Individual Democratic Institutions Research Fellowships 1994-1996

The research reports reproduced here are the responsibility of the individual authors. Their reproduction does not imply any form of official or unofficial endorsement by NATO. The reports are offered in unedited form, as presented by their authors, with a view to make their findings available to a wide audience. The System of Social Support and Help to ex-officers and their families in Great Britain, the United States of America and Russia Antonina Dashkina [Back to Index] VII. Appendices: Appendix I List of Tver participants for SSAFA programme 1st-4th May 1995 Colonel Yuri Pavlov, born 1946. Deputy head of Tver ex-officers Association. Svetlana Gromova, born 1958. Head of women's section of above Association, wife of an ex-officer. Valentina Kostina, born 1953. Works as volunteer for Association, wife of an ex-officer. Major Boris Romanov, born 1949.Deputy head of Union responsible for social-economical problems. Colonel Valery Monastyrshin, born 1952. Works as volunteer for the Association Captain Igor Snegov, born 1963. English speaker, works as volunteer for the Association Lt. Colonel Sergey Medvedev, 1955. Educated as a psychologist, works as volunteer for the Association Captain Vladimir Maryin, born 1947. High military pedagog, works as volunteer for the Association. Colonel Valery Galako, born 1950. Works as volunteer for the Association Svetlana Vinogradova, Head of Tver fund of Social Protection of Population. Appendix II Officers Reports Valeri Pavlovich Galaco I was member of a group visiting Britain from 24th April to the 4th of May in order to learn their methods of delivering social services to the population. From the 24 th of April to the 28 th we visited the London Borough of Hammersmith. Social services are run by the local authority and cover a wide field. We were surprised to learn that the government of Great Britain provides social care for its people and that the basic finance is provided from the State budget. The training of social workers is also carried out at State expense. Visit to the department responsible for protecting the rights of the child. The social workers in the department are highly trained and it is their task to see that the provisions of the 1989 Law of the child are observed. This involves liaison with the police, who have their own department of "Child Protection". The guiding principle is "A child should be brought up in a family and there is no substitute for a family and home environment". We visited an institution for young offenders and were surprised at the tasks posed them. The institution houses those who have kidnapped children for blackmail, stolen cars, attempted rape and for other grave crimes. On no occasion did we note any lack of benevolence on the part of the staff to their wards. The whole work of the institution is directed towards rehabilitating the offender by enhancing his self-esteem. Classes are aimed at increasing the level of general we learned they had no desire to return to their old way of life. A lot is done for the welfare of the children of invalids who are made to feel full citizens of their country. During our work with the social workers in Hammersmith it became clear to me that social workers who are devoted heart and soul to their work and are prepared to help anyone and everyone. The lesson on "How to understand people" left a lasting impression. These lessons are essential for any social worker. In visiting other departments it was always apparent that the personnel had been specially trained and were able to relate to an interviewee. In creating a Centre for the social welfare of the families of servicemen and reservist officers the basic task should be orientated towards: providing living space finding work. Colonel of the Reserve Yuri Alexandrovich Pavlov It was become impossible to solve many of the problems experienced by discharged servicemen without a professional organisation financed from state funds. Such an organisation is ( God willing ) the Centre for the social rehabilitation of servicemen people discharged from military service in Tver created with the help of the European-Russian Trust. As I see it this centre should become the Primary training centre for social workers for other regions of Russia. We felt that the British system of social welfare delivery in Norfolk was suitable for our conditions. Social Services Management in Norfolk The country is divided into regions and the managers have a budget for a yearto pay for a selection of services to meet needs as they arise. They have theauthority to change the balance of services without restrictions of red tape andto call on funds from the social services administration at country level andfunds collected by charitable events. Wide use is made of volunteer helpers and non-commercial organisations.Many of the volunteers are themselves invalids or were former clients of theinstitutions they now aid. This is a positive factor since they know what othersneed. It is interesting that many institutions work exclusively on a volunteerbasis and have no initial finance. Nevertheless if the volunteer institutions areof a good quality then the country will consider financing and extending them. Social services are well advertised so that those in need of them and thesewho wish to work as volunteers for them know whom to approach. Socialworkers are attached either permanently or temporarily to health centres andhospitals. Help is provided for carers looking