Not-for-profit social & healthcare service providers

Across the continent, like many other sectors, social service providers are taking incredible measures to effectively deal with prevention, support and containment. This necessity is even more important given the nature of social service provision which is to provide care, support and health services to people who can be far more at risk to COVID-19 than the general population, including for instance many older people, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable persons.
 
The spread of COVID-19 will create major challenges for social service provision in several ways. On the one hand, it is expected that demand for support will increase due to both increased illness and the early release of many patients currently being cared for in hospitals. At the same time, the supply of service provision will be reduced to the point that many services will simply not be able to be provided – as it already the case in some parts of Italy.
 
Europe already has significant waiting lists and staff shortages in social care and support in most if not all European countries. The potential risk that up to 20% of workers will be unable to work would have significant consequences on an already extremely stretched workforce. The fact that many if not all countries require specific staffing levels in social care will also mean that many service providers will be legally obliged to close. The supply of adequate health & safety equipment for workers (masks, gloves, etc.) is also problematic given that the healthcare system is currently being prioritized, thus increasing the risk of contagion in social care.

In response to the outbreak EASPD and the European Ageing Network (EAN) have written an open letter to European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, to highlight that the provision of essential social care and support services to millions of older persons, persons with disabilities, children and other vulnerable persons in Europe is under threat following the spread of COVID-19.

Red Cross EU is looking for a motivated person to fill the position of a Senior Communications Officer at its Brussels office. The successful candidate will lead on the overall planning, development, delivery and monitoring of Red Cross EU Office external and internal communications. He/she will support visibility and advocacy objectives by contributing to public positioning, producing communications materials for dissemination to specific audiences across different platforms, and responding to stakeholders’ communications and media requests. The Senior Communications Officer will also manage the public relations aspects of Red Cross EU Office events, as well as ensure accurate and timely reporting to members, and advising them on communications issues vis-à-vis the EU as policy maker, partner and donor.

Our member organisation EASPD, has just launched a call for tender for research on the funding of disability services. They are looking for a Researcher/Research team to produce 8-10 Country Factsheets on the Funding of Disability Care & Support Services, as well as a European analysis of the factsheets.

The Researcher/Research team is expected to deliver:

1. 8-10 Country Fact Sheets covering the 5 main welfare systems on the research questions, to be added to or to complement the Country Fact Sheets EASPD has already developed (See 28 Country Factsheets here)

2. 1 Cross-country analysis of the factsheets to give a European state of play of the funding of disability services, including executive summary and policy recommendations.

3. 1 Infograph with the relevant information collected (to be discussed)

Deadline for application is 20th April 2020

 On 31st March  - FEANTSA(our member organisation) and the European Commission will be co-hosting a seminar at the Albert Borschette Congress Centre in Brussels on Access to Accomodation as a Precondition to the Social Inclusion of Migrants and Asylum-Seekers in the EU. Some of the presentations will be on:

• Access to accommodation and housing for asylum seekers, beneficiaries of international protection and migrants with a precarious administrative status

•  Homelessness among migrants and refugees: which way forward?

You can read more about the event here

Our Member Organisation, Caritas Europa, is looking for an external consultant to draft and finalise a handbook on how to develop institutional advocacy in Caritas organisations.

The suitable consultant doesn’t need to know a lot about institutional advocacy, but be able the systematise the contributions from our members and write a 20-25 pages Handbook as reader-friendly pedagogical guide.

The Consultant will perform the services specified below:

• Systematise and complete when needed the contributions collected by Caritas Europa Secretariat from CE member organisations involved in the writing of the Institutional Advocacy handbook.

• Draft the final version of the Institutional Advocacy Handbook taking into consideration the input from Caritas member organisations.

•  Ensure the right balance between chapters and ensure coherence and consistent style to the overall Institutional Advocacy Handbook, aligning the language and style to previous CE Handbooks. 

•  Ensure final clean proofread English version of the Handbook with references properly sourced in line with CE’s style guide.

The deadline to apply is March 1st.

Caritas Europa is pleased to invite you to the launch of its new CARES report with a policy dialogue at EPC on February 19th.

The Caritas CARES country reports focus on the analysis of the availability, accessibility, affordability and adequacy of services addressing poverty, and the promotion of social inclusion and activation in European countries. They attempt to identify concrete causes of non-access to services by the most vulnerable members of our society.

This Policy Dialogue aims to discuss how access to quality social services can help mitigate poverty and inequality, including how the EU and Member States can improve access of disadvantaged groups to social services and maximize the long-term impact on economic and social cohesion. The discussion, which will draw on the findings of a recent report by Caritas, will be moderated by EPC Senior Adviser Erika Mezger.

Eurodiaconia (our member organisation) recently launched it's latest report on Access to Employment for Migrants and Refugees. The policy paper takes stock of recent EU policy developments related to labour market inclusion and gives recommendations on how to improve future EU and national efforts related to the labour market inclusion of migrants and refugees, based on an overview of recent policy developments and the experience of Eurodiaconia members.

There are significant gaps in the labour market outcomes of EU and third country nationals. Third country nationals, and particularly migrant and refugee women tend to have much higher unemployment rates than the native-born population and the highly skilled are often overqualified for their jobs. European and national efforts for the inclusive and sustainable labour market integration of migrants and refugees therefore needs to be strengthened.

The publication also explores the reasons behind their higher unemployment and underemployment and gives a number of policy recommendations on how to improve migrant inclusion in the labour market.

The European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) (our member organisation) and L’ADAPT are pleased to invite you to register for our upcoming conference “Road to employment for Persons with Disabilities” which will be held on 4th-5th May 2020 in Paris, France.

The conference will explore the road to employment for person with disabilities and the role we can all play in facilitating that journey.

During the two-day conference participants, including support service providers, persons with disabilities, employers, policy makers, national authorities and European authorities will together explore:

• Good practices that can foster inclusion in employment in the open labour market

• Working conditions and labour rights

• The co-production of services in employment

• The new opportunities and challenges for employment that arrive with new technologies and the social economy.

The European Social Catalyst Fund (ESCF) is a new initiative designed to have significant impact on some of Europe’s most pressing social challenges. The objective of the ESCF is to bring together public and private resources to improve social services to enable people who need support to live as valued and participating members of their communities.

The Initiative will 

provide financial and capacity building support to develop plans to scale proven social service innovations. It is anticipated that these plans will provide details of how public and private resources (philanthropy and/or social investment) can be brought together in a range of collaborations that focus on the role that philanthropy and social finance can play in working with the public sector to help re-focus public spending in a more effective direction in the interest of European citizens. It is intended that during the project a further phase will be designed, based on learning obtained, which will include a focus on supporting implementation of plans to scale proven social service innovations.

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The ESCF has been established and co-funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, Genio (Ireland), the Robert Bosch Stiftung (Germany) and the King Baudouin Foundation (Belgium). It will award planning grants across a range of priority social challenge areas within, or across, European Union Member States. The purpose of the grants is to support the development of detailed implementation plans aimed at reducing, or overcoming, social challenges. Innovations will be identified through a pan-European call and all eligible applications will be evaluated against published criteria. Preference will be given to innovations that have the most robust evidence of success and that aim to reach the most significant scale. Each selected application will receive a planning grant of up to €100,000 along with capacity building support. A minimum of €600,000 will be allocated to support at least 6 plans. Applications close on 15th April 2020

Social Services Europe has launch it's research report entitled 'Third-Country Social and Care Service Professionals:Unlocking the Job Creation potential of Social Services. The event which took place at the European Parliament, brought together EU policy makers, civil society organisations and other stakeholders. Contributions ranged from the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, investment in social services and the presentation of the research findings.

An excerpt from the report:

'The inflow of migrants and asylum seekers to Europe in the last years has become one of the hottest topics on the EU agenda in terms of Member State responsibility-sharing between and within EU countries. This situation evidences the need to shift from short-term, crisis management mode to a long-term, sustainable asylum and migration policy, enabling more safe and legal pathways, effective integration, inclusion processes, and access to the labour market.
The foreign component in the European labour market over the years has become increasingly more important for national economies. This is because migrants are key players in the European labour market and they perform multiple roles: they fill important niches both in fast-growing and declining sectors of the economy; contribute to labour market flexibility; boost the working-age population; contribute with their skills to the technological progress of receiving countries; and they play an important role by offsetting the effects of negative demographic trends, such as workforce ageing and general depopulation. Employment is often considered to be the single most important indicator for migrant integration, yet it remains an underdeveloped area for fostering migrants’ full participation. The employment rate of non-EU immigrants has dropped by 3 percentage points over the past decade, while rising by 3 points among natives and EU-born migrants. Furthermore, there is a relevant difference in working conditions, indicating much worse conditions for migrant workers than for native-born workers.' Social Services Europe (SSE) commissioned Instituto per la Ricerca Sociale (IRS) to produce a European study on national and/or local level interventions on ways to unlock the potential of third-country nationals1 to address staff shortages and to meet the increasing demand of social services in Europe. Read Full Report HERE

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Mr Pierfrancesco Majorino, MEP in collaboration with Social Services Europe(SSE) will be hosting a European Parliament debate ‘Do Social Services Matter for EU?’ On Tuesday, 21st Of January 2020.

