About the scheme

1. Setting up Care Associate Cells (CACs).
2. Provide training and create a skilled workforce of care associates to provide adequate and nurturing care for Person with Disabilities (PwDs) and their families who require it.
3. It also seeks to provide parents an opportunity to get trained in caregiving if they so desire.
4. Provide a choice of training through two levels of courses primary and advanced.

Scheme Description

This scheme aims at setting up Care Associate Cells (CACs) to provide training and create a skilled workforce of care associates to provide adequate and nurturing care for Person with Disabilities (PwD) and their families who require it.It also seeks to provide parents an opportunity to get trained in caregiving if they so desire. This scheme will provide a choice of training through two levels of courses to allow it to create care associates suited to work both with families of persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and other institutions catering to the needs of the PwDs (NGOs, work centres etc.). The details of the schemes are as follows:

Primary Training

Description

The primary training is a three month course expected to train candidates in basic care associate skills. Primary compulsory modules need to cover orientation to areas such as autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, multiple disabilities, family needs, health, nutrition, basic management in activities of daily living, assistive devices and barrier free environment, orientation and mobility sensory motor stimulation. It will also include training in administering first aid care.

Duration

The course module has been designed by the Rehabililation Council Of India (RCI) and is available in the website of the National Trust along with Sahyogi Scheme. Money received during internship by the concerned care associate intern shall belong to that care associate intern only.

Candidate details

Candidates who are at least 8th class pass or equivalent are eligible to apply to this course. Parents or guardians may also apply for this course but their course will be deemed as complete after the end of the theory period. Internship is optional for Parents or guardians who complete the theory period.

Advanced Training

Description

This is a six month course expected to train candidates in advanced care associate skills. Advanced caregiving course will cover modules such as language and communication (including sign language), social interactions, socio-emotional management, learning and understanding, behaviour management, managing sexuality, working with adults and administering advanced medical care including regular theoretical inputs.

Duration

The course module has been designed by the Rehabililation Council Of India (RCI) and is available in the website of the National Trust along with Sahyogi Scheme. Money received during internship by the concerned care associate intern shall belong to that care associate intern only.

Candidate details

Candidates who are at least class 10 pass or are class 8 pass (with primary care associate training completed successfully) are eligible for this course. The care associates who have successfully completed the training under the previous Sahyogi scheme and/or basic RCI trainings will also be eligible to apply for the advanced course. Parents or guardians of persons with disabilities may also apply for this course but their course will be deemed as completed after the end of the theory period and it will not be mandatory to do the internship.

Staff Requirement

Trainers

There should be a provision of at least one qualified trainer per batch of 30 care associate trainees for the basic or advanced course as the case may be.  The Subject Matter Experts (SME) for other permanent topics/ issues shall be deployed by RO as per the need basis.

Infrastructure facilities

The Care Associate Training Centre must be adequately equipped to handle classroom training sessions of 1.5 months (primary training) to 3 months (advance training).

Care Associate Training Centre

The RO who enrols for the scheme is expected to arrange the following while setting up the Care Associate Training Centre:

I. Infrastructure facilities

The Care Associate Training Centre must be adequately equipped to handle training sessions  (for primary training) as well as (for advance training) at a time for a batch of approximately 30 trainees as the case may be. The venue of reasonable size may be rented or owned by the RO.

II. Trainers

There should be a provision of at least two qualified trainer per batch of 30 care associate trainees for the basic or advanced course as the case may be teacher student ratio 1:15. The Subject Matter Experts (SME) for other permanent topics/ issues shall be deployed by RO on a need basis.

III. Training material

The RO must have provisions for the resource material of the training and ensure that all trainees have access to it.

IV. Counselling for placement

Counselling and guidance must be provided to parents/guardians/schools/employers of PwDs on the requirement of trained care associates for the PwDs and to find suitable homes and workplaces for trained care associates. In order to do this, the RO may leverage the care associate placement module on the National Trust’s website or organize job fairs for trained care associates.

V. Visit at Parents/ Guardians home by RO

RO shall visit the home of all parents/ guardians of PwDs who have undertaken care associate training, whether primary or advanced (only theory part) to review their progress in providing proper care to PwD at home. Reports of these visits have to be sent to the National Trust (minimum 200 words). For primary training, at least 2 visits are required per parents/guardian of PwD and for advanced, at least 3 visits are required per parents/ guardian of PwD.The RO may charge upto a maximum of Rs.1000/- per trainee per month for improving the quality of training (maximum of INR 3000/- for primary course and INR 6000/- for advanced course). But, it is not mandatory. However, there shall not be any charge from parents/ guardians of PwDs who are also undergoing the care associate training.

