VACD's Family Assistance Program (FAP)

Key FAP eligibility criteria:

1. A family with a low household income whose child is registered with VACD, attends the centre regularly and where the family participates in all VACD activities.

2. A family unable to meet expenses for necessities and medication for a child who attends VACD regularly and participates in all VACD activities

FAP background & Operating guidelines:

1. FAP is a self-funding initiative that is being financed by a few committed overseas VACD supporters and philanthropists.
2. The VACD Board and all VACD Sri Lanka members should try their best to generate local support for this initiative through their own private, family, and social contacts to generate broader local public awareness of our mission.
3. The program must be sustainable over the medium to long-term (3 to 5 years).
4. The criteria to be a beneficiary under this program is clearly defined and the VACD Sri Lanka Board should administer this program accordingly.
5. The VACD Sri Lanka Board must impose a cap on aggregate household income above which no FAP support will be extended to a family. Any deviation from this criterion on special or sympathetic grounds must be approved by the VACD Sri Lanka Board and may be for a temporary or permanent period on a case by case basis.
6. This allowance will be given only to families of disabled children who are registered with VACD, attend VACD centres regularly, meet all the criteria and granted only until the child reaches the age of 18 years. Any deviation from this criterion on special or sympathetic grounds must be approved by the VACD Sri Lanka Board and may be of a temporary or permanent period on a case by case basis.
7. The VACD Sri Lanka executive team must obtain detailed information of each and every FAP applicant such as: is it a single parent household?, family structure (parents, siblings, grandparents etc.) , total household income, number of children in the family, age of the disabled child, cost of supporting and providing medical assistance to the disabled child etc. to determine the eligibility of support under this program.
8. The VACD Sri Lanka executive committee must independently verify and confirm the accuracy of the information provided by the applicant to the VACD Sri Lanka Board to prevent the misuse or abuse of this program.
9. The VACD Sri Lanka executive committee must ensure that families who are likely to be eligible to receive assistance under the FAP come from extremely poor and financially distressed household backgrounds, are breadwinners who are low skilled labourers, subsistence farmers, temporary workers or where the disabled child is being cared for by a paternal or maternal grandparent and participate in VACD activities.
10. Each family will be given Rs. 3,000 a month and these funds should be credited directly to a bank account of the parent or guardian.
11. The VACD Board must immediately end this facility should they receive convincing evidence that this philanthropic gesture of ours is being abused or misused by any member of the family thereby negating the purpose of this initiative, and report same to the Chairman VACD Australia immediately;
12. The VACD special board committee must regularly and carefully monitor this program and take appropriate action should the household income position of a beneficiary or their family conditions change making them either entitled or not entitled to continue receiving this benefit.
13. The VACD committee must furnish quarterly progress reports to the VACD Sri Lanka Boards.
14. The VACD Sri Lanka Board must provide detailed quarterly progress reports to the Chairman VACD Australia.