Social services are organizations without which it is impossible to imagine a healthy society at the present stage of its development. They provide support to the needy categories of the population, help people who find themselves in difficult life situations. In this article we will talk about the features of the work of social services, their goals and principles.
Definition
There are several definitions that answer the question of what social service is. This is largely due to the fact that the structure of social services and their tasks are extremely diverse, and it is impossible to reflect everything in one definition. Therefore, we consider the most popular of them.
Social services are a set of organizations and institutions providing social assistance and social services.
Another well-known definition gives a more detailed description.
Social services are a complex of state and private governing bodies, institutions and structures that carry out work on social services of the population, providing assistance aimed at overcoming and alleviating difficult life situations by representatives of society. Funding may come from private or public sources.
From these definitions, we see that organizations of this kind are called upon to provide support to the population. Social services, in simple words, provide social assistance. This is the name of material or psychological assistance provided to citizens who find themselves in difficult situations, at no cost. In other words, social services are organizations that donate to those in need.
Organization Functions
More specifically, the main functions of social services are: social assistance, rehabilitation, counseling and information.
Social assistance includes:
- identification of persons in need of assistance (low-income, large families, etc.) and support for such citizens;
- prevention of material distress, poverty; the provision of home services to persons in need of assistance (delivery of medicines and products to the elderly, their transportation, treatment and monitoring);
- assistance to children who find themselves without parental care on time or on an ongoing basis, placement of such children in special institutions;
- counseling based on social assistance services is provided by specialists in various fields. Psychologists, lawyers and doctors advise citizens for free.
Employees of such services often carry out various activities themselves and conduct lectures designed to solve social problems. For example, conduct courses of first aid, preparation for marriage and childbirth; come to schools to tell high school students about promising professions and vacancies that are relevant in a particular area.
Social services interact with other structures: schools, hospitals, police, to identify the most pressing problems and solve them by accessible methods. Such a practice bears fruit only with the constant support of those in need. Hence, another function of social protection services is design and rehabilitation. It includes:
- Social and medical rehabilitation of children with disabilities and non-standard behavior, as well as children left without parental care or in other difficult life situations.
- Help for adults in need of care.
- Help for people with disabilities.
The information function is to provide citizens with the information necessary for resolving difficult situations, the help of specialists (lawyers, doctors, psychologists), the dissemination of reliable medical, pedagogical and other knowledge.
Interaction with other entities
Specialists of private and state social services collaborate with the police, the Ministry of Emergencies, hospitals and other structures and assist in the development of plans to eliminate emergency disasters and social problems. Together, organizations find problem areas in society and solve social problems.
What is social assistance?
A feature of the work of social services is a constant struggle against the most diverse and diverse problems. In order to adequately cope with certain disasters, social services must provide assistance of a different nature.
The simplest form of assistance is the collection and transfer of medicines, cash, food, special equipment and vehicles to the needy. Such assistance is called material, only sufficient funding is needed to provide it.
The population of any country, as a rule, needs not only material support, but also reliable knowledge in various fields. Social services are called upon to provide citizens with such assistance. Typically, counseling a lawyer or psychologist in a social service is cheaper than in other institutions or even completely free.
Social workers patronize families and individuals who need state control and special attention.
Social services provide shelter or temporary housing for people in need.
How to get help from a social service?
Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 442 regulates the activities of social services and establishes the procedure for providing assistance.
To receive social assistance, you must fill out an application directly to the social service or send it by e-mail. The application may be filled out by the citizen in need of assistance, his representative or other interested citizen. Social assistance does not relate to all citizens. To get it, you need to be within the framework of certain life circumstances:
- Social assistance is provided to citizens who have partially or completely lost the ability to provide self-care, to people with disabilities, or to citizens who care for people with disabilities.
- Assistance is provided to families in which children live with problems in social adaptation or health problems.
- Help relies to large families or families temporarily lost the opportunity to provide child care.
- The reason for the provision of social support is the presence of an intra-family problem that impedes the development and upbringing of children (illness of one of the family members, drug or alcohol addiction, domestic violence, etc.);
- Loss of residence, work and other material difficulties.
Moreover, this list is far from exhaustive. Federal law provides social services with the opportunity, at their discretion, to determine how much a person who finds himself in circumstances other than those indicated above needs help.
Application Processing Dates
It takes five business days to review the application. After the expiration, the applicant receives a written or electronic letter declaring him to be in need of social services or refusing to receive this status. But what if the situation requires an immediate solution and almost a week delay can be fatal? For special cases, a system has been established for urgent consideration of applications, the decision on which is taken immediately.
Service Proof
After reviewing the application and confirming the status of a person in need of social assistance, a service agreement is concluded between the social service and the citizen, which describes in detail the form of assistance, its time frame and the services included in it. It usually takes no more than 24 hours to conclude a contract.
Work principles
Like any organization, social services have their own principles on which work is being carried out.
This is equal access of all segments of the population to assistance, regardless of nationality, gender, religion and other factors, as well as targeted assistance, voluntariness and confidentiality.
Goals
The purpose of the social service is to solve acute social problems: poverty, family problems, violations of the laws of the Russian Federation. To solve these problems, employees try not only to provide financial assistance or help one-time, but also to support the person in the future, helping him to figure out the reasons for his difficult life situation.
