Social Community Teams against Poverty (The Netherlands, January 2016)

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1 Social Community Teams against Poverty (The Netherlands, January 2016) Local and regional approach towards combating poverty and social exclusion in Poland 1 Ewa Chyłek Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy Sławomir Ciaś Swiętokrzyskie Voivodeship Office, Department of Social Policy 1. Overview of the national strategy against poverty and social exclusion European context and national strategic approach Combating poverty and social exclusion, as well as supporting social inclusion and integration is an overarching objective of social policy in Poland, also as a consequence of the European and national strategic approach in this area. The Europe 2020 strategy sets a European objective of lifting at least 20 million people out of the risk of poverty and social exclusion. The national target of Poland was set at 1.5 million fewer people at risk of poverty and social exclusion. This objective was indicated in Polish National Reform Programme, as well as repeated in key national strategic documents, including Human Capital Development Strategy In order to detail the planned activities related to poverty and exclusion alleviation, an additional operational and implementing document was introduced: The National Programme for the Prevention of Poverty and Social Exclusion New dimension of active inclusion. It was adopted by the Council of Ministers on August 12, It brings together all key actions and initiatives contributing to reaching the Programme objective, defined as a sustainable decrease in the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion by 1.5 million and increase in social cohesion. The Programme gives a kind of new impetus to national, regional and local activities in the field of combating poverty and social exclusion, however it is mainly based on existing legal frameworks and on activities that are already in place. The Programme aims at supporting and improving such actions. Its operational objectives include supporting children and youth, enhancing the active inclusion system, improving housing situation and supporting the elderly. Key statistics The total number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in Poland in 2013 was 9.75 million (25.8 %), i.e. approx. 1.7 million fewer than in 2008 (EU-SILC). This means that Poland has achieved the national target of the Europe 2020 Strategy, namely reducing the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by 1.5 million compared to Efforts continue in order to further reduce poverty levels. The factor of greatest impact on the above-mentioned improvement was the falling percentage of people suffering from severe material 1 Prepared for the Peer Review in Social Protection and Social Inclusion programme coordinated by ÖSB Consulting, the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) and Applica, and funded by the European Commission. ÖSB Consulting,

2 deprivation. 2 At risk-of-poverty rate (after social transfers) in Poland saw gradual improvement (from 20.5 % in 2005 to 17.1 % in 2012), as well as the indicator of people living in households with very low work intensity (6.9 % in 2012 against 14.3 % in 2005) 3. Despite the systematic decline, the risk of poverty or social exclusion in Poland is still slightly higher than the average for the EU-28 (24.5 % in 2013). As for the beneficiaries of social assistance, in 2014 the total number of people receiving any kind of social assistance granted by issuing the official decision amounted to 1,873,901 persons. This constitutes almost 5 % of the total population of Poland. The total number of people living in families benefiting from social assistance was 3,083,939 persons, what constitutes more than 8 % of the total population. The main reasons of granting social assistance benefits were as follows: poverty (54 % of the families), unemployment (47 %), long-term disease (32 %) and disability (30 %). Current legal and organisational framework for implementing social policy at local level Similarly to the current situation in the Netherlands, the key responsibility in the implementation of activities aimed at combating poverty and social exclusion is entrusted to the local authorities. Social services provision is decentralised and adjusted to local socio-economic conditions. Regional and local authorities are responsible for identifying social issues and problematic areas as well as for drafting and implementing strategies for solving social problems. Those strategies should be integrated with the general development strategy of the given region, poviat, municipality or commune. The crucial role in the overall scheme of counteracting poverty and social exclusion is played by the system of social assistance. Social assistance in Poland is regulated by the Law of 12 March 2004 on Social Assistance (uniform text Journal of Laws of 2015 item 163), and is organised by units of central and local administration in cooperation with organisations such as foundations, associations, the Catholic Church, other churches, religious groups, employers and both natural and legal persons. The governmental administration at central level is mainly responsible for setting legal framework of social assistance, defining standards of services as well as analysing the effectiveness of the measures taken. The main responsibility of regional level is to control and supervise the compliance of social assistance provided in communes and districts with defined standards as well as assessment of conditions and efficiency of social assistance in the region. 2 Strategic Social Report 2015, 3 GUS, Central Statistical Office, Poland in the European Union

