Description
The project addresses the lack of a good quality assessment mechanism for the new social services provided to people taken out of the institutions. The project aims at solving the problem by involving NGOs in the setting of quality assessment standards. First, a comparative analysis of the quality assessment practices in Bulgaria and Iceland will be carried out. Second, the good foreign practices will be adapted to the Bulgarian context with the help of all stakeholders. Third, a training on quality assessment will be organized in the town of Kyustendil for the stakeholders. Fourth, the assessment standards and criteria will be applied for 5 months in the 3 new services in Kyustendil. Finally, an advocacy campaign will be launched. The project will benefit people in institutions, the state institutions, social service providers and the public in general. All the partners will contribute with their expertise for quality assessment, new social services and good practices in Iceland.
Summary of project results
Many new social services were created in the last couple of years in Bulgaria, in the context of the reform for deinstitutionalization of children, in particular. However, the quality of these services has been determined only based on formal administrative criteria without taking into account personal development and whether these are appropriate services or not. The long-term goal of the project was to promote the inclusion of more NGOs in policy-setting and decision-making carried out together with related to the evaluation of the quality of life of children and young people who are beneficiaries of social services and do that together with the competent authorities on three levels. The project was implemented in partnership between NGOs, local authorities (Kyustendil Municipality) and national authorities (Agency for Social Assistance and the State Agency for Child Protection). The project enabled the stakeholders to join effort towards solving a common problem, i.e. the lack of legislative framework and good practices to evaluate the quality of life of the beneficiaries of social services. The quality evaluation model set up under the project is presented in a Manual that can be used by other NGOs, municipalities and social service providers for the evaluation of the quality of life owing to the services. The Manual lays down in detail the evaluation standards, criteria and methods as well as the overall evaluation process. The children and young people were for the first time involved in the evaluation of the social services they use. Their parents, teachers, employers and neighbours were also involved and thus much more detailed impressions emerged about the quality of the current social services and the local community was much more engaged with the life of the children and young people. The children and young people who took part in the project have already the skills to give feedback about the quality of the services they use and thus the process will continue. The following deliverables were prepared under the project: a comparative analysis of the methods to evaluate the quality of life derived from social services in Bulgaria and in Iceland, Manual System for Monitoring of the Quality of Life in Social Services and the video I have Right. All these products can be found at the project website:
http://togetherforchange.cedarfoundation.org/index.html
Summary of bilateral results
Practices were exchanged between the project promoter and the Icelandic partner through training, exchange visits, and regular communication via email and Skype. The Welfare Department of Reykjavik, Iceland is an example of good practice in the sphere of measuring quality of life in social services, as well as maintaining successful partnerships with non-governmental organizations in the social sphere. The good practice was adapted to the Bulgarian conditions, and the Bulgarian institutions responsible for measuring the quality of social services were trained how to make assessments that focus on the well-being and development of the child/young adult – client of the social service. In the subsequent pilot testing of the new model the Bulgarian experts used methods that were provided by the Icelandic partner through a written report, and trainings. The pilot assessments were also carried out in accordance with their recommendations – focusing on one criterion, planning in advance and describing the process in a report that eventually leads to a plan for improving the quality of the respective social service.