Care System for Children and Young People with Disabilities in Croatia Between the 2 World Wars

Based on archival sources and literature, the aim of this paper is to present the formal support system for children and young people with disabilities in Croatia between the two world wars. After the presentation and analysis of the social, legal and organizational context of providing formal support for children and young people with disabilities between 1919 and 1939, the analysis of care in institutions for children and young people with visual impairments, hearing impairments, mental health problems and intellectual disabilities is going to be presented. Social status and accommodation of children and young people with disabilities who were users of the formal support system are also presented, as well as the determinants and characteristics of that system. It can be concluded that the majority of children and youth with disabilities who were users of institutions lived in the conditions of poverty and that their families could not provide them with adequate care. It can also be concluded that institutional accommodation for children and young people with disabilities was organized according to the contemporary rules of health and educational care, but the results of this kind of formal support was children and youth with disabilities´ segregation from society.