3 There is a legal obligation to establish a Social Assistance Centre in every commune / municipality (gmina) 4. Other organisational units of social assistance are: Poviat Centres for Family Support (at poviat level); Regional Social Policy Centres (at voivodeship level). Social Assistance Centres provide a wide range of benefits and services, including cash benefits (temporary, permanent and purpose benefits) as well as different forms of non-financial support e.g. social work, care services, specialist counselling - mainly legal and psychological, help in settling official matters or other key livelihood issues. Social Assistance Centres employ social workers whose responsibility is to provide social work to the persons in a situation or at risk of poverty and social exclusion. Social workers also give advice and direct clients to other services and institutions. Other social benefits and services are also provided at gmina level (being part of broader social schemes, but not within social assistance system), e.g. family benefits, housing allowances or support for victims of violence. In many cases those tasks are also performed by Social Assistance Centres. However some other services, such as labour market activation are within the responsibility of Labour Offices situated at poviat level. Different local approaches and various patterns of cooperation in delivering social policy There is a general legal framework in place for the strategic approach towards combating poverty and social exclusion at regional and local level, especially with the local authorities being obliged to prepare and introduce strategies for counteracting social problems. Nevertheless there is no single common pattern for drafting and implementing those strategies, nor for organising support for activities needed in view of combating poverty and social exclusion. Similarly, the institutional cooperation can be structured in various ways, depending on the specific regional or local situation. The freedom of decision on those questions is left to local authorities, in accordance with subsidiarity rule. An example of pioneering efforts undertaken in one of the regions of Poland in order to establish an integrated approach aimed at combating complex social challenges is presented in the section 2 of this paper. Given the number of common clients/beneficiaries of the involved institutions, one of the key challenges for local authorities is, for instance, to establish efficient cooperation between Social Assistance Centres and Labour Offices. Some instruments were even introduced at national level in order to facilitate and enable such cooperation (e.g. social contracts or PAI Programmes for Activation and Integration), however the decision on its forms and extent remains the responsibility of local authorities. There are also numerous successful projects many of them supported by EU funding through ESF that deal with the organisation of institutional cooperation of all stakeholders involved in combating 4 In Poland there are 16 voivodeships (regional territorial units). Every voivodship is divided into poviats (provinces/counties) and the poviats themselves are divided into gminas (communes). In total there are 380 poviats (including towns operating as poviat) and 2478 gminas. 3

4 poverty and social exclusion. 5 In the framework of those projects, many different interdisciplinary bodies coordinating local social policy have been also launched. Despite this overall diversity of local and regional arrangements, there is one area of social policy where the legal requirement of establishing interdisciplinary bodies was introduced. According to the Act of 25 July 2005 on counteracting domestic violence, Interdisciplinary Teams are established in every commune, in order to coordinate and conduct obligatory legal activities on counteracting domestic violence. Those Interdisciplinary Teams for Preventing Domestic Violence may also appoint working groups to solve problems relative to domestic violence in individual cases. An important added value of Interdisciplinary Teams is the fact that in many communes they were the first attempt to create such a form of cooperation that probably would not have been otherwise launched at all. 2. Interdisciplinary Teams as an exemplification of innovative tool and integrated approach to combat complex life challenges - example from Swiętokrzyskie region 6 Introduction and brief description of the socio-economic context Swietokrzyskie Region is located in central Poland and has a population estimated at 1.2 million citizens. The administrative structure of the Region consists of three independent pillars, i.e. gmina (community), powiat (province) and województwo (region) which act by their representatives in self-governmental bodies. Apart from the self-governmental institutions, there is a representative of the central government (Voivode) whose duties include predominantly supervision and control of the actions undertaken by the self-government. The Swietokrzyskie Region is one of the most deprived parts of Poland with the official unemployment rate of 12 %. The absolute numbers seem even worse. Out of 64,460 unemployed people in November 2015, only 8,461 had the rights to unemployment benefits. The remaining unemployed had to rely on social assistance benefits and other sources of income or support. Moreover, 35,984 unemployed lived in small towns and villages where employment opportunities are scarce. The indicators regarding people at risk or in poverty, low work intensity or social exclusion are relatively high in comparison with other parts of the country. The number of social benefits 7 delivered to people with low income was about 160,000 in 2014 and had a relatively stable tendency during the last 5 years. Taking into consideration the indicators mentioned above, the lack of industries in the region as well as a dependency on agriculture, it is easy to imagine how many social challenges that situation entails. 5 For more, see examples of innovative projects of OP Human Capital : &Itemid=778&lang=pl 6 All data, figures and descriptions in this section refer to Swietokrzyskie Region unless stated otherwise 7 Social benefit any benefit delivered to citizen whose income is below the threshold established in The Act on Social Assistance. 4

