Supervisory boards of territorial centers for social services to the population have been established in the Vitebsk region

April 30, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Boards of Trustees of territorial centers for social services for the population have been established in all administrative districts of the Vitebsk region, the committee for labor, employment and social protection of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee informed a BELTA correspondent. The main task of the Boards of Trustees will be to attract sponsorship and gratuitous assistance for providing additional support to lonely pensioners and disabled people, and for strengthening the material and technical base of the centers. As noted in the committee, last year territorial centers and boarding schools implemented humanitarian projects worth Br1.9 billion in the form of technical rehabilitation means and clothing. For the development and strengthening of the material base of the centers in 2011, local budgets allocated Br1.4 billion, which is more than a third higher than envisaged by the comprehensive program for the development of social services for the population for 2011-2015 in the Vitebsk region. These funds were used for current and capital repairs, equipping day care departments for disabled people and creating computer classes. However, to improve the quality of social services, further strengthening of the material and technical base of the centers is necessary. The committee considers the acquisition of special passenger and cargo transport for servicing round-the-clock care departments, disabled people and the elderly as one of the priority tasks. According to the committee, last year, compared to 2010, the number of recipients of various types of social assistance increased in the region. Thus, 13,000 people received social assistance at home in 2011, compared to 12,600 in 2010. In 18 round-the-clock care departments for elderly citizens and disabled people, 765 people received social assistance (in 2010, there were 685). In the Vitebsk region, about 21% of the population are elderly citizens, including 52.7 thousand disabled people, 20.6 thousand lonely elderly people, and 4.4 thousand veterans of the Great Patriotic War. -0-