This paper examines the work Open Society Foundations have done in Croatia as part of its Mental Health Initiative (MHI), with the goal of helping people with disabilities return to their communities where they are supported by family and friends. For 17 years, MHI has worked with local partners and advocated with successive Croatian governments for the social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities and the replacement of long-stay institutions with community-based alternatives. Deinstitutionalization and the development of community-based supported housing services for people with intellectual disabilities in Croatia began on a small scale in 1997, as a partnership between MHI and the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (now the Ministry of Social Policy and Youth). MHI started this work when Croatia was still rebuilding following the war in the former-Yugoslavia. This paper highlights MHI's goals, achievements to date, challenges, risks, and next steps.