after invalids and children. The carers inthese families have a heavy psychological and physical burden since they areto the home. There are day centres to which the invalid or child may be takenfor several hours or for the day. The centres serve the invalids in that theyprovide hobby facilities and the means for them to look after themselves. The aim of reducing the number of clients. All the social services aim to help people solve their problems themselves. Theclients are offered a wide range of adaptations and equipment to aid them insocial intercourse and to move about and cook independently. This policymakes for effective use of resources and means help can be targeted whereneeded. Reducing juvenile delinquency and keeping the adolescent out of court andprison. A great deal of work is directed to preventing crimes committed by children.In addition to the provision of social workers to work with families there isalso secure accommodation where a juvenile maybe housed for several days ormonths, under lock and key if necessary. This enables the adolescent to beisolated from the criminal milieu. The permanent SSAFA social worker is tasked with maintaining contact with the command of his military unit and producing an annual written report on the families in his care. The interesting feature is the requirement for confidentiality and anonymity - the commander of the unit is only informed with the consent of the servicemen or in circumstances where delay would be detrimental. DISCHARGE FROM THE ARMY - Difficulties Housing - The problem arises because all housing for former servicemen is dealt with by civil authorities who do not take the applicant's wishes in to account and exercise little control over expenditure and over funds intended for housing which are used for other purposes. Resettlement - Civic employment exchanges pay little attention to the experience of officers, their intellectual potential and strength of character. Transition period - Between discharge and receiving a flat and finding a job is the most difficult period accompanied by stress, lack of confidence and so on. As a rule there is no help at this stage from the social services. The individual faces his problems alone. The organisation of the trip to Britain was of the highest quality for which Tony Widmer and Antonina Dashkina are to be especially thanked. The same attention was paid to organisation by these services which received us and in the cultural programme which gave me an impression not only of English culture but a lasting impression of the architecture of London. There was a chance to meet ordinary people and social workers. I consider it would be advantageous to use some of experience gained by the British welfare services for our own programme of social service delivery to servicemen in the Tver centre for the social rehabilitation of officers and their families. Finance for centre should come from the budget of the Russian government and possibly the account of the ministry of defence. The centre for social rehabilitation should be centralised and should protect the interests of military men of the reserve from various departments of the armed forces - not exclusively the Ministry of Defence of Russia - and should draw on the experience of an organisation such as SSAFA. The centre should be the exclusive organiser of finance for housing officers and their families in Tver and its region. Resettlement in England was organised on one military base by the creation of a unit equipped with modern technology and a computer data base. This could be copied wholesale in the establishment of a resettlement section within the centre which would also deal with retraining. Since government will only provide limited funds a commercial base must be created to provide additional funds. The most useful direction to take would be to create a joint Russian - English manufacturing trade and commercial enterprise. If the English side were to find an interested British firm or entrepreneurs and arrange a meeting in Tver , this would be of significant support to the centre. Initially the work would be associated with the opening of the centre. Bur British social services experience could also be used in dealing with alcoholism, drug addiction and in helping mentally and physically handicapped children. Gromova Svetlane Anatolievna The idea of creating a "Centre for social aid for servicemen and their families" is timely and topical. Not everything we saw in Britain can be transposed to a Russian context but some elements are appropriate. The main target of social work should be the family. If a person is excluded from the family milieu then he should find himself in a mile as close to the family one as possible. The stability of the family is the main stabilising factor in society. The rehabilitation of young offenders must be carried out by education and they must be under the supervision of teachers. The occupational therapist must be regarded as a very valuable professional who works with a specific client providing him with a large of adaptation essential to his life. During the July course I would like to receive fuller information about the work servicemen preparing for discharge two years before discharge (courses, programmes, seminars and sources of finance). I should like to attend Mrs. Woodruff's course "Skills in talking to people" to obtain as much written materials as possible on the training of social workers. My opinion of what should constitute the work of a Russian centre for