Inclusive role of civil society in the provision of services for disabled persons in the Republic of Serbia

Abstract

The reform of the social welfare system since the beginning of year 2000 was directed towards expanding the actors of system, along with the development of quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the rights and services that are provided to the users. The engagement of civil society in providing services to persons with disabilities has been continuously upgraded towards increasing the effectiveness of services to empower users. The main objectives of this paper are the mapping of social services provided by civil sector, detection of obstacles in the development and implementation of social services of civil sector at local level, as well as assessment of users satisfaction with the provided services. Through analysis of documents, participation of the civil sector will be evaluated along with the mapping of the advantages and difficulties in the implementation of social services provided by the civil sector. Addition to this research is empirical research in the city of Kraljevo. Through a questionnaire addressed to the service providers and service users the content has been examined as well as the quality and possibilities of improving social services at the local level. The results show that certain types of social services are more frequent, daily services and services for independent living, while in the city of Kraljevo project activities are often implemented and the main problem is the lack of continuous funding. Service users are mostly satisfied with the engagement of providers and with improving personal awareness of additional activities in which they can participate and the rights that they can exercise. Research findings are that the civil sector promotes social inclusion of persons with disabilities, but it is necessary to engage public sector in the development and implementation of social services at the local level.

Reforma sistema socijalne zaštite od početka 2000. godine bila je usmerena prema proširivanju aktera u sistemu, uz razvoj kvaliteta, efikasnosti i efektivnosti prava i usluga koje se pružaju korisnicima sistema socijalne zaštite. Angažovanje civilnog sektora u pružanju usluga osobama sa invaliditetom, kontinuirano je unapređivano u pravcu povećanja efektivnosti usluga za osnaživanje korisnika. U skladu sa tim, osnovni ciljevi ovog rada su mapiranje usluga socijalne zaštite koje pruža civilni sektor, detekcija prepreka u razvoju i sprovođenju socijalnih usluga civilnog sektora na lokalnom nivou, kao i procena zadovoljstva korisnika pruženim uslugama. Analizom sadržaja dokumenata biće predstavljene aktivnosti i evaluirano učešće civilnog sektora, uz mapiranje prednosti i teškoća u sprovođenju socijalnih usluga. Dodatak istraživanju predstavlja empirijsko istraživanje u Gradu Kraljevu, u kome su se putem upitnika koji su upućeni pružaocima usluga na lokalnom nivou i korisnicima usluga ispitivali sadržaj, kvalitet i mogućnosti unapređenja socijalnih usluga. Rezultati teorijskog i empirijskog istraživanja pokazuju da su određene vrste socijalnih usluga zastupljenije, dnevne usluge i usluge za samostalan život, dok se u Gradu Kraljevu češće sprovode projektne aktivnosti i kao glavni problem se javlja odsustvo kontinuiranog finansiranja. Korisnici usluga u najvećoj meri su zadovoljni angažovanjem pružalaca usluga i unapređenjem informisanosti o dodatnim aktivnostima u kojima mogu učestvovati i pravima koja mogu ostvariti. Zaključci istraživanja su da civilni sektor unapređuje socijalno uključivanje osoba sa invaliditetom, ali i da je neophodno dodatno angažovanje državnog sektora u razvoju i sprovođenju socijalnih usluga na lokalnom nivou.