The Home for the Elderly in Podgorica applies a dual price list for services and in most cases the reception of users is done through direct contracting, while users referred by the Center for Social Work wait longer for accommodation.
This, among other things, is stated in the opinion of the protector of human rights and freedoms, which is signed by the deputy Snezana Mijušković, and after the procedure carried out by the protector on his own initiative, following the objection of some citizens.
For accommodation on the basis of direct contracting, as stated in the opinion, the established price of accommodation in the Podgorica home for the elderly is 500 to 1.000 euros. The protector states that a public institution, which is the Podgorica home for the elderly, should provide the same services to users depending on their needs, regardless of whether they are accommodated by the center's decision or through direct contracting.
"At the time the Center's statement was made, there were seven beneficiaries accommodated by them in the home in Podgorica. The protector points to the practice, which is increasingly present, that the service of accommodation in a home is provided by direct contracting, and not through the competent center for social work, which is given as a legal possibility", the protector states in his opinion.
By direct contracting, he adds, the center for social work is excluded, and users are deprived of the guaranteed rights related to the creation and monitoring of individual service plans and the protection that their placement in the institution cannot end before the center for social work provides the conditions for placement in another institution, family accommodation or other form of social and child protection.
The Protector is of the opinion that such a practice "puts interested parties in an unequal position, who turn to the competent center for social work... and may give priority to users who directly contract for the service".
"And thereby potentially create the possibility of discrimination based on the financial status of the user", the protector states and adds that this situation is not in accordance with the goals and principles of social and child protection.
During the supervision, irregularities were also found in other homes for the elderly. In Bijelo Polje, he noticed certain irregularities related to the procedure of exercising the right to the service of accommodation in an institution and the participation of the service provider in the costs of the accommodation of the user. It was also determined that the price of the accommodation service for the "Grabovac" Risan Nursing Home and the "Bijelo Polje" and "Pljevlja" homes is different, and that the decision does not specify the criteria by which the competent center for social work, when passing a decision on the recognition of rights, defines services.
In addition to other things, the protector states, although it provides accommodation services through direct contracting, the "Grabovac" Risan Home for the Elderly did not, in accordance with the Law on Social and Child Protection, determine the criteria and form the price for that service.
The protector pointed out that the information system used by centers for social work when making decisions restricts employees from acting legally, but also that in order to create a decision, they have to use the provided template, in which they cannot make changes, but only select those values that are offered, cannot be a justification for illegal action.
"Which they are aware of in the centers for social work and in the competent inspection", says the protector.
In the opinion, among other things, it was recommended to the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare to establish clear and precise criteria and standards for determining the price of services in social and child protection institutions, and to that department and homes for the elderly, it was also recommended to make the prices of accommodation public.
Bonus video:
