However, taking the wishes of those affected into consideration also
means placing them in a situation where – after spending years in
large-scale institutions in some cases – they can figure out their
individual needs, where their insecurities are eliminated through
information and where they can take advantage of the possibility of
other ways of living.
Obligation to deinstitutionalisation in accordance with UN CRPD must be complied with.
Comprehensive overall concepts are lacking and must be developed.
2.4.2.3 No care home agreements for persons with disabilities
Commissions have reported several cases where residents live in
institutions and facilities for persons with disabilities without the
operator of the facility having executed written care home agreements
with them.
Residents under care
without care home
agreements
This contradicts the provisions of the Consumers Protection Act
(Konsumentenschutzgesetz). For agreements with an indefinite term,
Sections 27 et seq. of the Consumer Protection Act stipulate that they
must be executed or issued in written form between the operator of
the home and the resident no later than within three months after the
beginning of a stay in a care home. In the event of agreements that
are limited as to term, this must occur prior to the beginning of the
stay in a care home.
Care home agreement
in written form
obligatory
The purpose of written form is specifically, but not exclusively, to
preserve evidence and transparency of the service obligations on the
part of the operator of the care home. These agreements must
stipulate what has been agreed concerning accommodations and
care and must be worded “simply and comprehensibly”. The
capabilities, needs and expectations of a rational resident of such care
home are the measure for the wording of the agreement.
Individual operator organisations, however, took the point of view that
in those cases, in which clients had been promised a benefit, e.g.
financing of housing, by way of an official notice, the transaction has a
background that is governed by public law. Therefore, the Consumer
Protection Act is not applicable and a care home agreement does not
need to be executed.
After interventions by the NPM, the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social
Affairs and Consumer Protection confirmed that assumption of costs
by a public entity alone does not exclude applicability of the Consumer
Protection Act. The Federal Minister therefore tasked the Austrian
für
Association
for
Consumer
Information
(Verein
Konsumenteninformation) with requiring institutions and facilities for
persons with disabilities to hand over care home agreements in
accordance with Section 28 (3) of the Consumer Protection Act.
75
Consumers Association
of Austria files a legal
action against an
operator organisation
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