Rožaje is a city where even those over the age of thirty receive child benefit. A quarter of the 2.020 checked cases for material security in that city are those in which irregularities were found - in as many as 503 cases, social protection rights were illegally exercised.
"Children's allowance in Rožaje is received by people older than me. We all need to take this into account," said Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Predrag Bošković.
He has been in the project for the past week Montenegro on Twitter - join the changes, led the discussion from the official account of the project @cgtvituje.
Bošković said that the Government will prevent the abuse of social benefits, regardless of the politicking of those who will be left without the right to this assistance, and who received it without any papers.
"Immediately after the ISSS test phase, we presented certain data on abuses of the right to care and assistance, where family members did not report the death of the right holder and received money for a certain period of time," said Bošković, adding that the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare will (MRSS) to announce all the data on abuses at the end of the month, and that the data from Rožaj has already been announced because the biggest abuse was observed in that municipality.
"All documentation will be handed over to the competent authorities who will determine within their competence who is responsible for these abuses. The goal of introducing social cards is not the abolition of social benefits, but the introduction of work in this area and the creation of conditions for social benefits to be received by those citizens of Montenegro who are in a state of social need," he said.
The system of social records, reminds Bošković, will be networked with 10 information systems of state institutions, which will prevent abuse, that is, enable better management of social policy from the other side.
"This system will make it impossible for adults to receive child benefit, or for the right to material security to be exercised by persons who report six family members instead of two, or persons who do not report assets, income..." he said.
Increased number of children placed in unrelated families
During the discussion, Bošković reminded that, before the foster care campaign, 58 percent of Montenegrin citizens believed that institutional placement was the best solution for children without parental care. According to Bošković, after the campaign "Every Child Needs a Family", implemented by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health with UNICEF, citizens' awareness of basic human rights and the need for every child to grow up in a warm family environment has changed.
"So according to the latest research on the knowledge, attitudes and behavior of Montenegrin citizens towards children without parental care, which was conducted in February 2014, four out of five citizens in Montenegro believe that it is better for a child without parental care to be placed in a foster family instead of in an institution," he said, adding that the success of the campaign is confirmed by the fact that there has been an increase in the number of foster families and the number of children placed in unrelated families.
249 children are placed in 353 foster families. Of that number, 311 children were placed in 220 related foster families.
"It is encouraging that 42 children have been placed in 29 unrelated families, which is over 100 percent more than before the start of the campaign. We are even more encouraged by the fact that children from maternity hospitals are being placed in foster families," Bošković said.
70 elderly people are waiting at the Home in Risje
Has the awareness of citizens about placing old people in homes changed, is the question that Bošković asked Twitter users.
“Absolutely not. It is still considered a shameful act by the family. Even sooner, someone will keep the mother at home and not take care of her, but put her in a home", is one of the responses of the participants in the discussion.
@cgtvituje We put one aunt in a home in Spuz like that, so it was so hard on us that we sent her to the bare island.
— ŽaRo☼GeVaRa™ (@rain_wind_storm) December 1, 2014
Bošković, however, says that the awareness of Montenegrin citizens about placing the elderly in homes has changed.
"Perhaps not as much as they would like, but the fact is that there are 70 people on the waiting list for the Home in Risno," said Bošković.
There are two homes for the elderly in Montenegro - the "Grabovac" Home for the Aged in Risno, which was founded in 1947, and the Home for the Aged in Bijelo Polje, which was founded in 2010. The capacity of the home for the elderly "Grabovac" is 300 places and currently all capacities are filled. The capacity of the Home for the elderly in Bijelo Polje is 230 places, and currently 123 people are housed there.
Bošković said that the plan is to build a third home for the elderly in Pljevlje, as part of the second wave of the Regional Housing Program. For that, as he said, funds in the amount of around 2,6 million euros have been provided.
It is planned to accommodate 68 elderly displaced persons in the Home. The home will also have a day care center for the elderly, which will be able to accommodate 30 of them. The main construction project has been completed and submitted to the implementation unit for the preparation of the public procurement procedure.
"I think that for now these capacities are quite satisfactory. The fact that there are 70 people on the waiting list for the Home for the Elderly in Risno is the reason for the will of the elderly who expressed their desire to be accommodated exclusively in this institution. "There is not a single case on the waiting list that is urgent, because special attention is paid to that," Bošković said.
He said that old people can be placed in an institution only if they express their will for it.
Private homes for the elderly are not part of the social protection system and, according to Bošković, they cannot be considered an institutional resource.
"They are certainly a significant factor if they are integrated into the social protection system".
The problem is not physical, but human obstacles
On the Day of Persons with Disabilities (PWD), in the week of Minister Bošković's tweets, Marina Vujačić from the Association of Disabled Youth published devastating photos that testify to the lack of care of citizens towards PWDs.
How to change people's attitude towards PWD?
"I have said on several occasions that the biggest obstacles faced by PWDs are human, and that physical obstacles are not such a problem and that they can be solved much more easily. We must work together to educate citizens and raise awareness, both of us who are not PWDs, and of PWDs themselves, in order to change the attitude of citizens towards them," Bošković said.
He recalled that last year he participated in the simulation of the movement of PWDs.
"I had the opportunity to see what kind of physical difficulties they face, and we will solve them. However, in order to solve these other obstacles, which are much bigger, we must all work together, without divisions and disagreements, to change the attitude of citizens towards PWD".
During participation in the simulation of movement of PWDs, Bošković, when encountering the first obstacle, i.e. the sidewalk on which there is no ramp for wheelchairs, suggested that he get up from it in order to make it easier for the helper to overcome the first obstacle.
"No problem, I'll get out of the wheelchair so you don't have to worry," Bošković said then, encountering the first sidewalk without a ramp.
Montenegro on Twitter - join the changes is an initiative implemented by the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) and the Fund for Active Citizenship, during which a different public figure leads a discussion on a specific topic every week.
Until Friday, December 12, the discussion will be led by Nikola Bulatović, one of the members of the Creative Team of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering who developed the application Be responsible. You can follow his posts on the hashtag #beresponsible.
The sponsor must be a complete person
"The best foster parents are those who provide the child with everything necessary for their normal growth and development," said Bošković during a discussion on Twitter.
"Fostering is not the same as adoption, so foster parents can be people who are 50 years old. The breadwinner, an individual or a married couple, must be one complete person, who has been assessed as suitable by the Center for Social Work (CSR) expert team. It is very important for a child who is placed in a foster family to have full support, love, attention and the same conditions from all family members as the biological children of the foster parents. This means that the foster parent must provide a safe environment and protection from abuse, neglect and exploitation, which means that the child must feel safe in the new family," said Bošković.
As he said, the foster parent must also satisfy the needs in order to optimally develop the child's potential, which means that he must work on forming habits, good behavior, providing help and support in curricular and extracurricular activities.
"Given that foster care is a temporary form of protection, the foster parent is obliged to preserve the identity of the child, by supporting ties with the biological family, but also with other persons important for the child and his life, which means establishing a relationship with their parents and professional workers." said the minister.
A person who submits a request to the CSW to exercise the right to foster care is also obliged to submit proof of employment and monthly income, because the child must be provided with the necessary living conditions for his growth and development.
Foster parents also receive a monthly allowance, which for one child is about 300 euros per month.
"Everyone who is a foster parent has compensation for foster care, but the fact that people are taking care of foster care for human reasons makes me happy," said Bošković.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The tweets shown on the Storify report belong to Predrag Bošković, who led the discussion last week from the "CG Tweets" account. The account was later taken over by other tweeters, which is why Bošković's tweets are now displayed as theirs
Bonus video:
