CRPD/C/GC/5 segregation from independent life within the community; lack of control over day-to-day decisions; lack of choice over whom to live with; rigidity of routine irrespective of personal will and preferences; identical activities in the same place for a group of persons under a certain authority; a paternalistic approach in service provision; supervision of living arrangements; and usually also a disproportion in the number of persons with disabilities living in the same environment. Institutional settings may offer persons with disabilities a certain degree of choice and control; however, these choices are limited to specific areas of life and do not change the segregating character of institutions. Policies of deinstitutionalization therefore require implementation of structural reforms which go beyond the closure of institutional settings. Large or small group homes are especially dangerous for children, for whom there is no substitute for the need to grow up with a family. “Family-like” institutions are still institutions and are no substitute for care by a family; (d) Personal assistance. Personal assistance refers to person-directed/“user”-led human support available to a person with disability and is a tool for independent living. Although modes of personal assistance may vary, there are certain elements which distinguish it from other types of personal assistance, namely: (i) Funding for personal assistance must be provided on the basis of personalized criteria and take into account human rights standards for decent employment. The funding is to be controlled by and allocated to the person with disability with the purpose of paying for any assistance required. It is based on an individual needs assessment and upon the individual life circumstances. Individualized services must not result in a reduced budget and/or higher personal payment; (ii) The service must be controlled by the person with disability, meaning that he or she can either contract the service from a variety of providers or act as an employer. Persons with disabilities have the option to custom design their own service, i.e., design the service and decide by whom, how, when, where and in what way the service is delivered and to instruct and direct service providers; (iii) Personal assistance is a one-to-one relationship. Personal assistants must be recruited, trained and supervised by the person granted personal assistance. Personal assistants should not be “shared” without the full and free consent of the person granted personal assistance. Sharing of personal assistants will potentially limit and hinder the self-determined and spontaneous participation in the community; (iv) Self-management of service delivery. Persons with disabilities who require personal assistance can freely choose their degree of personal control over service delivery according to their life circumstances and preferences. Even if the responsibilities of “the employer” are contracted out, the person with disability always remains at the centre of the decisions concerning the assistance, the one to whom any inquiries must be directed and whose individual preferences must be respected. The control of personal assistance can be exercised through supported decision-making. 17. Providers of support service often wrongly describe their service using the terms “independent” or “community living” as well as “personal assistance”, though in practice such services do not fulfil the requirements posed by article 19. Mandatory “package solutions” which, among other things, link the availability of one particular service to another, expect two or more persons to live together or can only be provided within special living arrangements are not in line with article 19. The concept of personal assistance wherein the person with disabilities does not have full self-determination and self-control are to be considered not compliant with article 19. Persons with complex communication requirements, including those who use informal means of communication (i.e., communication via non-representational means, including facial expression, body position and vocalization) must be provided with appropriate supports enabling them to develop and convey their directions, decisions, choices and/or preferences and have them acknowledged and respected. 5