Vice-Presidency of the Government introduces changes to local social intervention - Communication

Vice-Presidência do Governo Regional

The Vice-Presidency of the Government informs that the Vice-President of the Government, Artur Lima, has issued guidelines to reinforce the presence of social workers at parish level.

According to Artur Lima, the XIII Regional Government of the Azores considered that it was crucial to change the social welfare paradigm in the Region. The aim is to intensify the presence of technicians on the field, as already advocated by the Vice-Presidency of the Government last year. 

The intention, according to the Vice-Presidency of the Government, is to provide an attentive and appropriate intervention to the needs of Azoreans, particularly the most vulnerable.

In the past, the visits of technicians to the local community were mostly the result of scheduled appointments. Now, there are guidelines stipulating that visit days should be previously scheduled and that technicians should be available for any situation during that period of time.

It is intended that, besides a reinforcement of the social response on the field, there will be an increase in the period of time that technicians spend with the local community.

Specifically, for example, in the areas where social workers previously visited one morning a week, now they should visit two days a week, or when they used to go once every fortnight, now they should be with the local population one day a week. There are other situations where technicians would visit a certain area once or twice a month, but now they must visit twice a week.

Although the changes introduced in the social intervention procedures are starting to produce the desired effects, according to Artur Lima, it is intended that the Institute for Social Security of the Azores intensifies and pursues the work that is being carried out. The aim is to continuously improve the relations between citizens and public services.

For the Vice-President of the Government, compliance with the guidelines issued for social intervention on the field should be followed and achieved without reluctance, always for the benefit of the social welfare of the communities. The government official praised the commitment of all social workers in the implementation of these changes.