The Cyprus-wide expansion of the Neighborhood Social Worker Program, through the placement of social workers throughout the country, marks another step in the direction of a substantial welfare state, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulidis, said on Thursday.
The President of the Republic was speaking at the conference about the project of strategic importance "Restructuring of Social Welfare Services" with an emphasis on the implementation of the co-financed Neighborhood Social Worker Program, which is included in the THALEIA 2021-2027 program, which from May will be implemented in 106 Municipalities and Communities through 29 programs all over Cyprus with 32 social workers and 10 supervisors.
The conference held at the Kousioumi Estate in Nicosia, included the signing of Memorandums of Cooperation between the Social Welfare Services (YSS) and Mayors/Presidents of Community Councils for the Cypriot implementation of the Neighborhood Social Worker program.
"It is an obligation of the State, of the State, my personal goal, but also the goal of our government is to offer all the guarantees for the well-being of citizens and especially those of our fellow human beings who need the support of social services", said President Christodoulidis, noting that the start of the pan-Cypriot expansion of the "Neighborhood Social Worker" Program, through the placement of social workers throughout the territory of the country "signals another step in the direction of the substantial welfare state that we have promised to society, thus reducing in practice the distance between the citizen and the state, between society and the central government".
President Christodoulidis, speaking about the implementation of the Neighborhood Social Worker Program, stated that it is an innovative institution, a social reform, which aspires on the one hand to support citizens in a direct and effective way and on the other hand to strengthen the authorities of local government in the better implementation of their work in the fields of social welfare and social cohesion.
He pointed out that the strengthening of the local social network and the development of social service programs at the level of local self-government, is a European-oriented social policy implemented by many EU member states, through the more general approach to decentralization and strengthening of local self-government.
He indicated that the Neighborhood Social Worker, with his presence in municipalities, communities and clusters of communities, aims, among others, to identify and deal with immediate social challenges and needs and to act in such a way as to achieve the direct interconnection of citizen with all the competent social Services with the aim of dealing with the challenges that arise.
"Instead of the citizen going to Social Services, we send Social Services to the citizen, next to the citizen, precisely so that all the challenges that exist are immediately addressed," he said.
The President of the Republic welcomed the great response from the municipalities and communities, both those who participated in the pilot program and those who signed today the memorandums of cooperation, expressing the belief that the cooperation between the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare and the Local Authorities will be excellent and exemplary.
"I am very encouraged by the excellent results of the program during its pilot application both in large municipalities and communities as well as in remote areas," said President Christodoulidis, noting that "every citizen either chooses to live in Nicosia or in the city center or in the most remote village of our country, if we are talking about a social state, he must have the same opportunities to access the services of the state".
In her greeting, the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Marilena Evangelou, mentioned that the Neighborhood Social Worker program is a social service whose application is in the Intergovernmental Program of President Christodoulidis.
He noted that the results of the evaluation of the pilot application of the program confirmed that the Neighborhood Social Worker is something that local communities need, something that was lacking to reduce the citizen's distance from social services.
He added that in full cooperation with the Union of Municipalities and Communities, working groups were created to determine the clusters, taking into account the reform of the Local Government, but mainly the needs in each region as recorded by the YKE and the Local Authorities.
He stated that the placement of Social Workers and supervisors in the municipalities, communities and clusters of communities that sign today the Memorandum of Cooperation will take place next month. He also said that the Neighborhood Social Workers will receive training from the YKE, which will have a coordinating and supervisory role.
Mrs. Evangelou explained that one of the roles of the Neighborhood Social Worker is, among other things, to identify local problems in the communities or municipalities where he is placed and that is why his first act is to network with the local authorities and important actors, such as the police, schools, the church.
The Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Cyprus, Nikos Isaris, stated in his welcome that the EU has launched many actions under the European Pillar of Social Rights, such as the Care Strategy, which provides directions for actions related to education and early childhood care, as well as long-term care.
He added that Cyprus, through a single national program, benefits from €1 billion in funding from the cohesion policy, explaining that the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) will invest €222,2 million to finance actions that respond to its challenges labor market, society and education and training.
He indicated that the restructuring project of the YKE with a budget of 48 million is a project of strategic importance co-financed by 60% by the European Social Fund Plus, it concerns the modernization of the Services, with the aim of providing accessible, readily available, friendly and personalized social services for the holistic support of individuals and families, in a human-centered, interdisciplinary and effective way.
The Deputy Director of Social Welfare Services, Maria Kyratzi speaking about the project, said that the budget of the project amounts to 48 million euros and 60% is co-financed by the EU. She said that the implementation period is from 2021 to 2027.
At the same time, he added that through the project, vulnerable people secure and strengthen their rights, with the aim of substantial support and a better standard of living. He further noted that the project contributes to the total and holistic modernization of the Services, while the working environment of the Services is significantly improved, enabling employees to effectively focus on their mission.
In 2023, more than 50.000 people were served in the social services offices
He also noted that 250-270 people visit the local social services offices on average daily, while in 2023 more than 50.000 people were served, explaining that these include 2.216 cases of domestic violence, 320 children in the care of the State, 1300 unaccompanied minors under the care of the State, 505 cases of parental care, 225 cases of juvenile offenders, 200 cases of adult offenders, 150 cases of human trafficking, 150 cases of sexual violence against minors, 10.656 cases of applicants for international protection, 2.605 cases of preventive intervention with minors, 824 cases of preventive intervention with adults.
At the same time, Mrs. Kyratzi, referring to the "Neighborhood Social Worker" program, said that she is part of the "Restructuring of Social Welfare Services" Project which is being implemented within the framework of the Cohesion Policy program "THALEIA 2021-2027" with the co-financing of the EU, with a budget the 11 million euros.
He noted that from May the program will be implemented in 106 Municipalities and Communities through 29 programs throughout Cyprus with 32 social workers and 10 supervisors.
Among other things, he indicated that one of the goals of the program is the synergy of the Social Welfare Services with the Local Self-Government Authorities, the strengthening of the citizen's access to the social services and the timely, direct detection and intervention to deal with problems that concern the citizens.
The President of the Union of Cyprus Communities, Andreas Kitromilidis, speaking to journalists, said that today's signing of the Memorandum for the expansion of the institution of the Social Worker on a pan-Cypriot basis is an issue that has been discussed for some time with the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare.
He added that through the pilot program that was implemented in the past "we have seen quite a few very good results and the goal was from the beginning to expand this program. We believe that it will particularly help communities of the Union of Communities, mountain communities and remote, our residents, vulnerable groups, so that we can give specialized services to our residents, which is what we are also asking for through the reform of Local Government." Mr. Kitromelidis thanked the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare for the effort she put in and all the agencies involved for the implementation of the program.
On behalf of the Union of Municipalities, Giannakis Hatzidimitriou, stated for his part that the Union of Municipalities' position was that the Municipalities and Local Authorities can and should contribute to the social events of the place.
He noted that the evaluation from the pilot application of the program of the institution of the Social Worker is very satisfactory, stating that there are shortcomings, there are problems and the program should be evaluated on an annual basis with the participation of the local authorities "so that we can have the better results".
Source: KYPE