Title:
Technical Assistance to Sector Policy Support Programme in the Social Protection Sector
Technical Assistance to Sector Policy Support Programme in the Social Protection Sector
Start Date:
December 2009
December 2009
Completion Date:
April 2013
April 2013
Client(s):
European Commission(EC)
European Commission(EC)
Funder(s):
European Commission (EC)
European Commission (EC)
Location:
Tajikistan, Central Asia,
Tajikistan, Central Asia,
Key Contact:
Chris Rayment
Chris Rayment
Summary:
OPM completed the delivery of a three year programme of technical assistance to the government of Tajikistan, on behalf of the European Union, in support of an on-going ‘modernisation’ process within the social care sector. The ‘Technical Assistance to Sector Policy Support Programme in the Social Protection Sector – Service Delivery Component’ project was designed specifically to support the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population (MLSPP) to fulfil obligations made by the government of Tajikistan to the European Union as a condition for the receipt of financial aid.
In addition to delivering a significant programme of training and capacity building for social work and social care personnel in a range of settings – including formally introducing occupational therapy and physiotherapy as professional disciplines in the social care sphere – OPM was required to strengthen national social care management and co-ordination systems and a develop a framework of service standards that would enable performance measurement and increase the quality of service provision. The context for the project is a marked shift in government policy thinking which envisages moving from a solely state-owned and state-run system to a mixed market of services provision. A number of project achievements are worth highlighting.
In the absence of national policy explicitly requiring the de-institutionalisation of social care services - which is increasingly the trend across the former Soviet region where large-scale institutional care is also the primary and dominant form of social care provision - the technical assistance brief was designed with a view to improving the way that services are currently delivered in residential institutions. This was addressed through the introduction of new approaches to social care practice in two pilot residential institutions (one for children and the other for older people) and backed up by an intensive programme of in-service training and supervision by the multi-disciplinary project team. In order to maximise the sustainability of technical inputs in this area of the project, OPM worked with the MLSPP to develop and legally adopt a concept for the reform of residential institutions, oriented around the use of person-centred approaches to social care. These are based on the concept of individual case management characterised by regular assessment and review processes. In addition to increasing quality in the existing context, these approaches – if systematically and consistently
adopted – also have the potential to contribute positively to any future de-institutionalisation strategy.
Although there is currently little fertile ground for competitive tendering in the existing social care sector in Tajikistan, due to the general absence of non-state social care providers, one of the key demands of the project was to strengthen basic systems and practices relating to social care services commissioning. OPM worked with the MLSPP to design a service development model which has the potential to form the backbone of a comprehensive commissioning cycle and a wider regulatory system for social care. In addition to providing a framework within which to articulate issue and target-group priorities, the model incorporates a precise specification of the services that are required and a set of minimum operating standards that are expected to be met. This information in turn provides a basis for budgeting and competitive tendering. This technical assistance process resulted in two significant outcomes: the drafting and adoption of a government Decree “On approval of the scope and procedures for provision of free social care services” – which sets a national legal basis for the model described above - and the detailed articulation and formal adoption of services specifications and operating standards for a selection of concrete social care service types:
• Day care services for children with disabilities
• Day care for older people and adults with disabilities
• Home care services for people in difficult life circumstances
• Residential care for children with severe intellectual and physical disabilities
• Residential care for older people with limited capacities for self-care
• Social adaptation and integration services for homeless people.
As a key resource for policy-makers, as well as for the general public, service providers and others, OPM worked with the MLSPP to carry out the first ever GIS-based mapping of social care services across Tajikistan which, together with an analysis of existing coverage, has been made available on the MLSPP web-site: http://mapping.sdc-eu.info/en
Another key success of OPM’s programme of technical assistance was the formal establishment of a national social work and social care training and education centre close to the capital, Dushanbe. The focus of the centre’s professional activity has been deliberately oriented towards the professional development of mid-level (or ‘para-professional’) social care practitioners and the on-going development and modelling of good practice in social work and social care more generally. The focus on mid-level practitioners reflects current strategic service-delivery and national workforce priorities and complements a recently established university-based social work degree course. Working closely with Tajikistan’s Ministry of Education, OPM assisted the MLSPP to devise a National Qualifications Framework (bringing current practice into closer alignment with the European Qualifications Framework) and a framework for strategic workforce development that can be developed in detail at the point when national priorities for social care services delivery become more clearly articulated. The training centre will in due course also host a national ‘centre of excellence’ with the aim of incubating and disseminating good social care practice in Tajikistan.
