Transcript Program Implementation Matters for Targeting Performance

Integrated Social Services
in Armenia
Case Study
By Lyudmila Harutyunyan
Warsaw 2007
Country Profile
2001
2002
2003
2005
3.200
3.200
3.211
3.215
GDP per capita (USD, mil)
662
722
873
4.903
GDP annual growth (%)
9.6
12.9
13.9
14.0
Population (millions)
Labor force, total (thsd. people)
1264,9 1106,4 1107,6 1097.8
9.8
9.0
9.7
8.2
Poverty rate (% of population)
50.9
49.7
42.9
29.8
Urban, %
51.9
52.6
49.7
64.1
Rural,%
48.7
45.3
47.5
35.9
Gini coefficient (per capita)
0.53
0.45
0.43
0.35
2.2
1.7
1.8
1.8
Unemployment, (% of total labor force)
Spending on Social Protection (% of GDP)
Objectives of social policy
• Social protection of the population
• Reduction of the poverty
• Povision of the means-tested programs to vulnerable families
Main institutions involved in the delivery of
the means-tested program
Main institutions involved in the delivery
of the means-tested programs
RSSA – processing Poverty Family Benefits
RELA – processing Unemployment Benefit Claims, and
providing access to training and jobs
SIF- processing all types of Pensions claims, and accepting
social-insurance related documents from employers
SMEC - carrying out examinations to assess the disability
status of a customer, and to provide advice on further
treatment
Social Assistance unit in regional governmental body
Targeting: Application process
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
1. Marriage certificate
9. Certificate
unemployment
on
the
status
of
2. Copy of certificate from SMEC 10. Certificate on the size and type of
confirming disability and certificate from land, amount of livestock in the peasant
pension granting body
farm or in the personal homestead land
3. Identification
11. Marriage certificate
4. Copy of a parent/parents death certificate 12. Certificate from the employment
and certificate from pension granting body
regional center
5. Certificate on the size of pension (labor, 13. Certificate of the family composition,
social, etc.)
number of family members
6. Certificate from university, confirming 14. Application statement
the student's free education
7. Bill of divorce
15. Certificate form pension granting
body
8. Birth certificate for children under 2 and 16.
Certificate
from 2 up to 18 y.o.
consultation office
from
women’s
The Problems of Regional Social Services
Evidences from the field
• Management and control of income support services,
• Access for the citizen to social services
• Delivery of social services, customer service
• Complex application for benefits and pensions
• The administration of social benefits programs
• Auditing and monitoring of benefits distribution
Risk of corruption
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•
•
•
55% of recipients had to pay for registration forms
33% of recipients had to pay for copies of documents
10% of recipients have to pay application fee
10% had to thank for the positive decision in money or to give a
present
•Source:
75%
did
notonpay
themselves
but ofknow
paid
GTZ
project
poverty
and social assessment
selectedsomebody
social policies in that
Armenia
2005
Integrated Social Service Center
• The first pilot site for testing the model of better
social services delivery was established in
Vanadzor, Lori Marz in March 2004.
• A second pilot ISSC site was opened in Masis,
Ararat Marz, in November 2004.
The objectives of ISSC
•
•
to provide a more integrated approach to the administration,
delivery,
management and control of income support services,
to improve access for the citizen to social services
•
to improve delivery of social services, iImprove Customer Service
•
To make an application for benefits and pensions as simple as
possible
To speed up procedures and processing time needed for social
service provision
•
•
•
To improve the administration of social benefits programs
To reduce the incidence of fraud and corruption, to have better
•
auditing and monitoring of benefits distribution.
To enable the NGOs, become more directly involved and
interact with the other Services of ISSC
ISSC Components
• Regional Social Service Agency (RSSA) – processing Poverty
Family Benefits
• Regional Employment and Labor Service Agency (RELA) –
processing
• Unemployment Benefit Claims, and providing access to training
and jobs
• State Social Insurance Fund (SIF)- processing all types of Pensions
claims, and accepting social-insurance related documents from
employers
• Socio-Medical Examination Commission (SMEC) - carrying out
examinations to assess the disability status of a customer, and to
provide advice on further treatment
• NGO representation – providing advice on additional help that
may be available, training in non-work-related topics, and
advocacy
Additional functions
•
•
•
•
ISSC is extended its role as the social support hub of a locality:
ISSC is a Center for NGO network
ISSC has a community resource center,
ISSC provides place for senior citizen’s clubs, playgroups for
children
• Social work training distance learning center is also situated in
ISSC, to allow locally based social work trainees to participate in
training provided by Yerevan State University
• ISSC is further extending the services which operate around each
component of the Center. Eg. RELA has it’s own training room,
a job club assisting people with finding work, Youth training and
employment center, NGOs are running Legal advice center,
Social Support Center, Center for Psychological Support
The steps of ISSC creation
• Needs assessments: Sociological Survey with customers, specialists,
community leaders, NGO representatives
• Concept design, preparation of documentation
• co-locating all social services in one building
• creating a more open and transparent appeals system
• improving the administration of social benefits programs by
–
–
–
–
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streamlining administrative procedures,
designing systems for shared databases
reducing the need for certificates to be written,
providing more intensive and regular training of staff,
making more efficient use of staff and technical resources among the colocated offices
• improving the auditing system of social benefits.
• enhancing and extending the range of social services available through
close cooperation with NGOs working in the health and social sectors and
with the municipality
• Creating additional units to provide additional services
Outcomes of ISSC
• families and individuals have a simpler access to social services
which are available under one roof
•
•
•
•
•
•
Customer service is improved
Administration of Social Services is improved
A data exchange capacity through a local server is improved
A fraud and corruption are reduced
Staff is trained
A community resource center which operates in ISSC provides access
to local information and connects State and local social programs
 NGOs are providing assistance to citizens in addition to state benefits
and other support
 referral systems of people to local NGOs providing social services and
humanitarian assistance is operating
The remained issues
• The problem of the administration of the programs
•
•
•
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The absence of outreach programs to improve the availability of
information and access to services for vulnerable population groups
The lack of financial, technical and human resources.
There is a lack of mechanisms and tools for users participation in
monitoring and evaluating of social services
Our gratitude for creation of ISSC
• To Government of Armenia, Ministry of Labor and Social Issues
• USAID and PADCO
• Yerevan State University
• Regional Government of Lori and Ararat regions
• Communities of Vanadzor and Masis
• International programs