1. Catalan Social Services System:
labour market and quality
Núria Fustier i Garcia
Director
for Personal Services, Welfare and Families Area
1

2. Contents
1. Summary on the evolution of Social services in
Catalonia
2. The current situation of the people working in
Catalan Social Services System (CSSS)
3. Quality: some experiences
2

3. 1. Summary on the evolution of
Social services in Catalonia
1. Social services before democracy.
2. The promotion of new social services: local (basic) and specialized
social services.
3. Different professions: introduction and evolution
4. Setting the ratios: method
3

4. Social Services background
• First regulations: Charity Act, 1822 and 1848:
• Target demographic:
– Single mothers (illegitimate children)
– The poverty-stricken
– Beggars
– Poor, sick people
• Attention:
– Personal care
– Education
– Health
• Organization:
– Charity local committee (1st law; province level at 2nd law)
– Parish committee
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 4

5. Social Services during 20th Century
• From the Franco Regime to Democracy
– The main institution: Social Aid (Auxilio Social).
– Same target demographic than 19th Century.
– Local Authorities:
• Charity
• Children protection services
• Begging prevention and repression
• Shelters for homeless people
• Financial assistance for medical bills
– Province Authorities built big residential centers
outside the cities (Mundet in Barcelona)
– Caritas (Catholic Church Charity) tried to change
from charity to social work.
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 5

6. Social Services during 20th Century
• The Transition (1975 – 1978/1982)
– The birth of Social Services : 1977
– First changes at Local Authorities:
• Social workers were hired.
– Santa Coloma de Gramenet: 1977 – 140.000 inhab. – 1st Social
Worker hired.
– 1979 – First Local Elections:
• Council Areas: Health and Social Services.
• New social workers were hired:
– Santa Coloma de Gramenet: 3 social workers for 140.000 inhab.
• New services:
– Child protection
– Home care
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 6

7. New social services system
• First Social Services Act (1985):
– Structure: 2 levels
• Primary Care: local authority field
– Social Care: information, advice and treatment.
– Home Care
– Support to children and youth people with educational needs
• Specialized Care: regional field
– Benefits for different cases: disability, elderly..
– Residential care for elderly people, disability people..
– Child Protection System: public guardianship, foster services…
– Recognition of disability levels
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 7

8. Santa Coloma de Gramenet: early
social services (1979 – 1990)
The evolution of city and social Social Services Department
services staff
• Basic Social Teams:
Social Social
Year Population • Workshop for young school dropouts
Worker Educator
• Home care for families and elderly
1977 143,232 1 people
1979 142,649 3 • Elderly residential care home: little size
(8 vacancies)
1981 140,667 6,5 4
• Children residential foster home: 12
1985 135,589 7 6 vacancies
• Programs:
1991 133,138 13 7
– Action for school dropouts prevention
– Eradication of shacks (substandard
housing)
– Disabled people
8

9. Santa Coloma de Gramenet: the consolidation
of social services (1990 – 2000)
• Organization:
– Manager structure: 1 director, 2 department managers
– Structure: Primary Care and Specialized Services
• Primary Care:
– Professional staff (13 Social Workers/ 9 Social educators)
– Auxiliary staff:
• 6 home care workers (familiar worker)
• 4 clerks
• Specialized Services:
– Child Protection Team
– Newcomer Program
– Drug Prevention Program
– Day – Care Center for the elderly
Núria– Adapted Transport for the disabled
Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 9

10. The Specialized Social Services:
to the elderly
Day - Care Nursing homes
Vacancies
Total Public Total Public
2000 6.730 2.571 41.954 16.258
2005 11.133 4.362 52.603 21.677
2011 16.023 7.924 61.966 34.907
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 10

11. The Specialized Social Services:
to the disabled
Day - Care Homes for disabled
People Services People Services
2000 320 32 2.230 58
2005 509 36 2.900 76
2011 754 52 3.640 105
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 11