social protection: Provision of Housing Unemployment, lack of money One of the features of the work of the centre should be to provide guidance from the moment of redundancy to the creation of a job with good salary. If the discharged person has good material resources he can solve his own housing problem. A bank of information on employment opportunities (such as we saw in Britain) and a centre for retraining servicemen should be complemented by a system of employment. Under the present plan for founding a centre an employment system would not be possible since the centre will be part of the structure and by law is forbidden to engage in commercial activity. We already have a union of veterans. Personal from the union will work in the centre. This is permissible in law since the union is a state body and whilst it may not itself engage in commerce it may found a commercial firm. The union already has such a firm Evergreen Tver. Should a retired officer come to the centre with an employment problem the social worker should determine in the first interview whether he wants to engage in business. If the answer is "yes" - then the retired officer will be directed to Evergreen Tver, where he will be interviewed with a view determining his business idea and researching it. Should he have no idea, then various forms of work may be suggested. (All Evergreen Tver officials work on contract and a holding company is formed.) A branch is opened to test the person's business idea in the market place. The retired officer runs the branch, though he is not its owner. He receives a salary from the profits of the branch and learns to manage the business. When he feels he is ready to work independently he is discharged and opened his own business. If work with us suits him, then he works with us. From the profits accumulated by Evergreen Tver it will be possible to finance the centre and the individual programmes. There is a similar system in Israel where only scientific work is financed. According to statistics only 5 % of starts -ups are unsuccessful SSAFA also undertakes commercial work and the collection of voluntary contributions, since they cannot survive on the state money. The regulations of Evergreen Tver allow it to engage in charitable work the collection of voluntary contributions and enterprise. V.I. Kostina Course held from 20 th April to 5 th May on the question of social welfare of servicemen and their families. The programme demonstrated the operation of British social services as providing normal living standards for all sections of the population. Where were for various reasons faced with difficult living conditions which they either could not better by themselves or to which no solution was possible. Since our planned Centre for the rehabilitation of servicemen and their wives will deal directly with servicemen. I paid particular attention to the way similar problems are dealt in Great Britain. I believe the experience of the English social service in solving the problems of training and employment of servicemen after their discharge from the forces the problems of their wires deserves careful with a view to use possible application of these methods here. There should also be consideration of the links between finding work for servicemen and the provision flats by the workplace or by the state. It would be expedient to concentrate the efforts of the Centre on using English experience and practice in solving these two questions in Russian conditions. Other problems and their solutions flow from these. I wish to express thanks to Tony Widmer and A.N. Dashkina for organising a useful trip and purposeful study in Britain. Vladimir Aleksandrovich Marinin Given that the participants in the course were former servicemen and the wives of servicemen having no previous practical experience in the social welfare sphere, the programme and instruction met the aims set in full. I am not qualified to judge the work of the social services of Hammersmith. They have their own managers and staff for this. Outwardly it was very impressive and convicting and, what is very important, one felt the pride people took in their work and their city and country. I felt that the state of social work was directly linked to the economic situation of the country the policies of the party in power and its governmental, the morale of society. The programme first showed us the various methods of social work in Britain and our attention then turned specially to social work with the Army in Britian. A great deal of what we learned in Britain could be used by us provided we had the essential material and moral support. we have the people for this. None of what I saw regarding the types of social work was a surprise to me, because of my work with the Army as a cultural and education officer but the professionalism of the social workers I sincerely respect. It is true that we had different terminology for these issues. All those questions concerning the social protection of servicemen (I take this term as a basis) were the prerogative of the political branch which dealt with the political education of the forces and all those issues which may be considered the social protection of the servicemen. The work had of course an ideological basis but everyone working in the sphere was a professional. In dissolving the political officer branch they threw out the baby with the bath water - since discharge of these officers of their employment in other functions at a lower level led to no solution of the