Simona Bucura-Oprescu, Minister of Labor, has published an extremely important document, which concerns the implementation of a decree with measures for the selection of 2.000 communes that will be included in the project "Provision of integrated services in rural communities - facilitating access of vulnerable people to efficient and quality basic services", code SMIS 339395, co-financed by the European Union through the European Social Fund Plus under the Social Inclusion and Dignity Program 2021-2027.
Simona Bucura-Oprescu officially announces that the action, carried out in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Health and the National Agency for Payments and Social Inspection, aims to increase social inclusion and reduce poverty in rural areas by developing community services with social, educational and health components.
The selected communes will receive support for strengthening administrative capacity, starting with the formation of an integrated community team. Each team will include a minimum of three professionals, including a social worker, social assistance technician, community health nurse, health mediator, school counselor, school mediator, speech therapist or support teacher.
Their role will be to ensure coordinated and rapid interventions in favor of vulnerable categories identified on the local territory. In addition to the core team, the project foresees the hiring of at least 500 additional specialists at national level, assigned to communes according to needs.
Simona Bucura-Oprescu explains at the same time that the announced profiles include elderly caregivers, home caregivers, psychologists, youth workers and community development facilitators, so that the institutional response covers a wide range of social, medical and educational issues.
To support the staff's work, each team will benefit from specific equipment: complete kits for community nurses, professional tools for social workers and test batteries for school counselors. In parallel, each commune will set up and equip a space dedicated to the provision of integrated community services, which will create a single point of access to support for residents in difficulty.
Simona Bucura-Oprescu points out that the program contains a solid professional training component. Specialists will participate in training and continuing education sessions, including qualification courses aimed at ensuring uniform work standards.
Moreover, 200 employees from public social assistance services will benefit from financial support to pursue and complete higher education in the field, with the commitment to subsequently work in the communes that are part of the project.
Interventions will be based on social diagnoses developed for each commune and updated whenever necessary. The vulnerable population will have access to the minimum social assistance package, home care services for daily activities, counseling, speech therapy, school mediation, support for home improvement, food packages that support school participation and guidance to employment services.
Simona Bucura-Oprescu established that the community teams will work based on a set of procedures and working tools made available by the ministry, to ensure coherence and unitary application of interventions. In this way, the premises are created to reduce the degree of social exclusion through accessible services adapted to the real needs of each locality.
The selection process is non-competitive and continues until the 2.000 collaboration protocols are signed. The framework procedure attached to the announcement guarantees transparency and non-discrimination, establishing clear criteria for inclusion in the project and for the participation of local staff in training activities.
By combining qualified human resources, adequate infrastructure and European funding, the project aims to create, in the Romanian rural environment, a network of basic public services capable of providing support integrated, prevent social marginalization and significantly improve the quality of life of vulnerable people.
