Social Services Europe (SSE) provides input into the EC Consultation on a Roadmap/Evidence Collection for the European Care Strategy, elaborated and agreed upon in January and February 2022.
Our national members support millions of people in various stages in life, such as children, the elderly, persons with disabilities, people at risk of or experiencing poverty and social exclusion, people experiencing homelessness, migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, LGBTIQ+, and other groups in situations of vulnerability. Our members all recognise the many intersectionalities that people who require care face and so they offer care, support, guidance, education, and training services, as well as addressing barriers and situations of discrimination with the aim to empower the people relying on their support. This is often done through integrated approaches in partnership with public authorities and other service providers. Social services are a core part of national social protection systems and are services of general interest.
SSE’s contribution to the European Commission’s Consultation on the Roadmap/Evidence Collection for a European Care Strategy is structured in three parts which contain a number of specific points (topics, priorities, proposals):
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Section 2) contains SSE’s reflections and proposal on the directions for developing social care should take. It covers eight aspects: a) Raison d’être of Social Care; b) Evolving Demand; c) Paradigm Shift; d) Social Care in Crisis; e) Detrimental Impact on Gender Equality; f) Detrimental Impact of the Care Drain; g) Strategic Advantage N°1: 100,000 Not-For-Profit Providers; h) Strategic Advantage N°2: 11 million workers
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Section 3) focuses on the facilitating framework conditions. It deals with ten aspects: a) Varying and Often Outdated Framework Conditions; b) New Strategies; c) Quality of Life Indicators; d) Social Innovation; e) Digitalisation; f) Integration of Social and Health Sector; g) Social Infrastructure Development; h) Workforce Challenges: Lack of Attractiveness, Staff Shortages, Upskilling and Re-skilling; i) More Public Funding; j) Promote Effective Funding Methods
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Section 4) concludes with concrete policy recommendations for the EU Care Strategy. It elaborated more in detail on twelve proposals: a) Enabling Framework Conditions; b) EU Care Strategy promotes a modern vision of Social Care in the EU; c) EU Care Guarantee; d) Modern Vision of Care; e) National Action Plans; f) European Care Platform; g) EU Skills for Care Initiative; h) Campaign to improve attractiveness of jobs in the social care sector; i) EaSI: Annual call for proposals for innovative projects in the field of social care; j) Horizon Europe Programme: Targeted calls for research and innovation into social care; k) InvestEU: Boosting investment into social care; l) European Competence Centres for Social Innovation: Priority focus on social care
For access to the full SSE Statement please click here.