12. The Specialized Social Services:
benefits
Non-contributory invalidity and retirement pensions
Retirement Invalidity Total
2000 30.880 28.574 59.454
2005 28.981 30.398 59.379
2011 25.396 30.536 55.932
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 12

13. Different professions
• Primary Social Services: two basic professions
– Social Worker:
• From 1950’s to 1983 the social worker had specific qualifications
similar to Diploma (2 or 3 years).
• From 1983 to 2010 the university offered a Diploma (3 years)
• From 2010: Degree
– Social Educator work, from pedagogical field, to help improve the
socialization process.
• The profession appears around 1980’s
• Practitioners had different background: pedagogue, psychologist,
teacher.. And specific qualifications without official recognition.
• 1991: it’s established a new Diploma (Social Education)
• 2010: the Diploma becomes a Degree
– Setting the ratios:
• Social Action Plan (I to IV): no studies founded
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 13

14. Different professions
• Primary Social Services:
– Familiar Worker:
• They work at home – care services.
• They provide personal care, housework aid and skills aid.
• First years (until 1995): Familiar worker was a member of Basic Social
Teams
• From 1995: the home – care service is provided by companies hired
by public administration
• Specialized Social Services:
– Different professions according to services (residential, day
– care):
• Nurse
• Nurses’ aid
• Occupational therapist
• Psychologist
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 14

15. Santa Coloma and Catalunya:
evolution: social workers
Number of Social workers
Santa
Catalunya
Coloma
1982 95 4
1991 546 13
1995 592 13
2000 731 13
2004 806 13
2005 834 13
2006 932 14
2007 999 14
2008 1.258 21
2009 1.405 23
2010 1.443 24
2011
Núria Fustier
na 25
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 15

16. Santa Coloma and Catalunya:
evolution: social educators
Number of Social Educators
Santa
Catalunya
Coloma
1982 93 6
1991 283 7
1995 304 7
2000 372 9
2004 467 9
2005 490 9
2006 540 10
2007 567 10
2008 646 17
2009 843 17
2010 911 16
2011 na 16
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 16

17. Santa Coloma and Catalunya:
home – care evolution
Home care annual hours
Santa
Catalunya
Coloma
2000 1.888.237 39.287
2005 2.502.108 39.140
2006 2.905.244 48.851
2007 3.494.557 78.267
2008 4.670.011 81.206
2009 5.914.911 84.145
2010 6.462.622 97.963
2011 na 104.479
• Previously: 1982
– 97 Familiar Worker in Catalunya
– 5 Familiar Worker in Santa Coloma de Gramenet 17

18. Santa Coloma and Catalunya:
tele – care evolution
Home care annual hours
Santa
Catalunya
Coloma
2000 5.690 36
2005 13.910 88
2006 29.890 377
2007 50.471 888
2008 79.021 994
2009 75.465 1.085
2010 87.193 1.598
2011 na 1.746
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 18

19. 2. The current situation of the
people working in Catalan
Social Services
1. How many people work at the system?
2. Which professions, which jobs, which careers?
3. The new planning tools: Social Services Strategic Plan
• The people working in CSSS: the core of the System
19

20. How many people work at the
System?
• The official statistics only provide us the following about
the amount of people:
– Basic Social Services: social worker and social educator
– Specialized Children and Teenager Teams: final numbers (no by
professions).
• The Law establish different ratio for every Specialized
Social Service: the Governmental Inspection check the
ratio.
– The lack of a Social Information System : the information is not available.
• Strategic Plan Assessment:
– Staff projection
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 20

21. How many people work at the
System? A 2010 projection
Basic Social Services Specialized Social Services (public
funds)
Women 189,0
Basic Social Care Team 7.200,0
Children and Teenager 1.571,4
Home Care 2.965,1
Older People 28.068,3
Day - care for children 831,1
Disability people 6.671,6
Support staff 2.749,0
Outpatient services 654,6
TOTAL 13.745,2
Support staff 9.288,7
TOTAL 46.443,6
Non – profit organizations (Third Sector) 100.000
21