problems. Against this background one could say that the impression at times during lessons in Britain was that problems of social protection of servicemen and their families in Russia is an undiscovered America , I venture to maintain that we used to have all these systems in our army we have them now and will have then in the future. The situation is much more complex for those discharged from the army or now being discharged and for their families. Social help takes the form of issuing applications for all types of benefits which depend on length of service and on medical assistance in military institutions. The rest depends upon the officer himself . It used to be that no officer could be discharged from the Army before he had been offered living space. Were this order to be broken the commander would have to answer for it. The order is still in existence, yet there are countless officers and warrant officers discharged without a flat. The construction and assignment of flats is in the hands of civic administration and regional bodies who drank the message with their mother's milk that the building of flats is the concern of the military people themselves. Usually they try to reassign the money and flats to other needy people forgetting that the finances are meant to be allocated to retired servicemen. At the moment all co-ordination is carried out by social organisations from the union of veterans to initiative groups. If there is to be a Centre it should as a sub unit of regional administration have all the maps in order to carry out functions of co-ordination and control. The second question is provision of employment for officers of the reserve and their families. Few officers apply to the employment services. There may be many reasons, but I think a Russian officer is not used to making requests on his own behalf. For someone else? - Yes! The needs an official organisation in which he can feel at home. The Centre be this. There are medical and leisure problems too many discharged officers do not have the right to use the services of medical bodies and leisure sanatoria. A single admission to a leisure centre costs significantly more then the pension of a lieutenant colonel. The future Centre should look to remedy this failing as it should seek to retrain officers for peacetime professions as a priority task. At present civic authorities may only provide retraining for a restricted group of officers and members of their family - primarily invalids and the chronically ill. Others have to pay the full fee for retraining. Military pensioners, just as civilian pensioners may not be registered as unemployed - hence they cannot benefit from programmes to retrain the unemployed. One possibility would be for officers of the reserve to undertake courses at regional centres by individual agreement / contract especially when small numbers would not make a course financially viable for the Centre. The creation of the Centre is all the more necessary because existing legislation cannot keep pace with events, legislation needs to be taken to deal with the flood of serving and former servicemen from the various republics of the dissolved Soviet Union persecuted either because they have refused take an oath of allegiance or because they are seen as belonging to Russia. Because of this and the many problems faced by discharged servicemen, the centre should provide legal aid to defend human rights. As regards the staff of the Centre I consider that: Firstly - They should for 1,5 - 2 years be temporary to provide for changes and additions as dictated by events. Secondly - The centre should be called The Centre for Social Rehabilitation of servicemen discharged from the Armed Forces and members of their families. Since those still serving in the Armed Forces are catered for by the Ministry of Defence and the Army has an organisation a finance. Thirdly - An advertisement programme should be provided as a prelude to the first i ntalie. I should like to express sincere gratitude to all involved in this extremely important work. Sergei Fedorovich Medvedev The trip to England widened my view considerably both in an ordinary human sense and as regards social sciences in society. My most vivid impressions are as follows: The problems are similar everywhere, only their solutions differ. The special role and great authority of social worker in the state The impression that England is one large organisation to provide social welfare.. The constant requirement for those around than to provide help for those in need. Charity as a feature of state policy. The constant search for new forms of work. The attempts to return to a normal life those who have dropped out of it. These efforts are made bearing in mind the position of the person to whom help is being given and not simply accorded unthinkingly. There were many positive features of the training of servicemen for discharge which we can call for future use - many of them non-existent in our army. The essential feature is the payment of a gratuity on discharge. Even while a person is still serving in the British Army work is sought for him and time and money are given for his professional training. SSAFA a highly organised and authoritative body exists to give specific aid to those discharged to the reserve whereas in the RF these people are left to cope with their problems alone. The work we saw with the families of servicemen convinced us again that in all armies the problems are the same: frequent removals and the associated problems (children often change school and friends) . the difficulty service wives experience in finding work. constant absences from home of husbands and their lack of participation in the process of bringing up children. I would like venture to say that when the Soviet Army existed work with families was better organised than it is in England. The system was precise and well-co-ordinated. Our army differs from the British Army in that members of a servicemen's family have more access to commanders of units and formations (As distinct from the British Army) commanders at all levels have days set aside for "surgeries". Meetings for families at which common problems were discussed was an everyday feature of our army. If one takes into consideration the active role played by our women both in society and in the family - one may draw the conclusion that it is essential and relevant to develop work with them even after the officer has entered the reserve. What I should like to hear about in future lectures: the history of the founding of SSAFA. Initial problems. SSAFA personnel and the responsibilities of officials. the mechanism by which the organisation is financed. the system for the retraining of servicemen. Who teaches. Who finances. the types of work with families of those discharged to the reserve apart from material help. the role of the structures in delivering social assistance to discharged servicemen. a short review of similar programmes in other NATO countries. EVALUATION FORM 1. NAME / FAMILY NAME __________________________________________________________ 2. POSITION IN THE ARMY __________________________________________________________ 3. EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD OF SOCIAL PROTECTION __________________________________________________________ 4. MAIN MOTIVATION OF BEING INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT __________________________________________________________ 5. HOW DID YOU FIRST HEAR ABOUT THIS PROGRAMME __________________________________________________________ 6. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT __________________________________________________________ 7. HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR PARTICIPATION AND ROLE IN THE PROGRAMME __________________________________________________________ 8. HOW DID THE METHODS OF TEACHING USED ON THIS COURSE DIFFER FROM THAT WHICH YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED IN RUSSIA __________________________________________________________ 9. WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND MOST USEFUL ABOUT THE COURSE __________________________________________________________ 10. IS THERE ANYTHING NOT INCLUDED IN THE COURSE THAT YOU WOULD HAVE LIKED __________________________________________________________ Appendix III Resources received for Tver Project to date: Attached is a breakdown of funding (96,450 ECU) received from the EU. (approx. 80000 in sterling) The grant we received was for the maximum available under the TACIS BISTRO programme. This meant that we had to greatly reduce the scale of the original project which was for 200,000. We had hoped that all thirty trainees would visit the UK as part of their fieldwork practice. Current funding is only sufficient for ten visitors (including the head of the Tver servicemen's organisation and the Dean of Faculty at Moscow State Pedagogical University). We will not be able to expand the activities of the centre as we would wish e.g. more training days and workshops, equipment and advice for: servicemen who are about to be discharged their families, especially those with a member who is disabled ex-servicemen, especially those who have disabilities wives of ex- servicemen and their families, especially those who have disabilities. Lack of funding will also prevent the major aspects of Phase II being developed as we would have liked e.g. to expand the project to the whole of the Tver Oblast by having contact points in three or four other major population areas. We would also like to hold a major conference in the Oblast, in 1996, to share experiences and expertise with other regions. Other UK sources approached and funding received for related projects Although the following programmes were not directly concerned with the Tver Project, this project came about as the result of the success of them. In January 1993 grants totalling 25,000 were received from a number of sources (British Council, Westminster Foundation for Democracy and Charity Know How etc.) to bring over to the UK a group of ex-officers and ex- officers' wives to look at the system of welfare provision in UK In April 1994 a group of 12 people, consisting of serving officers, ex-officers and heads of regional administrations, including Tver, visited NATO and the EU. The four day programme was fully funded by NATO. We also received a grant (11,000) from the Know How Fund to bring over a group of 7 representatives from servicemen's associations in May 1994. Among these was a representative from Tver. The Department of Health were approached to see if they could assist with funding but were unable to help as any funding for projects in the CIS would come from the KHF. The KHF have said they are unable to fund further social welfare programmes as they do not fall within their four priority sectors. The Department of Employment have not been approached as they receive funding in the same circumstances as the DOH. Russia The Ministry of Defence are unable to assist with funding but fully support the