Guidelines for application to the Trust 2010

Please note: we are no longer accepting applications. The closing date for submissions was 5pm Friday 28th May 2010

This fund combined an allocation of health innovation funding announced in the 2010 budget by Minister John Moloney and an allocation from the Atlantic Philanthropies.

“To support transition from Institutional to Person Centred Models of care in Disability and Mental health Service….In line with the objectives of Government policy as set out in A Vision for Change and with the objectives of the National Disability Strategy… [This fund is particularly relevant to service providers]….. Who can deliver a quantified transition of service users from Institutional to community settings on a cost neutral basis after the initial transitional period”
Minister John Moloney, 9th December 2009.

This fund was also relevant to those who could deliver capacity building initiatives aimed at supporting people with disabilities and mental ill health to live full lives in the community. These could include leadership development and other learning programmes aimed at:

• Strengthening the voice of people with disabilities and mental health difficulties (their families and carers) to advocate for the supports they need to move to, or stay in, the community;
• Increase capacity of service providers and commissioners to support individuals to live self-directed lives in their communities.

It was envisaged that grants would range from relatively small amounts to a maximum of €300,000. Grants were supplementary to funding already available to the organisation/group and would be for a 12 month period. All projects selected for funding were subject to a full evaluation.  

The overall range of projects supported spanned:

• Different types of disabilities (i.e. physical and sensory disabilities, intellectual disabilities) and mental health difficulties  
• Different levels of disability and mental health difficulty
• Different phases of the life cycle e.g. children, young people and adults
• A variety of locations e.g. rural and urban settings  
• Examples of cross-departmental and cross-agency collaboration  

This fund was not intended to provide sole funding for direct service/support provision, capital expenditure or for profit making ventures.

Assessment of applications

Direct service/support applications were assessed according to the following criteria.

1. Involvement of the individuals in the design of the services/ supports they require
2. Individualisation of services and supports
3. Delivery of services/supports  on an individual basis  
4. Enhancing community inclusion   
5. Opportunities to have valued social roles in the community
6. Use of mainstream services and ‘natural’ supports
7. Collaboration with the family/advocate/carer/neighbours/community groups/other agencies
8. Support for dignity and respect of the person
9. Support for self-advocacy and other forms of advocacy; e.g. family, peer and professional
10. Cost-effectiveness and value for money
11. Sustainability beyond the life of the grant
12. Capacity of the applicant to implement proposal.

Capacity building applications were assessed according to the extent to which the project would accelerate the availability of cost-effective, personalised supports to enable people with disabilities and mental health difficulties to live as valued members of their communities; and criteria 10, 11 (if appropriate) and 12.

Initial screening of all applications submitted were undertaken by Genio. Shortlisted applications were reviewed by a Monitoring Group consisting of members of the HSE, the Office of Disability and Mental Health, DoHC, and Genio. Final decisions in relation to grants recommended by the Monitoring Group were made by Trustees of the Genio Trust.  

Please note: we are no longer accepting applications. The closing date for submissions was 5pm Friday 28th May 2010