About Us

The civic association Quip –Association for a Change was founded in 2003 to support the development of quality and good practice in social services, promote education in this area and encourage awareness and rights of social service users, especially of people with learning difficulties and complex needs.

Education For a Change

The main part of the organization’s activities consists in education of social service providers and establishers. Quip offers trainings for direct service providers as well as for management in social services. The trainings provide professional qualification and lifelong education of staff in social services as required by the law on social services.

The aim of education in this area is to enhance professional skills and knowledge of staff in social services so that they can improve their work for social inclusion of people with disabilities into the community life.

For this purpose Quip brings into the Czech Republic international experts who enrich the local practice with the latest approaches and methods of work.

Legal support of social service users and providers

Quip is engaged in dealing with legal problems and education in legal issues related to providing of social services from the point of view of providers as well as social service users and their rights. The issues concern legal status of people with disabilities – respecting and realization of their human rights and freedoms, legal capacity, exercise of guardianship. The issues also concern social inclusion (education, work, and disability pensions), responsibility of providers and users, rights and duties arising form the law on social services. Other important tools in promoting the rights of people with learning disabilities and complex needs include influencing the legislation, application of law, and government and regional policies concerning this group of people.

Promoting of good practice

In 2006 Quip joined the RYTMUS civic association, the establisher of a countrywide contest called “The Milan Cháb Award“. The aim of this contest is to present to the general public real examples of inclusion of handicapped people (not only people with disabilities) into common society. The award is given to people who have accepted personal responsibility for the life of a disadvantaged person and helped him/her to get at possibilities similar to those exploited by people without apparent disadvantage.

The award is named after an outstanding representative of efforts to equalize and emancipate people with learning  difficulties.

The aim of “Hope for Change” competition is to support and award work teams from social care institutions, which through particular activities promote changes leading to raising quality of life and social inclusion of people who are still livening in institutions.

Measurement of service efficiency

Since 2005, Quip has been developing eQuip software application designed for providers and establishers of social services, who can use the application to evaluate the efficiency of services provided to people with disability. The evaluation may then serve as a basis for adopting strategic decisions concerning their organization. eQuip also offers an instrument for day-to-day organization management, facilitates well-arranged work with staff and client databases, and is one of the auxiliary tools for meeting the Quality standards for social services.

www.kvalitavpraxi.cz web portal

Through the web portal www.kvalitavpraxi.cz, Quip provides information service to the professional public as well as to people with learning difficulties and their close relatives and friends. It offers a review of new issues, downloadable specialist texts, information on other sources of professional literature and links to other interesting websites. The portal also enables ordering the chosen professional literature and entering the password-protected space for the registered users of eQuip and eQuip mini software applications.

Publishing

Quip – Association for a change pursues spreading new and efficient methods supporting the exercise of human rights of people with disabilities. For this purpose it cooperates with providers of social services and other experts. The results of this cooperation are published in electronic, printed or audiovisual form.