22. Which professions, which careers,
which jobs?
• Basic professions are kept: social worker, social
educator.
• Some service are provided by new professions:
– Home – care: Familiar Worker; geriatric aide and housework’s
aide.
• Santa Coloma de Gramenet (2012):
– Residential care and other assessment services:
• Social and Cultural Mediators: newcomer programs, women services
• Translator: all services
• Lawyers: counseling services for women
• Educational psychologist: day – care for different social needs.
• Physiotherapist: day – care and residential – care for the elderly and
the disabled.
• All of these professions needs a formal education:
degree, professional training or vocational training
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 22

23. Which professions, which careers,
which jobs?
• The role of directors:
– No standardized requirements
– Some positions are clearly-defined: specialized social
services (residential – care and day – care).
• Specific training for directors on nursing homes, homes for the
disabled and child shelter homes.
– Master’s degree
– Postgraduate courses
– Basic Social Services:
• No standard profile defined
• No specific training for directors:
– 2008 – 2010: experience about training program at ESADE
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 23

24. Social Services Strategic Plan
• Current Social Services Act (2007)
– Title III, about field and organization system
• Social services planning.-
– The Social Services Strategic Plan:
Every 4 years
Passed by Generalitat Government
Participating process
• Chapter V – The social services professionals
– For the first time, the law regulates the professional role.
• Social Services Strategic Plan (2010 – 2013)
– Strategic Area 1: People’s Right to Social Services
– Strategic Area 2: The delivery of Quality services
– Strategic Area 3: The structuring of the System and Networking
– Strategic Area 4: People working in the System: driving force
and reference point
– Strategic Area 5: Knowledge – based planning and evaluation
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 24

25. Social Services Strategic Plan:
Strategic Area 4
• People working in the System: driving force and
reference point
– Recognizing and formalizing the actions of people working
in the System.
• Visibility and recognition by identifying them
• The obligation to standardize profiles to move towards equity in
the care delivered to people
• The development of professional and staff profiles in the
system has to take into account new emerging needs
• Uniform working conditions and inter-governmental mobility of
employees and public employees within the Network
– Staffing
• Determine the quantitative, qualitative and regional balance
indicators to be used so that the basic and specialist social
services are adequately covered
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 25

26. Social Services Strategic Plan:
Strategic Area 4 (continued)
– Training, support and protection.
• Ensuring initial skills training consistent with the duties to be performed
• Programs for new professionals and staff who join organizations that are
part of the Network
• Investing in continuing education for professionals and staff in the
Network
• Consolidating and creating new mechanisms of external support for
professionals and staff.
• The system must have protection to ensure their safety in terms of
psychosocial factors
– Communication and knowledge management
• This adaptation and improvement makes up the system’s knowledge,
although it is also necessary to transfer it and nurture best practice while
increasing the amount of documented knowledge in order to innovate and
create new solutions to old and new problems alike
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 26

27. 3. Quality: some experiences
1. Social Services Quality Plan: items about labour market
2. Benchmarking Groups: human resources indicators
• Wages
• Continuous training
• Supervision
• Absenteeism at work
• Workload: people by professional
• Population ratio by professional
27

28. Social Services Quality Plan and
labour market
• Quality Plan: strategic areas
– Strategic area 1. Service quality.
– Strategic area 2. Technical quality.
– Strategic area 3. Quality in management.
– Strategic area 4. Quality in employment.
– Strategic area 5. Innovation and continuous improvement.
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 28

29. Strategic area 4. Quality in
employment
• Strategic Objective: Increase the number of XSSAP
organizations that have tools for professional
development and specific training plans by 25%.
• Lines:
• Promoting professional development, training,
improvement and updating of the competencies and
skills of professionals together with their recognition.
• Encouraging participation, engagement and
acceptance of responsibilities by the people and units
that make up the XSSAP.
• Moving towards uniformity of working and social
conditions for all the people working in the XSSAP
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 29