Funding Pattern

Funding Pattern

The National Trust will provide funding to the Care Associate Training Centre under following three heads:

I. Setup Cost

Non- recurring cost for setting up the training centre will be provided to the RO to adequately equip the venue of the training. This will be provided for the first training conducted by any RO. The set up cost will be provided to cover the cost of the computer, projector and assistive devices required for training. It will only be provided at the time of first application for registration under Sahyogi. All subsequent applications for future batches by the same RO will be eligible for only the trainee cost and stipend.

Set up cost will be recovered if minimum 2 batches are not trained within the first two years. The RO will become re-eligible for set up cost after the completion of training 360 people. This is being done in order to replace the equipment, furniture, computer etc. at the centre.

II. Trainee Cost

The National Trust shall pay the RO to cover the operational expenses (venue charges, cost of training material and trainer fees) of training incurred by RO per training per module. If there are any extra expenses, it will be borne by the RO.

III. Trainee Stipend

The trainees shall also be entitled to a stipend. The National Trust shall reimburse the stipend paid by RO to the trainee. It will be the responsibility of the RO to pay the candidate the stipend and submit the signed receipt to the National Trust for reimbursement of the stipend amount. The stipend amount will be reimbursed for all candidates including parents who opt to complete the internships.

Please note that the trainee cost and trainee stipend would be paid ONLY for candidates who have satisfactorily completed the theory part of the training i.e. who have attended at least 75% of the-course (documents to be submitted as proof outlined in section 1.5.2) AND satisfactorily completed on-the-job training course (documents to be submitted as proof outlined in section 1.5.2). In case the trainee receives separate stipend from the employer during his or her internship, RO does not have any interference in it.

For parents of persons with disabilities who are undertaking training, the trainee cost would be paid against submission of proof of attendance of 75% of the course since they are not eligible for internships. In case of parents or guardians of PwDs who have enrolled for the course, there would not be a provision of internship opportunity as a part of the course

Funds allocated under each of the above mentioned head is as follows:

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria for RO, Care Associate Trainee & Care Associate Trainer

Filter criteria for applying under the new schemes is as under:

1. Must be Registered with the National Trust.
2. Must be Registered under the PwD Act.
3. Must not have been blacklisted by the State / Central Govt. / Other Govt.
4. Bank Account details of the Registered Organisation.
5. E-mail ID and contact details of the Registered Organisation. 

Note: Unless the Registered Organisation fulfill the above criteria, he / she can not apply under the scheme

A. Eligibility of RO

1. Requesting Organization should be registered with National Trust.
2. Requesting organization should have a valid registration under the PwD Act 1995 at the time of enrolment.
3. RO should have minimum 2 years of experience of working with Person with Disability (PwD) with at least one of the four disabilities under National Trust Act.
4. NGO should not be blacklisted at the time of enrolment by National Trust/any other government organization.

Eligibility of RO

RO should fulfill all of the following eligibility criteria to enroll for Sahyogi scheme:

B. Eligibility of Care Associate Trainee/Parent 

1. Age group 18-45 years.
2. 8^th standard or equivalent Pass
3. For Parents, no minimum qualification required.

Eligibility of Care Associate Trainee/Parent

Following are the eligibility criteria that an applicant should have, to be enrolled for training under Sahyogi scheme:

Primary Training

1. Age should be between 18-45 years at the time of applying for the training
2. The applicant must be minimum 8^th standard or equivalent pass
3. For Parents, no minimum qualification is required.

Advanced Training

1. Age should be between 18-45 years at the time of applying for the training
2. The applicant must be:
   • Minimum 8th standard pass or equivalent and should have completed the primary training/previous Sahyogi course/RCI primary training course
     OR
   • Minimum 10^th standard pass or equivalent..

C. Eligibility of Care Associate Trainer 

1. Trainer should hold a B.Ed Special Education degree or have completed the Certificate Course in Caregiving or related courses from Rehabilitation Council of India.
2. Trainer holding a M.Ed Special Education degree should be preferred

Eligibility of Care Associate Trainer

Following are the eligibility criteria that a trainer should have for providing training under Sahyogi scheme:

Primary Training

1. The trainer should hold a B.Ed Special Education degree or have completed the Certificate Course in Caregiving or related course from Rehabilitation Council of India or recognized institution.

