As early as today, the waiting list for residential institutions has been practically eliminated in the region, and by 2015, all issues related to the renovation of their material and technical base will be resolved.
An accessible environment should be provided for all social facilities, schools, and residential buildings. People with disabilities must be given the opportunity to adapt to work, undergo vocational training, and find employment. These and other tasks were set at a meeting of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, which reviewed the implementation of the Comprehensive Program for the Development of Social Services for 2011-2015.
The steady growth in the number of elderly citizens and people with disabilities in the population structure requires the improvement of the state support system for them. This is particularly relevant for the Vitebsk region, where almost every third resident is already of retirement age.
— It is necessary to significantly revise many approaches related to social security, — emphasized the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Alexander Kosinets.
Much has been done in this area in recent years. In 2012, 66 billion rubles were allocated. Surveys of the living conditions of Great Patriotic War veterans and persons affected by the consequences of wars, lonely citizens, and Group I and II disabled persons were conducted. As a result, 77,537 people received assistance in repairing housing, stove heating, electrical wiring, and installing fire alarms for a total of 1.7 million rubles. The number of 80-year-old citizens and Group I disabled persons who are provided with care and receive corresponding benefits has increased. However, a problem has arisen: in some cases, benefit recipients, instead of fulfilling their obligations, go to work in Russia. Such facts are unacceptable, and control will be tightened.
— We must be very strict in the appointment of benefits, — noted the Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus, Marianna Shchetkina, who participated in the meeting.
— First of all, healthcare institutions when issuing certificates stating that a person
over 80 years of age requires constant care. Social services in the region are provided by 27 territorial centers for social services for the population.
District executive committees, together with territorial centers for social services for the population, are implementing new forms of social work: for example, "Seasonal Residence Houses" have been established in Gluboksky, Orshansky, and Chashniksky districts; foster (guest) families have been organized for grandparents in Lepelsky, Chashniksky, and Sharkovshchinsky districts; day care centers are operating in Rossonksy and Polotsky districts. In 2012, significant attention was also paid to this issue in Gorodoksky district.
— There are 12 "Joint Residence Houses" operating here, where elderly people spend the winter, —
said Alexander Khristoforov, Chairman of the Committee for Labor, Employment, and Social Protection of the Vitebsk
Regional Executive Committee. — In essence, this is another form of 24-hour care. However, while the cost of maintaining such a center is about 900 million rubles, the expenses for the salary of a social worker serving such a house amount to 23 million. I believe that the listed forms of social services should be implemented in every district. It is also necessary to more actively involve volunteers and create mutual aid groups for providing various types of services to citizens in need at their place of residence.
A system of medical rehabilitation for elderly citizens and disabled individuals has been established in the region, and modern rehabilitation technologies are being introduced. In 2013, it is planned to employ 280 unemployed disabled individuals against quotas, finance (compensate) the costs of creating (preserving) 30 specialized workplaces, and organize vocational adaptation for 45 disabled individuals. 5.5 billion rubles are planned to be allocated for these purposes. The Minister of Labor and Social Protection specifically noted: since all costs associated with the employment of people with disabilities are compensated, the employer loses nothing in this process – they only provide an opportunity for a person to work in a team and perhaps remain in it in the future.
Alexander Kosinets set the task for the near future to ensure barrier-free access for all social facilities, schools, and residential buildings (especially for wheelchair users). The governor also ordered that all people with disabilities be provided with opportunities to adapt to work, undergo vocational training, and get a job.
Last year, the region completed the first stage of large-scale work on the construction, major repairs, reconstruction, and renewal of the material base of stationary social service institutions. In total, 2.5 times more vehicles, laundry, medical, and technological equipment were purchased for residential institutions than in the last 10 years. To improve living conditions, new forms of social services are being introduced, and advanced foreign experience is actively used. Services for short-term, temporary, and paid stays are provided. A small-capacity enhanced comfort ward is planned to be opened at the Vitebsk boarding house this year. According to Marianna Shchetkina, private enhanced comfort institutions will appear in Belarus in the future.
Alexander Kosinets generally gave a high assessment of the work carried out on the repair and reconstruction, and renewal of the material and technical base of boarding houses, but demanded to accelerate their pace and volume in order to complete them fully by 2015.