30. Other Strategic areas
• Strategic Area 2. Technical Quality.
– Strategic Objective: Turning the Catalan Social Services System into a
European benchmark in terms of the technical quality of its services.
• Promoting professional ethics and ethical behaviour
• Strategic Area 3. Quality in Management
– Strategic objective: Developing the leadership skills of people who hold
positions of responsibility at the various levels of the XSSAP.
• Strategic Area 5. Innovation and continuous improvement
– Strategic Objective: Make the Catalan Social Services System into a
European benchmark for innovation in social services.
• Promoting a culture of innovation in the social services
• Promoting systems and methods for continuous improvement
• Promoting knowledge management in the XSSAP and its internationalization.
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 30

31. Benchmarking Groups
• Province local government lead benchmarking groups
since 2001
• Objectives:
– Driving a work group with social services directors from
different cities.
– Beginning a comparison experience on the basis of the
agree key indicators
• Services with indicators: • Indicator dimension
– Basic Social Services – Political assignment
– Basic Social Attention Team – Costumer
– Home – care – Organizational Values/Staff
– Day – care for children – Economical
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 31

32. Benchmarking Groups: set of
indicators
Basic Social Basic Social Home - Day -
Services Attention Team care care
Politics
3 10 10 2
assignment
Costumers 1 5 4 1
HR 4 6 2 1
Economic 4 8 6 2
Total 12 29 22 6
32

33. Benchmarking Groups: human
resource indicators
• Politics assignment
– Population ratio by social worker
– Population ratio by social educator
– BSAT Costumers by practitioner
• Organizational values / HR
– Basic Social Attention Team
– SSB:
• Annual Wage for social worker
• Manager percentage
• Annual Wage for social educator
• Female manager percentage
• Permanent Staff percentage
• Auxiliary staff percentage
• Sick leave hours
• Women staff percentage
• Continuous training annual hours
– Home – care:
• % of professionals who receive
• Sick leave hours supervision
• Annual hours provided with own
– Day – care for children
staff
• Vacancies by professional
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 33

34. Benchmarking groups: some
results
Santa Coloma Global
Service Indicator Benchmark
de Gramenet Average
Dimension: Politic assignment
Population per social
4,531 4,957 5,000
worker
Basic
Population per social
Social 8,280 7,725 7,500
educator
Services
BSAT’s costumers per
393 432 n.a
practitioner
Dimension: Human resource
% of sick leave hours No own staff 8.4% n.a
Home care
Annual hours provided
1.9% 9.5% n.a
with own staff
Day – care
Vacancies by professional No own staff 15 n.a
for children
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 34

35. Benchmarking groups: some
results
Sta. Coloma Global
Service Indicator Benchmark
de Gramenet Average
Dimension: Human resources
% of managers 6.2% 8.9% n.a
% of female managers 100% 84.2% n.a
% of auxiliary staff 20.8% 16.8% n.a
Basic % of female staff 82% 86% n.a
Social
Annual wages for social worker 29,299 29,606 n.a
Attention
team
Annual wages for social educator 29,299 29,257 n.a
% Permanent staff 51% 61% n.a
% of sick leave hours 2,7% 4.4% n.a
Núria Fustier Continuous training annual hours 34 32 35 40 - 50
fustiergn@gramenet.cat

36. References
• Social Services Strategic Plan 2010 – 2013 and
Social Services Quality Plan
– www.gencat.cat/bsf (English version): Social Services
section
• Benchmarking groups
– http://www.diba.cat/web/benestar/cercles-de-comparacio-
intermunicipals-de-serveis-socials#quadre
• Santa Coloma de Gramenet
– www.gramenet.cat
Núria Fustier
fustiergn@gramenet.cat 36

37. Thank you for your attention
fustiergn@gramenet.cat
37