5 The introduction of Interdisciplinary Teams as an innovative solution in tackling social challenges Until 2008 the system of social assistance in the Region functioned similarly to other regions of Poland. There were established institutions with responsibilities in particular areas of social policy i.e. Social Assistance Centres in communities, Province Labour Offices in provinces and other Support Centres respectively. No integrated approach to combat poverty or any other social challenges was in use. Neither clients of social assistance nor public institutions were fully satisfied with the results achieved so far by the instruments that were previously in place. But it was only in 2009 when a major modification was proposed by regional officials from different areas of life. Public officials (representatives of Voivode and Marshall, self-government at province level, Bishops of the Catholic Church, Police, District Court, Health and Education Institution, University of Kielce- Department of Social Policy) decided to establish Interdisciplinary Teams (further referred to as IT) at the level of each province in order to tackle complex social challenges which remained unsolved by existing institutions acting separately. Noteworthy is the fact that no central legal regulation was implemented but the cooperation was set up on the basis of a multilateral agreement signed both by public and Catholic Church representatives in the Region. Thus the first step to integrated approach was made. The main objectives of the Interdisciplinary Teams included the following: to establish cooperation of professionals in order to help individuals and families facing social challenges; to promote social inclusion and good practices; to activate internal resources of individuals in overcoming challenges; to serve as an advisory body to key institutions in social policy. Additionally in every province an agreement between the participating parties was signed and the cooperation on the wider scale was launched. Each IT comprised of the representatives of Social Assistance Centres, Police, Education and Health Institutions, District Court and Catholic Church. The Interdisciplinary Teams functioned as an invisible platform of professionals who shared opinions and knowledge about problems encountered by the community and individuals and integrated solutions that may be introduced instead of single action of each Partner. The number of cases carried out by the Teams and their activity in general were closely connected to the engagement of local leaders. Where leadership was strong and beyond doubt, the Interdisciplinary Team works to this day; contrary to where leadership was rather weak and there was no visible desire to do something more than obligatory actions, the Interdisciplinary Team has disappeared. Out of 14 Interdisciplinary Teams created in 2009 and 2010, only one still operates in the same way as in the beginning; two ITs have changed their profile into combating domestic violence and one IT transformed into an informal group of supporters acting with staff of child care homes. In this aspect it is worth highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of Interdisciplinary Teams in different fields: 5

6 Table 1 - Strengths and Weaknesses of the Interdisciplinary Teams The field of action model and structure legal framework relationship with local partners expertise and knowledge; development and training Source: own elaboration Strengths Open for all stakeholders. No restrictions to enter cooperation. No national Act was implemented. The formal agreement on the regional level was signed. Ready to incorporate any partner. Professionals at particular sphere of social problems. Weaknesses No hard structure and hard assignments led to laziness of particular participants. No formal leader was nominated however informal arrangements were made. The formal agreement included only general objectives instead of detailed tasks assigned to particular member. Unclear relations with local partners who were not involved in IT. No special trainings and development programmes for participants. No experienced experts included. Obligatory Interdisciplinary Teams for Preventing Domestic Violence The turning point in the existence of the Interdisciplinary Teams at the level of province was the amendment to the Act on counteracting domestic violence. The amendment introduced a legal obligation for communities to establish Interdisciplinary Teams for Preventing Domestic Violence (further referred to as ITPDV). On one hand it was perceived as real and hard devolution but on the other it reduced the scope of interest of local authorities. Due to the legal obligations, all communities focused primarily on an integrated approach to preventing and combating domestic violence while other social challenges were lagging behind. That sectoral approach misled the perception of the parties involved at provincial level in such a way that they have seen their activity as a replacement of community duties. As a result of the amendment Act, the weaknesses mentioned above and the misperception of the role of IT, the ITs had almost completely disappeared in their original shape. The concept of ITPDV is based mainly on an integrated approach in the realm of domestic violence. Having the previous experiences in mind it is worth underlining that the structure of ITPDV comprises professionals from different life-domains and is legally established. Moreover, the actions undertaken by ITPDV members are described in detail and supervised primarily by the local authorities and secondarily by the Voivode. As a result of the integrated approach carried out by ITPDV, the victims and the perpetrators are the subject to actions on different spheres. Such an approach enables for better results because of its holistic shape. The ITPDV examines all cases in their group meetings, but, if necessary, is entitled to set up an Action Group acting on specific issues with the victim or the perpetrator respectively. The results of that integrated approach are not so obvious. As shown on the chart below, the number of perpetrators who succeed in completion of the reformatory course is relatively low in comparison to all participants. 6