This event will bring together key EU policy-makers and stakeholders to debate the current developments and challenges of the social and health care sector, and also explore what practical steps must be taken to ensure the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) become a reality in Europe.

SSE will also present its latest research report on the Integration of Migrants in the Social Services Workforce.

Kindly register HERE if you wish to attend. You can also download the programme HERE

The right to work is a fundamental right, as recognized in several international legal instruments. Finding long-term employment on the open labour market not only fulfill the right to work but also facilities an individual’s enjoyment of a number of other human rights.
 
But being employed is much more than a right, and having a job often forms an inherent part of a person’s identity, enabling them to be economically independent; provide for their families and actively contribute to their communities.
 
EASPD believes in all efforts to create effective systems, that enable the employment of people with disabilities, contributing to the change of the social reality and full implementation of Article 27 of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UN CRPD).
 
As part of their work, to further support the implementation of different systems for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workforce, EASPD(our member) and LADAPT are pleased to announce that applications are now open for its 2020 Employment for All Award! Now in its 4th edition, the award aims to promote strategies that  facilitate the employment of persons with disabilities on the open labour market; provide them with equal opportunities to access gainful employment and enable them to gain a greater control over their independence in terms of employment and financial stability. The deadline for nominations is 17th January 2020

“The creation of safe and regulated pathways that are complementary to refugee resettlement are an important way to meet the international protection needs of refugees and engage host communities in the integration of new arrivals.“ Heather Roy, Board member SSE&Secretary General Eurodiaconia

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On the occasion of  International Migrants Day, Eurodiaconia (our member organisation), along with 10 partner organisations, co-signed a position paper calling on the European Union and Member States to develop accessible complementary pathways to provide additional, protective and durable solutions to international protection needs. Some of the recommendations include:

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• The involvement of communities, diaconal actors, NGOs and local authorities in the support of refugees is a key tool to implement complementary pathways and create an inclusive hosting society and should be developed in addition to the professional caseworkers’ role. Professional social workers, groups of citizens and communities should work in complementarity and in addition to institutional services to ensure access to beneficiaries’ rights.

• Complementary legal pathways shall be developed in addition to existing States’ commitments to respect full access to the right to asylum for all persons in need of international protection. Such pathways shall neither undermine resettlement programs nor replace the possibility to request asylum on the territory or at borders.

• Complementary pathways should be fully accessible to persons in need of international protection which should include the removal of administrative and legal obstacles by States to procedures.

• As stressed in the Compact on Refugees, complementary pathways should contain protection safeguards and provide durable solutions for refugees. Ensuring protection oriented complementary pathways also includes long-term integration needs.

• Organizations implementing complementary pathways and States should ensure transparent and fair identification processes..

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As part of its work, to further support the implementation of different systems for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workforce, Our member EASPD and LADAPT are pleased to announce that applications are now open for its 2020 Employment for All Award! Now in its 4th edition, the award aims to promote strategies that facilitate the employment of persons with disabilities on the open labour market; provide them with equal opportunities to access gainful employment and enable them to gain a greater control over their independence in terms of employment and financial stability. Could you be a winner?

On the occasion of the Universal Children’s Day 2019, our member organisation Caritas Europa calls on the EU and its Member States to ensure that every child in Europe who is at risk of poverty or social exclusion has access to free healthcare, free education, free early childhood education and care, decent housing and adequate nutrition.

These services have to be available, affordable, accessible and adequate for every family in Europe. To this end, the concept of a European Child Guarantee should be translated into concrete action by adopting framework legislation and by monitoring national policy development through the European Semester process

"We live in a small cargo-container where we have only one table. After meals, my mother cleans the table, covers it with a cloth, and only then I can do my homework."
Arthashes, age 14

Existing EU funds should also be used to encourage EU Member States to monitor and improve the availability and quality of services offered to children and families at risk of poverty. In addition, a more personalised approach adapted to the specific needs of the child is indispensable. Only then will no child be left behind.

