of the project is to provide an updated description of the housing situation for people with developmental disabilities, while mapping how this has developed in recent years. Part of the background is a concern that the gap between the political ideals and the actual housing situation is too great. In addition, it has been a long time since a broad review was conducted in this field.

The project addresses a variety of issues related to living arrangements, such as the type of home, the size of group homes, the right to choose one’s home, how many people own their own home, how many adults with developmental disabilities still live with their families, housing finances, and other aspects. The project traces developments since 1994, immediately after the closure of the institutions. The project is led by Professor Jan Tøssebro.

It is financed by the Norwegian State Housing Bank and organized by NTNU Social Research. The report Utviklingshemmetes bosituasjon [The housing situation of people with developmental disabilities in 2021] is available at NTNU Samforsk | Utviklingshemmetes bosituasjon 2021.

From August 2022, no fewer than 14 laws on various welfare services will be amended. The purpose is to improve the basis for collaboration and coordination between different areas of services. The immediate background is a series of reports and communications concluding that coordination and cooperation between different agencies working with welfare is unsatisfactory, and that this is particularly problematic in services for children and young people who need complex services.

With a time frame from 2022 to 2027, the study includes an investigation of the implementation of the reform, with surveys directed at families, front-line bureaucrats, service centres and municipalities, as well as a study in which some families with children who need complex services are tracked over time. The work is led by Professor Jan Tøssebro and conducted by NTNU Social Research.

The evaluation is funded by four Norwegian directorates in the field of welfare (the Directorate for Education and Training, the Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs, the Directorate of Health and the Directorate of Labour and Welfare).

Project managers: Heidi Pedersen and Ingunn Fylkesnes.

This is a professional development project that aims to contribute to developing the universal design skills of academic staff involved in study programmes in social and child welfare education at NTNU. The purpose is to ensure skills development focused on universality in the context of teaching, that is, how one can better contribute to universal design as a topic in teaching and of the teaching situation in itself in connection with associated study programmes.
Today, study programmes in social and child welfare at NTNU are not explicit about showcasing universal design in their portfolio of subjects.  The study programmes involved are the bachelor’s programme in social work, the bachelor’s programme in child welfare work, the master’s programme in social work, the master’s programme in child welfare work and the Master of Science programme in disability and society. The latter master’s programme has incorporated universal design as an academic topic in student teaching, but it is working to develop its expertise in this area further.
It is important for social workers and master’s students to gain experience with universal design through their study programmes so that they can practise it further in their professional fields. In particular, this applies to focusing on structural factors that contribute to creating barriers such as disabling processes, practices, marginalization and exclusion. This applies to people within different contexts and in different phases of life. 
The Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir.) is funding the project.