Project. The situation in Chechnya has meant that there is even less money available. The Ministry of Social Protection has helped with a small amount of funding, to pay for some of the Russian teachers. However, much of the Ministry's funds are being diverted to Chechyna, for the rebuilding programme. The Ministry of Labour is looking to see if they can give financial support but we suspect will be faced with the same problems as above. Summary of additional funding needed for Tver Project Immediate funding is needed to bring two additional trainees to the UK as part of the planned visit 20th April - 5th May 1995 (see appendix I). The cost of bringing a further group of twenty trainees to the UK for two weeks in September 1995 as part of their final fieldwork practice placement (see appendix II). For two additional computers at the Centre for creating and developing the database and network to free up existing computers for training (see appendix II). Funding for two workshops and a conference in Tver (November 1995 & January 1996) to share experiences and pass on skills (see appendix III). Funding to set up contact points in three or four other areas in the Tver Oblast (November 1995-July 1996) (see appendix IV). Additional funding to assist in the refurbishment of the Centre in Tver (see appendix IV). For additional work involved in the co-ordination and administration of the Project after October 1995 (see appendix IV). Appendix IV Constitution of the Tver Social Welfare Centre RUSSIAN FEDERATION Approved byDecree N 268 of November15 th, 1995 issued by the Administration of Tverskaya Oblast PROVISIONS drawn up by the State Institution attached to the Department of Social Protection of the Population of Tverskaya Oblast Administration Oblast Centre of Social Rehabilitation of Military Servicemen Retired from Military Service and Members of their Families Juridical Address: 17/2 Gorky St. 170005, Tver TVER 1996 ADMINISTRATION OF TVERSKAYA OBLAST DECREE November 15, 1995 Tver N 268 On the Establishment of the Oblast Centre of Social Rehabilitation of Military Servicemen Retired from the Military Service and Members of Their Families To implement Order N 1620-p of September 9, 1993 issued by the Council of Ministers - Government of the Russian Federation "On the Programme "Moscow - St. Petersburg" within the framework of implementation of the Programme of Transmigration to Tverskaya Oblast of families of retired military servicemen and taking into consideration that the European Community Commission allocated 96 thousand ECU for realisation of the Project on the establishment of Oblast Centre of Social Rehabilitation eg. Military Servicemen who retired from the military service and members of their families in the city of Tver in order to make a complex decision of matters relating to social rehabilitation and retraining of former military servicemen and members of their families THE RESOLUTION IS PASSED: The Oblast Centre of Social Rehabilitation of Military Servicemen Retired from the Military Service and Members of their families should be set up in the social protection management structure. Provisions on Oblast Centre of Social Rehabilitation of Military Servicemen Retired from the Military Service and their Families shall be approved (to be enclosed). Managers of the Finance Department Raidur I.P., Social Protection Department of the Oblast Administration Danilov V. N. up to December 1, 1995 are to submit the List of permanent staff and the estimate of expenditure on organisation and maintenance of the Centre. The Centre of Social Rehabilitation of Military Servicemen Retired from the Military Service and Members of their Families should be included by the List of projects financed at the expense of the Oblast Budget from December 1, 1995. It should be taken into consideration that the Administration of the city of Tver having studied a matter relating to giving kindergarten's N 85 premises to the Centre in 79/2 Gory St. on conditions of gratuitous lease. The Social Protection Department supervised by the Oblast Administration (Danilov V.N.) up to December 1, 1995 is: to conclude the Agreement on taking on lease or purchasing premises to be used for the Centre; to arrange preparation of material and technical base of the Centre, its re-planning and reconstruction; organisation and methodical work relating to selection of the staff and the beginning of the Centre operation should be carried out. The Oblast Fund of Social Support to be given to the population (Vinogradova S.A.) should participate in financing of the Centre from the very beginning. The Raion city Administrations should promote the establishment of interaction of Co-ordination Councils on social protection of military servicemen who retired or are in the reserve with the Oblast Centre in settlement of matters relating to social rehabilitation of military servicemen being in the reserve as well as their families. An application should be sent in to the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Social Protection of the Population of the Russian Federation, Federal Employment Service, Federal Funds of Social Support in accordance with the order given by the Vice Premier Minister of the Russian Government Yarov Yu. F. of January 6, 1995 on rendering to Administration of Tverskaya Oblast of financial assistance in the establishment of material and technical base of the Centre and in allocation of financial resources intended to finance the Centre at the beginning of its operation. Control