Caritas Europa, our member organisation, is organising a one-day conference on innovative and strategic Partnerships for Job Creation, on November 22 at the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels.

The purpose of this event is to strengthen and be inspired by multi-stakeholders partnerships that have a long-lasting impact on job creation and a strong innovation component.

The innovation can be in the process (creating new forms of cooperation between the different actors), in the product or service (introducing a new product or service that determines new patterns of behaviour among actors) or in the tools (a new infrastructure or instrument that increase the impact of the cooperation between actors and also plays a role of aggregate other potential stakeholders).  Discussions and promising practices will be presented following these three elements of innovation.

Some members of Social Services Europe( Eurodiaconia, Solidar, Caritas Europa and EASPD) have co-signed a letter to Vice President-designate on Values and Transparency Věra Jourová. This move is a follow up on her commitment to become the contact person for civic space issues within the European Commission. Amidst appreciation, the letter reiterates how invaluable Commissioner Věra's commitment is in a context where freedom of assembly, of association and expression, are increasingly challenged in the European Union.

To mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Eurodiaconia, our member organisation calls on the new European Commission and the EU member states to fully commit to the eradication of child poverty, 30 years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

In a public statement, Eurodiaconia's Secretary General Heather Roy stressed the fact that "In today’s Europe, it is unacceptable that one in four children is at risk of social exclusion and poverty. We are far from reaching the goals adopted unanimously by the UN and now more than ever it is time to join forces and work together against poverty and strengthen social cohesion"

Caritas Europa, our member organisation, will launch a European-wide publication entitled Common Home: migration and development in Europe and beyond with a panel discussion at the European Parliament, on the 5th of November.

 This is in the framework of the MIND project. Discussions during the meeting will be co-hosted by MEP Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar (S&D, LIBE Chair) and MEP Erik Marquardt (Greens, DEVE Vice-Chair). The event will be an occasion to present the main findings of the publication and to give different stakeholders the opportunity to discuss how migration and development are interconnected.

Social Services Europe earlier this week welcomed Commissioner- designate’s commitment to fully implement the twenty principles of the European pillar of social rights.

Speaking during the #EPhearings2019, Mr Schimt listed some key priority areas in his plan of action:​

• Boost employment

• Promote European market for all; people with disability, migrants and the inclusion of Roma.

• A fairer Europe, inclusive labour market with fair wages.

• Gender balance and gender equality

• Fully implement work-life balance

• Promote health and safety measures at work

• Commitment to work with social partners

Most importantly, Commissioner Schmit pledged to fully implement the principles of European pillar of social rights by translating them into concrete actions.

He also recognised the social service sectors as an active job creator which was not destroyed during the crisis. Therefore, making it a sector that should be supported to prepare the union for any future shocks.

A strong social Europe however requires a strong up to date social legislation. We hope Commissioner Schmit will actively implement all his promises.

Social Services Europe is optimistic for the next five years with Nicolas Schimt as Commissioner of jobs and possibly social rights.

 According to a report published earlier this week by the European Social Policy Network (ESPN), homelessness is on the rise in Europe. The report reveal an increase in homelessness in 24 out of 28 EU Countries in the last decade. One of the major challenges however, is the absence of consistent, accurate data  on the number of homeless people in Europe. 

Our member organisation FEANTSA is the only European NGO focusing exclusively on the fight against homelessness. Click here to read more about their work.

Read more on the ESPN report Here 

Between the upcoming 23rd and the 26th of May 350 million European citizens will decide their own future in the ballot boxes. To ensure the future of a social Europe through the provision of quality and sustainable social and health services, our members have published a series of voting recommendations, guides and statements to help you be better prepared to make an informed decision.

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You can read them in the following links:

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European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilites (EASPD). EASPD's Right to Vote site includes a simple yet comprehensive overview on what the parties propose in relevant areas like disability and social services.

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European Platform for Rehabilitation (EPR): Inclusive Voting: Accounting for Disability in the 2019 European Parliament Elections

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Caritas Europa has launched a whole micro-site dedicated to the upcoming elections. Do not forget to take the quiz! https://epelections.caritas.eu

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SOLIDAR published two position papers covering some of the most relevant topics for a social Europe: Behind Nationalism and Advancing social Justice and the need for social investment

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Eurodiaconia launched a very informative micro-site analyzing voting trends in European elections and the importance of a high turnout. It is Time to Vote!. 

Additionally, you can also read and sign Eurodiaconia's Manifesto for a Sustainable Europe. 

