Description
At Sibiu county, local authorities do not have a centralized system of identifying, preventing and solving social problems. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to proactively address social issues of children in their community and in Roma communities. At least 120 representatives of local and county authorities and civil society will improve their skills and knowledge in the areas of child rights, social inclusion, equal opportunities, non-discrimination through their participation in training courses, working meetings and events. The project will enable a social diagnosis, training of at least 100 professionals from local authorities and NGOs, developing and testing a working methodology so that the prevention of children entering the child protection system to be more efficient and effective, a plan of action that would allow a better allocation of resources to priority zones and conduct an information campaign on the children rights.
Summary of project results
The project was based on the findings of a series of research and strategic documents drafted at the level of Sibiu County, that indicated several categories of shortcomings in the field of social services provision at local and county level: lack of a a system for collecting and processing data on vulnerable social categories by the mayor’s offices and lack of a prioritization of the social problems; high degree of disparity between the organizational structures and working procedures of public social service providers (DGASPCs and SPASs); although social services are provided by public and private providers, there was a competition and a lack of collaboration between them; standards for provision of services needed adaptation to local context; there had not been any major project addressing capacity development and cooperation, only singular initiatives of DGASPCS Sibiu. The project aimed to improve the quality of life of children from Sibiu County by increasing the knowledge of their real needs and creating the framework for a better cooperation at county level between local and county stakeholders, public authorities and NGOs. A social diagnosis of the needs for child welfare services has been carried out at the level of the local communities from Sibiu County (rural and urban). A methodology for collaboration between the county public social service provider (DGASPC) and local public social service providers (SPAS) has been developed and tested, as well as an action plan for mobilizing resources for areas with a deficit in child welfare services. 120 representatives of public authorities have been involved in the project (35 from communities with a high percentage of Roma), out of which 100 representatives have participated in a training programme in the field of social assistance, with practical emphasis on inter-institutional collaboration at the level of Sibiu County, based on the methodology developed in the project. An extensive awareness campaign on children rights has been carried out as a caravan that visited 20 local communities and reached over 2700 parents and children, who received information and were engaged in thematic activities. The project contributed to a better understanding of the needs for child welfare services in Sibiu County, increased the capacity of local authorities to address these needs and foster inter-institutional collaboration, at the same time raising the awareness of parents on the topic of children rights.
Summary of bilateral results