over implementation of this Decree should be undertaken by the Deputy Head of the Oblast Administration Gerasimov Yu.A. First Deputy Head of the Administration of Tverskaya Oblast V.K. Bobkov To be added to the Decree of the Administration Head of Oblast November 15, 1995 N 268 PROVISIONS ON OBLAST CENTRE OF SOCIAL REHABILITATION OF SERVICEMEN, CITIZENS RETIRED FROM THE MILITARY SERVICE AND MEMBERS OF THEIR FAMILIES GENERAL The Oblast Centre of Social Rehabilitation of Military Servicemen, citizens retired from the military service and members of their families further referred to as the Centre is the State Institution of the Social Protection system of Tverskaya Oblast, intended for rendering complex services on the territory of Oblast to military servicemen being and have been retired from the military service, members of their families who are in need of social assistance, rendering timely and qualified social assistance of different kinds: juridical, psychological and social, social and pedagogical, social and economic, etc. The Centre should be established and liquidated by the Oblast Administration on being presented by the Social Protection Department. The Centre Manager is to be appointed by the order issued by the Manager of the Department of Social Protection of the Oblast Administration. The structural divisions of the Centre are established and re-organised by the Centre Manager order after the agreement with the Oblast Social Protection Department. The Centre is organised and maintained at the expense of financial resources specified by the Oblast Budget for social security as well as at the expense of receipts from scientific and economic activities carried out by the Centre, charitable and investment contributions. The Centre activities should be directly supervised by the Social Protection Department of the Oblast Administration and it is to be accountable to the Department on all questions relating to its activities. Bodies of social protection to be rendered to the Oblast population are to render organisation and methodical and practical assistance to the Centre. The Centre is considered to be a juridical person, has its own bank account, including currency accounts, a seal and a stamp and a special form with the name of the Centre on it. The estimate of expenditure and the List of permanent staff of the Centre are approved on presentation made by the Social Protection Department by the Finance Department of the Oblast Administration. Juridical Address: 79/2, Gorky St., the city of Tver. The Centre is to be equipped with up-to-date computers, telephones, fax and typing equipment. If possible the Centre is to be equipped with special testing, psychological relief, special diagnostic equipment and other. The following is in the possession of the Centre: administrative and economic part; social and economic part.. All structural subdivisions of the Centre are guided in its activities by the Centre Manager. The Centre staff and its structural subdivisions are to be determined after the agreement with the Oblast Social Assistance Department, taking into consideration tasks, financial resources specified by the Budget. If necessary additional workers can be attracted in accordance with the Labour Agreement concluded. Duties to be carried out by employees of structural subdivisions are to be drawn up by the Manager and be approved by social protection bodies. Centre and its structural subdivisions Regulations are to be approved by the General Meeting to be held by employees on presentation of the Centre administration. OBJECTIVES AND MAIN TASKS OF THE CENTRE ACTIVITIES The Centre aim is: to promote realisation of rights, main privileges and social guarantees to be given to military servicemen, citizens retired from the military service and members of their families, their adaptation under new conditions, settlement of social and economic, psychological and other problems arising in connection with their retirement, to promote strengthening of their families. Main tasks to be carried out by the Centre are as follows: to reveal together with State and public organisations/military commissariats, employment bodies, social support Funds, public organisations of former military servicemen, veterans of military actions and military service families of military servicemen, citizens being in the reserve, those who are in need of social assistance; to register and analyse the contingent of military servicemen who are being and have been retired from the military service, living and arriving in Oblast for residence; to form the data bank; to define the most pressing problems of social protection of this category of citizens and to render specific kinds and forms of social and economic, psychological, juridical and other social assistance; to study problems and develop recommendations on Regional settling, providing with dwellings and adaptation of families of military servicemen, citizens retired from the military service and arrived in Oblast; to lend assistance to families in settlement of their problems; to render assistance to concrete persons in realisation of their own capabilities to overcome complicated vital situations; to visit families that are in need of social support; to analyse the state and possibilities of social security and rendering services to military service veterans, military servicemen, citizens who have been transferred to the reserve in cities and Raions of Oblast; to prepare suggestions, programmes on development and improvement of