"Scale for evaluating the user's functional efficiency" trainings held within the project "Improvement of the social protection system and preparation for the ESF" - IPA 2020

Institution for children and young people "Sremčica", Institution for accommodation of adults "Male pčelice" in Kragujevac, Home for accommodation of adults "Blace" in Trbunj, Home for children and persons with developmental disabilities "Dr. Nikola Šumenković" in Stamnica and Home for developmentally disabled children and youth "Veternik" in Novi Sad - residential institutions are included in this project. As part of the activities on the project during April, the employees attended training on the application of the scale for assessing the functional efficiency of users and determining the required level of support. The trainings were attended by more than 100 employees, which, in addition to professional workers, also included professional associates, associates and health personnel. All participants presented the applied knowledge through specific examples from their practice.

The training of social workers continued during the summer

Within  same project, "Improvement of the social protection system and preparation for ESF" - worth 2.3 million euros, financed by the EU (IPA 2020) and co-financed by the Government of the Republic of Serbia, during July and August, five trainings were held on the topic "Possibility of developing the service of family accommodation for adults and elderly users". Trainings were organized in Pirot, Sokobanja, Sremska Kamenica, Sremska Mitrovica and Belgrade and were attended by around 100 professional workers from the social welfare system: employees of social work centers, social welfare institutions and service providers in the community, as well as representatives of local self-government. The aim of the training was to inform professional workers about the possibilities of establishing and maintaining the family accommodation service for adults and the elderly, as well as initiating the development of standards for this service.

Second set of trainings - "Strengthening local capacities for the establishment of supported housing services" - was also held in five local governments: Aleksinac, Belgrade, Novi Bečej, Bogatic and Sremska Kamenica. The participants exchanged valuable experiences when it comes to the establishment of this service, the application of existing standards and the risks they face in their work. Through work in smaller groups, the participants came to the conclusion about the need to change the existing standards for providing this service in such a way that they are in line with the needs of the users. Common conclusion was that such trainings are a significant resource for the comprehensive assessment of beneficiaries and the development of a support plan for beneficiaries who are preparing to leave residential accommodation and move to a less restrictive form of protection. Continuous training of employees in the social protection system is valuable for raising the quality of the services they provide to users, as well as for the exchange of experiences based on which valuable information is obtained about the needs of users and possible changes in regulations and standards in order to provide assistance and services to the most vulnerable categories of residents in an even better and more efficient way.

The project "Improving the social protection system and preparation for the ESF" aims to support the improvement of the effectiveness of social inclusion policies through the modernization of the social protection system in order to improve non-institutional care and timely access to quality and sustainable social protection services in the community for the most vulnerable population groups. The project holder is the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, and the contracting authority is the Ministry of Finance, Department for Contracting and Funding of Programs from the European Union.