Presentation by Sílvia Garcia-Mandicó, Labour Market Economist, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD at the kick-off meeting of the OECD-EC project "Improving the disability assessment and social protection system in Italy" on 6 December 2021. For more info https://www.oecd.org/cfe/leed/dgref-disability-italy.htm

1. @ OECD_Social & @OECD_local https://oe.cd/disability-Italy
OECD | Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs & Trento Centre for Local Development
PROJECT’S AIMS,
METHODOLOGY AND
TIMELINE
06-12-2021
Improving the disability assessment and
social protection system in Italy
INCEPTION PHASE

2. © OECD | Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs & Trento Centre for Local Development
Aims
INCEPTION PHASE

3. © OECD | Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs & Trento Centre for Local Development
Paradigm shift in thinking about disability
3
INCEPTION PHASE
… Recognizing that disability is an evolving concept and that disability results from the interaction
between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders their full
and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others… (UN CRPD, 2006)
 Use of International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a tool for disability
assessment
 ICF makes it feasible to construct a complete functioning profile for the purposes of
assessment, based not merely on what a person cannot do, but including their assets and
strengths
 Basis for creating fair assessment tools, that ensure reliable results (independent to
assessor/assessment committee), comparable internationally

4. © OECD | Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs & Trento Centre for Local Development
Objectives of the project
4
INCEPTION PHASE
Contributing to the reform on the assessment and social protection system targeting people with
disabilities in Italy
Three main outputs:
1. Providing an evidence base on disability assessment and the social protection for persons with
disability in Italy
2. Reviewing good practices from other countries to provide policy options for Italy in terms of
assessment and social protection
3. Empirically testing the implementation of ICF in disability assessment through a pilot

5. © OECD | Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs & Trento Centre for Local Development
Methodology
INCEPTION PHASE

6. © OECD | Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs & Trento Centre for Local Development
Evaluating the social protection for persons
with disability
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INCEPTION PHASE
Mapping available benefits and services for persons with disabilities
 At the national level (INPS)
 At the regional level, for selected regions
Evaluating the outcomes of benefits and services for persons with disabilities
 Who are the applicants to disability benefits?
 What are the trends in take up and spending in disability benefits? How are those affected by
demographic and economic changes?
 Are there any work disincentives created by the system?
 Is the wellbeing for persons with disability ensured? Do they risk falling into poverty?
Data needs from INPS but also regions/municipalities

7. © OECD | Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs & Trento Centre for Local Development
Reviewing good practices from other
countries
7
INCEPTION PHASE
Borrowing from OECD international experience comparing the Italian case to other international
experiences:
 Summarising good international practices on disability assessment and social protection for persons
with disability
 Organising peer-to-peer learning events
 Policy recommendations

8. © OECD | Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs & Trento Centre for Local Development
Piloting a new disability assessment
8
INCEPTION PHASE
The use of ICF in the assessment of civil invalidity is key to:
• Simplify complex legal framework
• Reduce fragmentation of system
• Improve the fairness of the system
 Change needs to be gradual, and most importantly based on evidence
 Pilot of disability assessment using ICF for selected regions
 Empirically assessing the changes in disability status and benefit entitlement when including
functioning elements into assessment
 Assessing whether the provision of health and social services at the local level can be improved
by collecting functional elements

9. © OECD | Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs & Trento Centre for Local Development
Timeline
INCEPTION PHASE

10. © OECD | Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs & Trento Centre for Local Development
Timeline of the project
10
INCEPTION PHASE
Inception phase
Diagnosis phase Recommendation phase Action phase
December 2021-
August 2022
• Obtaining data to evaluate
social protection system
• Evaluating disability
assessment
• Preparing the pilot and liaising
with key stakeholders
September 2022-
January 2023
• Running assessment pilot
• Evaluating social protection
for PWD
• Organising peer learning
events
January 2023-
November 2023
• Evaluating assessment pilot
• Develop action plan for reform
implementation

11. 
Twitter: @OECD_social & @OECD_local
Website: https://oe.cd/disability-Italy
This technical support project is funded by the Technical Support Instrument, and implemented in cooperation with
the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM)
Silvia.Garcia-Mandico@oecd.org
Thank you! Q&A