Advanced Training

1. The trainer should hold a B.Ed, Special Education (SE) degree or should have completed the Certificate Course in Caregiving or related course from Rehabilitation Council of India. Trainers holding an M.Ed Special Education degree should be preferred.

Enrolment Process

I. Enrolment Process for RO

1. Fill up the Sahyogi application form online and upload the scanned documents as required*
2. Submit the duly filled in form on the National Trust portal
3. Pay the application fees of Rs.1000 online
4. Send the print out of the filled form along with the required documents to the National Trust within 7 days so that it should reach National Trust office within 15 days.

Enrolment of RO with National Trust for availing Sahyogi

RO enrolment process defines the steps to be followed while enrolling for Sahyogi scheme every time RO wants to conduct Sahyogi training. It also details out the required information and documents at each step and timelines for various activity wherever applicable.

STEP 1.The NGO registered with the National Trust logs in to the National Trust website.

STEP 2.The application form is available online on the National Trust website and has to be submitted online by the following process only. Application fees for enrolment scheme is INR 1000/-

• RO to send the online application form/proposal
• Fill up the form online and upload the scanned documents as required*
• Submit the duly filled in form on the National Trust portal
• Pay the application fees online
• Send the print out of the filled form along with the supporting documents to National Trust within 10 days.

*Following documents have to be submitted/ uploaded by RO for enrolment purpose:

1. Documents fulfilling the eligibility criteria (registration proof with the National Trust/certificate for the same, undertaking etc.)
2. Declaration by RO regarding current setup listing the details of the proposed venue
3. Current set of Scheme proposal including
   • Details of training module (course opted for (primary/advanced), structure of course)
   • Details of intended training start date
4. Details (name, age, contact details) of enrolled candidates with copies of proofs of identity and education ; in case of parents,  a disability certificate and identity proof for their child would be required
5. Details (name, age, contact details) with copies of proofs of identity and education for trainer
6. Proof of training 360 care associates/ parents (in case of re application for setup) receipt of approval of funds from the National Trust for previous batches

STEP 1. The final decision on the application or proposal is taken after completing all necessary formalities and processes. In case there is any discrepancy, RO is accordingly informed.

STEP 2. Communication to RO by the National Trust shall be done within 15days from point of receipt. In case of online form, point of receipt is date and time of submission of online form along with all the required documents. However, if there is any missing document, the National Trust to communicate to RO within 10 days from receipt of online submission.

STEP 3. In case, hardcopy of form and other documents is not received within 10 days of online point of receipt, the National Trust has to send a communication back to RO  within 5 days of the prescribed deadline (which is within 15 days from point of receipt).

STEP 4.If approved, the National Trust will transfer 100% of the set up cost to the RO within 15 days from the date of approval of enrolment. The National Trust will fund each batch of 30 trainees and any training will be allowed to go forth only if there are at least 24 candidates. In case the proposal is not approved, the National Trust will notify the RO and provide the reason of rejection (if the reason is incomplete documents, the National Trust will provide the list of incomplete documents and RO will be given 15 days to submit them from the point of  receipt of decision).

STEP 5. From this date of transfer, the RO will have 30 days to start the course and intimate the details of the same to the National Trust.

STEP 6. At the end of the training period, the RO will submit a training completion report that will include the details of the number of candidates who completed the training along with their attendance records (to be maintained through signatures on a daily basis), proof of satisfactory completion of internship and course completion certificates handed to the candidates.

STEP 7.After verification, the National Trust will provide the trainee cost for all candidates who have successfully completed the training; and trainee stipend to the RO based on the number of candidates who have successfully completed the course and the internship.

II. Enrolment Process for Care Associate

1. Submission of require documents
2. Verification of the documents

Enrolment of Care Associates at the Care Associate Training Centre

Following are the steps that should be followed for enrolment of care associates at the care associate training centre:

STEP 1. Care Associate comes to the centre with the required proof by deadline specified by the RO in notice regarding the training.

Documents required from applicant for enrolment in care associate training centres are as follows:

• Educational qualification proofs to fulfil the requirements of concerned training proof
• Identity proof of the applicant
• Disability certificate and identity proof of the child in case of parents

STEP 2. On successful verification of the all the above furnished documents, the care associate is enrolled at the care associate Training centre. Further details about the schedule of the centre, starting date, rules and regulations etc. are to be mentioned by the Sahyogi representatives.