With an eye on the current MFF negotiations and in view of the upcoming European Elections, this month Caritas Europa publishes an article on the future of Social Services' funding in Europe signed by our President Ms Laura Jones.

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Many of you will have first-hand experience of how EU funding programmes play a key role in supporting and developing the quality of social service provision. Some of you will also be aware that future versions of the funding programmes for the period 2021 -2027 were proposed last year. But perhaps, not so many of you are aware of what has happened since then, and that the programmes have now entered the final, and probably critical, stage of negotiations.

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Principle 9 of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) states that “Parents and people with caring responsibilities have the right to suitable leave, flexible working arrangements and access to care services. (…)”. In view of addressing the challenges faced by parents and carers, the European Commission has launched in April 2017 a proposal for a Directive on work-life balance. The proposal is complemented by the European Commission Communication “An initiative to support work-balance for working parents and carers”, which outlines a set of non-legislative actions to improve the quality, affordability and access to childcare and long-term care. 

Whereas the Directive proposal would strengthen legislation on leave and flexible working arrangements across Europe, it remains weaker on access to care. Social Services Europe understands this as partly due to a lack of research done on the relationship between access to care services and work-life balance.

To counter this, Social Services Europe launched a research project aiming to provide greater clarity on the relationship between access to care services and work-life balance and employment, and female employment in particular. The research provides further evidence on the need for the European Union to be more proactive in improving access to quality care services.  This is one of the single biggest factors to improve work-life balance in Europe, whilst also boosting job creation, inclusive growth, social cohesion, gender equality and human rights.

Read the full report here. 

Read our policy recommendations here.

Social Services Europe has the pleasure to invite you to the presentation of our most recent research study on Improving Work Life Balance (WLB) through enabling social services.

This research study is framed within the European Commission’s call for a WLB directive and exemplifies how social service providers are key to implement and ensure the right to suitable leave, flexible working arrangements and access to care services for parents and people with caring responsibilities (principle 9 of the European Pillar of Social Rights).

Social Service providers welcome the adoption of the ESF+ by the European Parliament but concerns remain about support to the most deprived and delays in negotiations.

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Click below to read Social Services Europe's full statement. 

We are proud to announce that our application to join the European Commission's Group on Social Economy and Social Enterprises has been successful.

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The European Commission's social business initiative (SBI), launched in 2011, set up a consultative multi-stakeholder group on social entrepreneurship to examine the progress of the measures envisaged in this Communication.

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The SBI named the group 'Groupe d'experts de la Commission sur l'entrepreneuriat social' (GECES). It was set up for 6 years and included representatives from EU countries, local authorities, social entrepreneurs' organisations, the banking and finance sector, as well as the academic and university sector International organisations and third countries were represented as observers.

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As one result of the GECES's work, they issued a report on social enterprises and the social economygoing forward on 14 October 2016, giving input to the Commission's communication on the start-up and scale-up initiative. 

The communication recognised the potential of social economy and social enterprises for innovation and positive impact on the economy and society at large. The Communication announced further actions focusing on 5 pillars: access to finance, access to markets, better framework conditions, new technologies and social innovation, as well as the development of an international dimension.

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To help the Commission implement these 5 pillars a new expert group was set up (Expert Group on Social Economy and Social Enterprises). The purpose of this new group is to discuss and agree on developing and strengthening activities related to the implementation of these 5 pillars.

As highlighted in our paper “Enabling Social Services through the Multi-Annual Financial Framework post-2020: A European Imperative” (March 2018), the EU budget plays a key role in funding both innovation and continuity in quality social service provision. As a result of such investment, the EU Budget contributes to improving the quality of life of all people in Europe; thus leading to a more stable, inclusive, productive and resilient European Union.

Our Initial Remarks on the Multi-Annual Financial Framework 2021-2027 (July 2018) welcome the general orientation of the European Commission’s proposals, including on the ESF+ proposal. The remarks also highlight five positive proposals and four areas with room for improvement.

These remarks form the basis of our proposed amendments to the European Commission ESF+, CRP and InvestEU proposals. 

The EU budget plays a key role in funding both innovation and continuity in quality social service provision. As a result of such investment, the EU Budget contributes to improving the quality of life of all people in Europe; thus leading to a more stable, inclusive, productive and resilient European Union.

Having analysed the proposed texts, Social Services Europe welcomes the general orientation of the European Commission’s proposals for a Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 reflecting on their most valuable aspects and the areas where there's room for improvement. 

Follow the link below to access the full text.