Jaunuoliu dienos centras (JDC) is a social service institution that was established in 1996 by Panevezys Town Council in Lithuania.
We provide daily activities for disabled youngster’s severe and moderate physical and intellectual impairment over 18 years of age. These activities include small work tasks, drama, art, sport, IT, and informal education. We also provide social care for our clients.
Our mission is to foster the uniqueness of each person while working towards the integration of disabled people into society.
We give a lot of importance to links with the community and organize special activities such as a theatre festival, sports competitions, and Christmas activities. JDC is constantly seeking to develop through professional staff development, creating new activities that lead to development opportunities for disabled people and cooperating with organizations in other countries, adopting good practices from abroad.
At the moment the institution joins 70 users with various types and degrees of disabilities: users with mental, mobility, speech problems, and long-term diseases. The age of our users is 18- 45 years.
The staff 43 people: social workers, assistants of social workers, auxiliary and administrative staff.
The Institution was founded to ensure a steady occupation for the mentally disabled young people, to advocate and promote their rights and interests, and to offer a wide range of social services and support, to improve their educational, vocational, and living skills. We organize non-formal educational, cultural, sporting activities and social events, offer free of charge transportation with adapted vans, free of charge use of modern computer technology and internet access, free of charge photocopying and enlarging educational materials, organizing personal assistance, offer advice and help related to educational, vocational and living matters. We collect information on the educational and living conditions of disabled students and make efforts to improve them. We raise public awareness about issues related to people with mental disabilities and encourage positive change for all disabled people. We cooperate with similar organizations home and abroad.