OPM completed the delivery of a three year programme of technical assistance to the government of Tajikistan, on behalf of the European Union, in support of an on-going ‘modernisation’ process within the social care sector. The ‘Technical Assistance to Sector Policy Support Programme in the Social Protection Sector – Service Delivery Component’ project was designed specifically to support the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population (MLSPP) to fulfil obligations made by the government of Tajikistan to the European Union as a condition for the receipt of financial aid.
In addition to delivering a significant programme of training and capacity building for social work and social care personnel in a range of settings – including formally introducing occupational therapy and physiotherapy as professional disciplines in the social care sphere – OPM was required to strengthen national social care management and co-ordination systems and a develop a framework of service standards that would enable performance measurement and increase the quality of service provision. The context for the project is a marked shift in government policy thinking which envisages moving from a solely state-owned and state-run system to a mixed market of services provision. A number of project achievements are worth highlighting.
In the absence of national policy explicitly requiring the de-institutionalisation of social care services - which is increasingly the trend across the former Soviet region where large-scale institutional care is also the primary and dominant form of social care provision - the technical assistance brief was designed with a view to improving the way that services are currently delivered in residential institutions. This was addressed through the introduction of new approaches to social care practice in two pilot residential institutions (one for children and the other for older people) and backed up by an intensive programme of in-service training and supervision by the multi-disciplinary project team. In order to maximise the sustainability of technical inputs in this area of the project, OPM worked with the MLSPP to develop and legally adopt a concept for the reform of residential institutions, oriented around the use of person-centred approaches to social care. These are based on the concept of individual case management characterised by regular assessment and review processes. In addition to increasing quality in the existing context, these approaches – if systematically and consistently
adopted – also have the potential to contribute positively to any future de-institutionalisation strategy.
Although there is currently little fertile ground for competitive tendering in the existing social care sector in Tajikistan, due to the general absence of non-state social care providers, one of the key demands of the project was to strengthen basic systems and practices relating to social care services commissioning. OPM worked with the MLSPP to design a service development model which has the potential to form the backbone of a comprehensive commissioning cycle and a wider regulatory system for social care. In addition to providing a framework within which to articulate issue and target-group priorities, the model incorporates a precise specification of the services that are required and a set of minimum operating standards that are expected to be met. This information in turn provides a basis for budgeting and competitive tendering. This technical assistance process resulted in two significant outcomes: the drafting and adoption of a government Decree “On approval of the scope and procedures for provision of free social care services” – which sets a national legal basis for the model described above - and the detailed articulation and formal adoption of services specifications and operating standards for a selection of concrete social care service types:
• Day care services for children with disabilities
• Day care for older people and adults with disabilities
• Home care services for people in difficult life circumstances
• Residential care for children with severe intellectual and physical disabilities
• Residential care for older people with limited capacities for self-care
• Social adaptation and integration services for homeless people.
As a key resource for policy-makers, as well as for the general public, service providers and others, OPM worked with the MLSPP to carry out the first ever GIS-based mapping of social care services across Tajikistan which, together with an analysis of existing coverage, has been made available on the MLSPP web-site: http://mapping.sdc-eu.info/en
Another key success of OPM’s programme of technical assistance was the formal establishment of a national social work and social care training and education centre close to the capital, Dushanbe. The focus of the centre’s professional activity has been deliberately oriented towards the professional development of mid-level (or ‘para-professional’) social care practitioners and the on-going development and modelling of good practice in social work and social care more generally. The focus on mid-level practitioners reflects current strategic service-delivery and national workforce priorities and complements a recently established university-based social work degree course. Working closely with Tajikistan’s Ministry of Education, OPM assisted the MLSPP to devise a National Qualifications Framework (bringing current practice into closer alignment with the European Qualifications Framework) and a framework for strategic workforce development that can be developed in detail at the point when national priorities for social care services delivery become more clearly articulated. The training centre will in due course also host a national ‘centre of excellence’ with the aim of incubating and disseminating good social care practice in Tajikistan.