Access to Social Services (RO0061)

Facilitating access to social services
2018-2020 Lead implementing agency/actor Ministry of Labour and Social Justice (MMJS) – Directorate for Social Services Policies Other actors involved State actors National Agency for Payments and Social Inspection National Authority for the Protection of Child's Rights and Adoption National Authority for Persons with Disabilities National Agency for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men Public Social Assistance Services within Territorial Administrative Units CSOs, private sector, multilaterals, working groups National Institute of Economic Research Public and private providers of social services What is the public problem that the commitment will address? Potential beneficiaries of social services need easy access to the services available in their area of residence. At the same time, other stakeholders involved in social services need to be informed about the local needs of social services and local providers. Commitment description What is the commitment? Through this commitment, we aim to develop and promote user-friendly IT tools in order to facilitate access to social services for people belonging to vulnerable groups, as well as to collect and use social assistance data for generating social services more appropriate to the target groups. How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem? Development and promotion (a) maps of existing social services and their infrastructure; (b) maps on the needs of social services and social infrastructure; (c) maps on poverty; (d) maps on work poverty. Testing the widest possible use of IT tools used to promote social services and identify the needs of people in vulnerable groups. Encouraging the diversified re-use of data collected in the field of 33 social assistance. Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? Facilitating access to information for people belonging to vulnerable groups to access social services in the area of residence Milestone activity with a verifiable deliverable Responsible agency / partner Start Date: End Date: Promote and disseminate social services maps MMJS 2018 2020 Periodic update of social service maps MMJS 2018 2020 Testing the developed IT tools to assess their accessibility and utility from the perspective of developing effective social services. MMJS 2018 2020 Hackathon in the domain of social services with datasets produced within the project "Implementation of a system of policy making in the field of social inclusion at the level of MMJS" MMJS 2019 2019 Additional information Budget The budget of the institutions involved Correlation with other government programs/strategies The commitment continues the project "Implementation of a policy-making system in the domain of social inclusion at the level of MMJS", (SIPOCA 4), co-financed by the European Social Fund through POCA.
Facilitating access to social services

14. Facilitating access to social services

Commitment Text: "Through this commitment, we aim to develop and promote user-friendly IT tools in order to facilitate access to social services for people belonging to vulnerable groups, as well as to collect and use social assistance data for generating social services more appropriate to the target groups."

Milestones:

14. • Promote and disseminate social services maps
    • Periodic update of social service maps
    • Testing the developed IT tools to assess their accessibility and utility from the perspective of developing effective social services.
    • Hackathon in the domain of social services with datasets produced within the project "Implementation of a system of policy making in the field of social inclusion at the level of MMJS"

Start Date: 2018 ...............................................

End Date: 2020

Editorial Note: The commitment text is abridged. The full text can be found in the OGP 2016-2018 national action plan.

Context and Objectives

This commitment was included in the National Strategy for Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction 2015-2020. It aims to improve access to information for potential beneficiaries of social services [129] as well as the knowledge of the government and of other providers of social services regarding the needs of local potential beneficiaries. According to an interviewed Ministry of Labor and Social Justice (MMJS) representative, the information contained in the electronic register of the MMJS is not presented in a user-friendly way, and does not adequately guide potential beneficiaries in search of social services. [130] Instead, MMJS will develop and promote more intuitive and interactive social services maps, and test whether they effectively identify the needs of people in vulnerable groups. The aim is to help the providers of social services address the needs of vulnerable groups, and encourage the reuse of the social service maps for other social assistance purposes.

This commitment could likely lead to minor improvements regarding access to social services information, and will marginally increase the participation of social service stakeholders.

The four social services maps have already been realized, and can be accessed through the MMJS website and through a dedicated website, [131] although they are not up to date, according to the MMJS representative. [132] The dissemination of these maps was not included as an activity in the project through which they were constructed, and MMJS considers that dissemination needs to be conducted on a continuous basis. [133] However, is unclear the extent to which a promotional activity would increase their usage. Allowing stakeholders to test and to propose improvements or complementarities to the IT tools—i.e., by organizing a hackathon—could help increase the effectiveness of the IT tools. However, the single hackathon is unlikely to significantly promote civic participation in this area.

Next steps

MMJS could try to create a set of key performance indicators to monitor the implementation of each milestone and to measure the impact of this commitment on the problem at hand. To strengthen the commitment’s contribution to civic participation, MMJS could consider other hackathon themes or other methods of input beyond testing IT tools. Nevertheless, given its potential impact, the IRM researcher does not recommend carrying this commitment forward to the next action plan.

[129] Laws 292/2011 and 197/2012 define the social services this commitment refers to.

[130] Interview with Gabriela Necsuliu, Ministry of Labor and Social Justice (MMJS), 19 September 2019.

[131] "Despre Proiect", Social Services, available [in Romanian] at http://bit.ly/2ml7lyX.

[132] Interview with Gabriela Necsuliu, MMJS, 19 September 2019.

[133] Interview with Gabriela Necsuliu, MMJS, 19 September 2019.

14. Facilitate access to social services

Substantial

The Ministry of Labor and Social Justice (MMPS) had already created interactive social service maps prior to the start of the action plan [66] but their promotion and dissemination were not included in the project they were funded through. [67] MMPS promoted the maps through a dedicated web-portal http://www.servicii-sociale.gov.ro, [68] and at a 2018 conference. [69] The maps were updated every six months, the latest update dating from June 2020. [70]

According to the OGP repository, MMJS trained local citizens on how to use the interactive maps during the project. While the trainees and the NGO Federation of Non-Governmental Organizations for Social Services (FONSS) gave feedback on the maps, MMPS did not publish the feedback or indicate how it would use it to improve the maps. [71] MMPS did not organize the planned hackathon due to lack of funds and MMPS’s lack of experience in organizing such an event. [72]