23-24th May 2023, Arad
As the last stop of the study trips organised within the framework of the Competence project, the Arad Social Directorate had the opportunity to present the institution’s good practises to its international partner organisations. The event took place between May 23-24 in Arad, Romania.
The so-called Stakeholder Conference was held on the first day of the visit, in which the local participatory budgeting programme and the local social services were presented in detail. The main goal of the Directorate For Social Welfare Arad is to ensure the application of social policy in the areas of child protection, the elderly, the disabled, as well as the socially needy persons, groups and communities. It became clear that the Directorate, as a local government unit, provides all the social services required by law and voluntarily undertaken, while the other local governments participating in the project provide the same or similar services with the involvement of several institutions.
After the presentations at the conference, the representatives of the partner organisations visited the CURCUBEU Centre. The institution operates as a daycare centre for schoolchildren with learning difficulties, where intercultural education takes place in accordance with the children’s age, needs, abilities, and development potential; but social workers also provide leisure and social activities for the target group, as well as psychological and professional counselling.
The Multi-Functional Centre for Vulnerable Groups was presented as the next stop of the visit. The institution offers accommodation, counselling, professional orientation, and job support for vulnerable young people over 18 years of age. The Centre consists of a social home and offices specialising in welfare counselling. The institution also functions as a therapy centre, which serves to prepare young people for an autonomous, independent, and responsible social life.
On the second day of the study visit, the host partner organisation presented the CREATIV Social-Vocational Rehabilitation Centre. The institution promotes the implementation of effective socio-professional programmes aimed at young people with disabilities, as well as social integration and social changes that help placement in the labour market. The Centre contributes to the development of personal and interpersonal skills such as communication, relationships, emotional intelligence, increasing self-esteem and self-awareness, behaviour management, and stress reduction, as well as the development of cognitive skills by stimulating attention, imagination, and creative thinking. With the help of the special therapies provided at the institution, young people learn how to effectively organise their everyday lives with the least possible help.
