Integrated Social Services in Armenia Case Study By Lyudmila Harutyunyan

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Integrated Social Services in Armenia Case
Study By Lyudmila Harutyunyan

• Warsaw 2007

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Country Profile
2001 2002 2003 2005
Population (millions) 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
Labor force, total (thsd. people) 1264,9 1106,4 1107,6 1097.8
Unemployment, ( of total labor force) 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
Spending on Social Protection ( of GDP) 2.2 1.7 1.8 1.8
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Objectives of social policy

• Social protection of the population
• Reduction of the poverty
• Povision of the means-tested programs to
  vulnerable families

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Main institutions involved in the delivery of the
means-tested program
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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

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Targeting Application process
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REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
1. Marriage certificate 9. Certificate on the status of unemployment
2. Copy of certificate from SMEC confirming disability and certificate from pension granting body 10. Certificate on the size and type of land, amount of livestock in the peasant farm or in the personal homestead land
3. Identification 11. Marriage certificate
4. Copy of a parent/parents death certificate and certificate from pension granting body 12. Certificate from the employment regional center
5. Certificate on the size of pension (labor, social, etc.) 13. Certificate of the family composition, number of family members
6. Certificate from university, confirming the student's free education 14. Application statement
7. Bill of divorce 15. Certificate form pension granting body
8. Birth certificate for children under 2 and from 2 up to 18 y.o. 16. Certificate from womens consultation office
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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
• 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
• 75 did not pay themselves but know somebody that
  paid
• 51 believe that decision should be made on
  strictly objective criteria

Source GTZ project on poverty and social
assessment of selected social policies in Armenia
2005
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Integrated Social Service Center
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• 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.

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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

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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

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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 citizens 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 its 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

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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
• 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 co-located 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

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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

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The remained issues

• The problem of the administration of the
  programs
• 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

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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