Help Autism and Bucharest’s Sector 2 launch project to expand day services for children with disabilities

A new partnership in Bucharest’s Sector 2 aims to widen access to day-care and recovery therapies for children with disabilities through expanded facilities and specialised services.

The project, led by the Help Autism Association with the Sector 2 General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection as partner, will run for 39 months from July 1, 2026, to September 30, 2029. The European Union is financing it through the European Social Fund Plus under Romania’s 2021-2027 Inclusion and Social Dignity Programme.

The initiative will modernise the existing Help Autism Eminescu Day Centre and bring a newly licensed centre on Bulevardul Gării Obor into operation. The services are intended to give children and their families more timely access to psychological therapy, applied behaviour analysis, speech therapy, sensory integration and digital or virtual-reality technologies.

The organisers plan to provide specialised services to 135 children with disabilities, including 22 Roma children. They expect 73 children, or 54% of participants leaving the programme, to show an improvement in their situation.

The planned services include individual and group psychological therapy, digitally assisted ABA, conventional and artificial-intelligence-assisted speech therapy, sensory integration in multisensory rooms, biofeedback and neurofeedback, virtual-reality therapy, occupational therapy, independent-living skills training, physiotherapy, massage and assisted physical therapy. The centres are expected to operate for 36 months and remain available for another 13 months after implementation ends.