Northern Tenerife Launches New Mobile Disability Assessment Team
Starting January 13, a new mobile disability assessment team in Santa Úrsula will provide quicker, localized services for approximately 2,700 residents across four northern Tenerife towns, as part of a Canary Islands Government initiative to decentralize assessments.
Starting this Tuesday, January 13, around 2,700 people from four towns in northern Tenerife will find it easier to get disability assessments. This is thanks to a new mobile assessment team based at the social centre on La Vera street in Santa Úrsula. Residents from La Matanza, La Orotava, and Puerto de la Cruz will also be served here.
The Canary Islands Government's Ministry of Social Welfare, through its Directorate General for Disability, wants to make these procedures quicker and more local. This means people won't have to travel all the way to Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
This new mobile team joins one already in Garachico, which serves citizens from Isla Baja and Icod de los Vinos. The Garachico team had already received 1,200 applications before it even started operating. It was the first of these centres launched by the Canary Islands Government last December.
Like all the professional teams in these centres, the Santa Úrsula team includes two social workers, a psychologist, a physiotherapist, and an administrative assistant. All are specially trained for their roles in these facilities.
The plan to set up these local disability assessment centres is part of the "Itinera" project, funded by the European Social Fund with an annual investment of one million euros. Through this initiative, the Canarian Tutelary Foundation for Social Action (Fucas) – an organisation linked to the Ministry of Social Welfare – conducts interviews, provides information, advice, and assistance. Their goal is to assess the degree of disability and issue the necessary reports.
During the launch of the Santa Úrsula centre, the Minister of Social Welfare, Candelaria Delgado, stated that "these resources will not only assess the degree of disability and make it easier to get a disability certificate, but we will go further by offering support and help for job searching for people in this group." She also praised local councils for providing spaces for these professional technical teams.
Ms. Delgado proudly stated that this new centre will serve the northern part of the island. It will work alongside the existing centre in Garachico, which covers the Isla Baja area, and another one soon to open in San Miguel de Abona for the south.
The mayor of Santa Úrsula, Juan Acosta, called having such a resource "a true privilege." He added that it "will positively impact citizen care and the social well-being of the municipality."
Dulce Gutiérrez, the Director General for Disability, also pointed to new technology being used, including "the introduction of artificial intelligence in the assessment process." She believes this will be "a major achievement for the whole country." Furthermore, she announced a 2.8 million euro investment, using European funds, to "create more mobile disability assessment teams."