Chart 1 - The number of perpetrators engaged in the reformatory course 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 167 175 144 145 151 35 27 21 28 29 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 The number of perpetrators who

7 Chart 1 - The number of perpetrators engaged in the reformatory course The number of perpetrators who attended the reformatory course The number of perpetrators who completed the reformatory course Source: The Swietokrzyskie Voivodship Office, Department of Social Policy, Another issue important to stress is the composition of ITPDV. As illustrated in chart 2, the representatives of Education and Social Assistance outnumber the other professionals and in absolute numbers constitute more than the half of all ITPDV members. At the same time the most interventions are reported by the Police. What is more astonishing, Health Institutions rarely inform of any cases linked to domestic violence in spite of their direct contact with victims. Chart 2 - The indicative composition of the ITPDV during Source: The Swietokrzyskie Voivodship Office, Department of Social Policy,

8 3. Conclusion and recommendations There is no uniform and fully implemented approach to combat poverty and social exclusion in Poland on regional or local level. The existing institutions tend to focus separately on sectoral issues i.e. unemployment, social assistance, education, health, domestic violence etc. Although they put a lot of effort in helping their clients, the actions are often not correlated in the Dutch manner. In spite of the efforts already undertaken, cooperation between for instance Social Assistance Centres and Public Labour Offices in many cases happens mainly at the initial stages. However the existing strategic and legal framework allows for the various and tailor-made approaches to be applied by regional and local authorities. The effectiveness of building local cooperation focused on implementing social policy depends predominantly on composition, engagement, empowerment and clearly defined responsibilities of all stakeholders involved, while a legal obligation does not necessarily ensure a successful outcome. Nevertheless it might in many cases stimulate the cooperation that would have never happened without such incentive. Regional and local experiences from Poland indicate that work efficiency of any institution or form of cooperation aimed at tackling poverty depends heavily on the political ownership and the involvement of local decision makers. It is equally important at the stage of policy planning (drafting integrated local strategy) as at any moment of delivering social services to the citizens (question of financing and policy priorities). An important challenge is also how to balance the need to coordinate the work of different institutions (hence improve their performance) with the need for the optimised and user-friendly case management. Comparison of Dutch SCT to example of regional and local forms of cooperation in Poland Considering the example of the SCT in comparison with IT and ITPDV there are some similarities and differences to be noted as follows: the legal basis: SCT and ITPDV act on national legal regulation; IT acts only on agreement; the scope of interests: SCT very wide concerning all spheres of life; IT very wide concerning especially complex issues; ITPDV only issues regarding domestic violence; the composition of team: SCT-professionals; IT and ITPDV - professionals; some groups are overrepresented both in SCT and ITPDV; to the level of action: SCT closely with client; ITPDV closely with client; IT closely with client s problems but not with client as such; the level of effectiveness: SCT not fully indicated; IT no data available; ITPDV no comprehensive data available, however not satisfactory in some areas (e.g.in view of figures in Chart 1). Furthermore, it seems that the Dutch practice of SCT combines the one-stop-shop idea with the integrated management of local social policy. In this way it proves that those two dimensions might be integrated. In Poland, the general discussion and the practice has so far rather focused separately on improving managing of local/regional social policy (managerial approach) or on enhancing targeted service provision (user approach). 8

15071/15 ADB/mk 1 DG B 3A

15071/15 ADB/mk 1 DG B 3A Council of the European Union Brussels, 7 December 2015 15071/15 SOC 711 EMPL 464 OUTCOME OF PROCEEDINGS From: General Secretariat of the Council On : 7 December To: Delegations No. prev. doc.: 13766/15