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Reform of the Child Care System:

Taking Stock and Accelerating Action, Bulgaria, Sofija

Case Management and Other Innovations in Statutory Services at Sub-

National Level:

Case of Tuzla Canton

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Smajl Joldić, Director, Centre for Social Work Srebrenik, Tuzla Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Social protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Post-war period and transition - Significant changes of the social protection system (organisation, quality and level of services, financing) - Changed and increased needs to address (displaced persons, increased poverty, family facing greater risks).

• Social protection regulated at the level of Entity and District Brčko, as well as at the level of Cantons, and not at the level of state (14 laws on social and child protection; combination of decentralised and centralized systems).

• Financing of social and child protection is not uniform at the level of BiH; there is no social security minimum (in different locations different entitlements and payments/amounts).

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Social protection system in BiH

Bosnia and Herzegovina

BiH COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

RS Ministry of Health

and Social Protection

Brčko District Department for

Social Protection

FBiHMinistry of Labour

and Social Policy

Public Fund for Child Protection of

RS

(44) CSWs + (18) DEPT. FOR

SOCIAL PROTECTION

NGOs and local community

(10) Cantonal Ministries

(57) CSWs + (22) Dept. for

social protection

(2) Cantonal CSW (Sarajevo and

BPC)

NGOs and local community

(2) Institutions for children without parental care

(14) Institutions fpr ChDPC + (3) religious ones

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Tuzla Canton (TC)Sociodemographic and other caracteristics

• Area: 2649 square km• Tuzla Canton makes 10,14% of FBiH territory or 5,17% of territory of

BiH• TC has around 506 000 inhabitants; Tuzla town, the administrative

centre of the Canton, has around 175 000 inhabitants• TC is important and the most developed industrial and mining region

in BiH• Comprises 13 municipalities, each municipality has a Centre for

Social Work• Total number of unemployed in TC is 87 197 (May 2007)• In 13 CSWs, 80 staff are employed (50% professionals)• The number of children without parental care in TC (Dec 2006) is

552 (institutional placement 192, foster families 360)

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Development of Standard Professional Instruments in the area of social and child

protection (2001– 2006)

• Project of Promotion and Development of Alternative Forms of Care (SC UK, USAID)– Development of a model of foster care in TC– Standardisation of services and improvement of policy and practice

of protection of children deprived of parental care.

• Reasons for the development of the instruments: – Legislative framework does not provide clear guidance (lack of by-laws,

procedures and instructions)– Different interpretation of legislative provisions– Different levels of professional expertise of CSWs staff– Different approaches in working with beneficiaries – Improvement of protection and facilitation of the work of the CSW.

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Development of Standard Professional Instruments – Continued

• Partners– Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of Tuzla Canton– 14 Centres for Social Work (TC and Brčko District)– Save the Children UK– Association of Foster Parents of Tuzla Canton Familija

• Process– Local practitioners and professionals as authors, multidisciplinary

working groups– Extensive field testing within everyday work of CSWs– Process took several years– Publishing (forms and instructions, including electronic version of forms)– Formalisation (through by-laws)– Expansion to other areas in BiH (Republika Srpska, Una-Sana Canton,

Hercegovina-Neretva Canton; 37% CSWs in BiH use or partially use the instruments).

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Development of Standard Professional Instruments – Continued

RESULTS ACHIEVED

• Improved quality of protection and work of CSW (‘the work without standard professional instruments is unimaginable’- a social worker; instruments provide the lacking professional guidelines)

• Uniform approach in service provision – standardisation of services (procedures, registration/identification, assessment, treatments, monitoring and reporting)

• More systematic and efficient work of CSW• Less time spent on administrative tasks, more time spend on rendering professional

services • Creation of preconditions for better organisation of work • Better quality data and information, that can be processed and analysed, and a more

comprehensive and better quality case documentation • Participation of beneficiaries/child in the decision making on care/protection

arrangements - Individual Care Plan • Increased CSW capacities with respect to the protection planning and monitoring• In addition to the state/statutory, usage by NGO sector

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Development of Standard Professional Instruments – Continued

CATEGORIES OF STANDARD FORMS - LAW

1. GENERAL FORMS2.1. CHILDREN/PERSONS WITHOUT PARENTAL/FAMILY CARE2.2. EDUCATIONALLY NEGLECTED/UNCARED FOR CHILDREN2.3. CHILDREN WHOSE DEVELOPMENT IS DISTURBED BY FAMILY

CIRCUMSTANCES2.4. PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES2.5. PERSONS WITHOUT SECURE INCOME AND UNABLE TO WORK2.6. PERSONS WITH SOCIALLY UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR 2.7. PERSONS EXPOSED TO ABUSE AND FAMILY VIOLENCE 2.8. PERSONS AND FAMILIES IN SOCIAL NEED WHO, DUE TO

EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES, RQUIRE APPROPRIATE SOCIAL PROTECTION

2.9. PROTECTION OF CIVIL VICTIMS OF WAR3. PROTECTION OF FAMILY WITH CHILDREN

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Standard Professional Instruments and case management

CATEGORIES OF STANDARD FORMS – CASE MANAGEMENT

• Registration/Identification of beneficiary • Assessment of the situation of the child and identification of short-term and

long-term needs of the child (with participation of the beneficiary/child)• Individual Care Plan for the child

- The best interests of the child

- Participation of the child (participation in finding a solution and decision making)

- Inclusion of resources from the social network (immediate and wider family, local community)

- Key tasks, responsible persons and organisations/institutions, and deadlines for realisation of the plan

• Monitoring and review of the care plan realisation (regular and as needed reviews)

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Changes in the work of Centre for Social

Work

• Organisation of the work in the CSW – case management (one person in charge of a case)

• Improved planning and monitoring of protection (care plan produced and review of the care plan conducted)

• Partnership with and participation of beneficiary in the decisions re his/her protection

• Involvement of all relevant actors from the beneficiary’s environment

• Improved professional social work and usage of modern methods of work with child and family

• Cooperation with NGO sector and other actors in the community (eg. involvement of Familija)

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Changes in the work of Centre for Social Work - Preconditions

• Human capacities– Adequate number of professional staff and sufficient time to work on a case – Development of skills and knowledge of CSW staff – training (child rights and

child participation, individual approach in working with clients, social work with family, case management, work in local community: coordination, networking and work in partnership, computer usage, etc.)

• Strengthening of specialised work and CSW reform– Organisation of work which enables specialised work – By-laws which regulate new way of work

• Material and technical equipping – Financial resources for work - salaries, premises, transport, services– Support by local community/municipality in additional financing – Technical equipping

• Normative/regulative framework – Formalisation of instruments (still pending in TC – CSW not obliged to use the

instruments; complicated process for BiH) – Harmonisation of normative framework – Regulating of supervision/monitoring of professional work

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Preconditions for introduction of standard instruments in the work of Centres for Social

Work

• Human capacities• Training of staff• Equipment (computers)• Formalisation through by-laws

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• Standard instruments developed and introduced in the work, and being replicated to new locations

• Securing of financing from several sources (co-financing)

• Development of capacities of Centre for Social Work• Specialisation of professional staff

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Results

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• Work in partnership• It is possible to work on the improvement of child and social

protection without waiting for specific laws to be passed• Participation of children/beneficiaries in the process of

protection is important• With some organisational changes, Centre for Social Work has

successfully fitted into these processes • Centres for Social Work and their staff present a significant

resource for replication of new approaches and models of work

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Lessons learned