Republic of Serbia Ministry of Labour and Social Policy

1. Republic of SerbiaMinistry of Labour and Social Policy Costing Methodology of Social Welfare in Child Protection Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

2. Set up of the child and youth protection system in Serbia • Two types of protection • Cash benefits • Services • Mandates • Central level (Republic of Serbia) • Local level (Province, city, municipality) Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

3. Cash benefits (entitlements) • Central level • Child allowances • Social assistance cash benefits (so called MOP) • Attendance allowance • Parent’s allowance • Local level • One-off cash assistance • Additional support in the form of subsidies for the poor (this can be in form of cash or services) Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

4. Cost methodology of cash benefits • Central level • Monthly benefits according to the Law • Amounts are equal for the whole of Serbia (horizontal equity established) • Amounts are indexed to the cost of living • Monthly, for social assistance cash benefits and attendance allowance • Every six months, for child and parent’s allowances • Local level • Based on decisions of Local Self-Governments (LSG) • Amounts differ depending on assessment of beneficiaries’ needs and available budget (there is no defined indexing) Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

5. Types of child protection services • Central level • Institutional placement • In social welfare institutions • In foster families • Local level • Temporary placement in shelter • Day Care Centers • Homecare • Different subsidies for poor families (payment of utility bills, transportation costs, etc.) Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

6. Child protection funding • For central level mandates from Republic budget • There is cost sharing by beneficiaries, guardians and next of kin • For local level mandates from LSG budgets • There is cost sharing by beneficiaries, guardians and next of kin Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

7. Residential institutionsCost methodology for placement • Placement in residential institutions • Based on defined elements (costs) • Standardized costs (according to norms) • Non-standardized costs (no norms) • Family placement • Based on legally defined accommodation cost and divided into: • Fee for supporting the beneficiary/child • Foster carer fee Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

8. Residential institutionsCosts of institutional placement • Running costs • Costs of social work • Directly paid from the budget (As per the Law these services are free of charge) • Costs of institutional placement per beneficiary • Participation in the costs by beneficiary, next of kin or republic budget • Health care costs • From Health Care Insurance Fund /Only for Persons with Developmental Disability • Capital investment costs/buildings and equipment • From the republic budget Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

9. Residential institutionsRunning costs- services of social work - • Salaries, other payments to staff, office running costsfor professional staff • Activities on prevention, needs assessment, counseling and therapy: • Psychologists, pedagogues, social workers, defectologists, legal specialists, coordinators of professional work, directors, managers, etc. • Number and type of staff is determined according to the number of beneficiaries These costs are funded by the republic budget Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

10. Residential institutionsRunning costs- price of placement per beneficiary - • Material costs (food, hygiene, heating, transportation, insurance, utilities…) • Salaries and other income of part of the staff (number of staff divided by price of placement according to set standards) • Running and maintenance costs (building and equipment) – 4% of the price • Depreciation costs of buildings and equipment In these costs there is participation of beneficiaries, next of kin and the republic budget Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

11. Residential institutionsPrice of institutional placement Determined as per the law and rulebooks and consists of: • Standardized costs by type and quantity (food, hygiene, clothes and footwear, educational activities, cultural activities…) • Costs for individual residential institution / all residential institutions (not standardized) (heating, utilities, transportation of staff) (additional payments to staff, communication costs, insurance…) • Costs for salaries for part of the staff (standardized) (so called cost of work, coefficient for complexity of job, number of staff) • Depreciation costs and maintenance costs of buildings and equipment Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

12. Residential institutionsDetermining and changing price of placement • Price of placement is determined and changed by: • Minister mandated for social protection • Adopting a decision on new prices of placement • Adjustment of prices is performed in cases: • When there are changes in social welfare staff salaries • When there are changes in costs of living (based on official statistics data) Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

13. Foster carePlacement in foster families • Price of family placement consists of two parts: • Fee for supporting the beneficiary • Foster carer fee • Until 2003, foster carer fees were determined in net amounts • Both fees (for beneficiary and for carer) significantly differed depending on the age and degree of developmental disability of the beneficiary • Until 2003, determining and adjusting of both fees was the same as for residential placement Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

14. Foster carePlacement in foster families • Changes in legislation and rulebooks during 2003 and in 2004: • Fees for supporting the beneficiary increased • Foster carer fees increased and pension insurance included • Additional benefits introduced for beneficiaries Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

15. Foster careChanges in determining price of family placement since 2004 • Fee for supporting the beneficiary is determined: • Nominal value per child • Amount is the same regardless of the number of children in the foster family • Foster carer fee is adjusted depending on: • Average wage in the republic Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

16. Foster careDetermining the fee for supporting the beneficiary • Determined once a year, as follows: • In the amount of 52% of average wage in the republic / net amount • Based on the average wage in June of the current year • Fees are indexed each month with costs of living • Indexation is in the mandate of the Minister responsible for social affairs Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

17. Foster careDetermining the foster carer fee • Determined monthly based on the average wage in the republic/ net amount • Foster carer fee amounts to 32.5% of average wage if one child is in foster care • Foster carer fee amounts to 20% of average wage per child, if more than one child are in foster care / minimum amount as per the law • Total amount of foster carer fee cannot be higher than the average wage in the republic • In addition to the fee, pension insurance is paid for the foster carer (since 2003) and healthcare insurance (since 2005) Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

18. Foster careAdditional benefits for beneficiaries in family placement • From the republic budget the following costs are covered: • Transportation costs • Purchasing of textbooks and school supplies • Recreational trips and excursions for children • One-off payments for graduation and diploma celebrations • Increase in fees for supporting a beneficiary with multiple disabilities Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

19. Prices of placement in residential institutions, family and Day Care Centers Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007

20. Republic of SerbiaMinistry of Labour and Social Policy Costing Methodologyof Social Welfare in Child Protection Thank you for your attention! Sofia, Bulgaria, July 2007