the social assistance field. Labour payment of employees of the Centre that is financed from the Budget is effected in accordance with labour payment system being in force. The Centre Manager, depending on production necessity can take within the limits of the planned wages Fund fixed take on the staff of the Centre and its structural subdivisions posts not provided for by standards but needed for more effective Centre activities. Business Manager of the Oblast Administration Head S.V.Skachkov Appendix V Notes of Material Presented By Steven Shardlow Introduction to the course Welcome and introduction (A. Dashkina) Overview of the Russian European Trust and the developments in Tver Introduction and overview of the programme Introduction to the course team (S. Shardlow) general remarks each member of the team to introduce themselves and the material that they will be presenting on the programme course members expectations - discuss in pairs/threes then some plenary feedback Relationships with clients professional boundaries Aims to consider the nature of professional relationships in social work to examine important areas of potential value conflict Introduction Method of teaching and learning Introduction to the book: explanation of how it will be used on the course Various forms of social work - specific to different countries with examples: emphasis upon the importance that precise nature of social work must grow out of the society in which it is located Relationships many types similar and different (graphic representation) army command structure authority personal and professional What should a social work relationship be like? Exercise: 3.1 - boundaries think about these questions on your own (5 mins) 3 groups (35 mins) compare and contrast; emphasis on the reasons plenary discussion how much difference in groups most difficult examples easiest examples what are the causes of difference; gender; ethnicity; religion; nationality? Implications and conclusions expectations about us and for us and for the development of the centre how important is it that all social workers respond in the same way; does the centre need to have a common set of principles about how to treat clients? Advocacy Aims Aims to explore the skill of advocacy and to examine how this can be performed effectively in practice. To consider the values implicit in this skill. Introduction review of previous session overview of current section Codes of practice importance history summarise the type of content Presentation of some key social work ethical principles Respect people as individuals Help people realize their potential Partnership with people Help people to help themselves Understand and respect social difference all above presented with illustrative examples and then discussed Advocacy - examples individual work - present a state body an argument on behalf of a client family work - help a family member to be able to express their views work with communities - help to present a case in a committee or at large community group Key features help the client to do it - avoiding dependency values that are implicit in advocacy skills that lead to successful advocacy Exercise 4 groups (In My view 8.1) consider this case how would you have dealt with it Plenary consider the views of each of the groups general principles of advocacy illustrate the different strategies Good practice in Advocacy illustrated using the principles of Senge Exploring problems - Inquiry (interview skills/communication skills) - skills and values Aims To help develop skills in exploring problems. To enable clients to express their views. To demonstrate that clients are valued as people. To examine how to show empathy Introduction (15 mins) Setting the climate; physical comfort; social rules of proximity etc.; non verbal communication; empathy/warmth genuineness etc. Giving permission for people to disclose information Emotion and intellectual understandings of problems Skills in helping people to tell their story; relevant information; sequence; shaping; Setting priorities for action; small achievable goals; response to success. Typical failure is to move toward solutions too early Critical appraisal of practice - Exercise (25 mins) Part One Watch the video of a social worker introducing herself to a client in plenary session identify what was wrong with the negative section. Part two Watch the video (second version of a social worker introducing herself to a client) in threes what did they like about the revised version. Plenary generalised points that can be made what might have been done differently Improving practice in inquiry - Exercise (60 mins) Describe some of the skills of inquiry - Heron's framework Watch video of positive inquiry skills and in groups of four to identify what makes this good practice (three items) and what they would like to improve (two items Plenary discussion: compare the differences and similarities between the two groups - what did they find hard what was easy Conclusion (5 mins) Draw out the learning points Lecture The nature of social work practice and social work education in the UK Social Work The types of problems faced by social workers Care management The Children Act Social Work education Organisational arrangements Importance of Practice Closing Session Introduction overview Any questions in threes participants identify any questions response by teachers Course evaluation completion of the evaluation form discuss views of the course in small groups plenary comment from all members