Social Workers make people grow!

Since many years the Austrian Association of Social Workers – obds – has developed a strong commitment to international social work. Geographically and historically the Balkans are in the focus of close cooperation and exchange of experience.

In November and December 2011 two major projects with the involvement of obds have been completed in Romania. As a supporting partner, together with other Austrian service providers, obds fulfilled the role of a transnational coordinator for the exchange of experts and provided its infrastructure for administrative and professional activities. The projects have been funded by the European Social Funds (five million Euro each project during an implementation period of 36 months) as strategic projects aiming enhancement of access to the labour market for disadvantaged and socially excluded target groups.

Due to the poor capacity of project management and lack of professional experience the Romanian public authorities who applied these projects were happy to pass most of the work to the project partners. The leading organization at the Romanian side was CFCECAS (Centre for Continuing Training and Assessment of Social Work Competency), run by the former honorary secretary of ifsw Europe, Ana Radulescu.

Developing strength and abilities

The strategic goal of this project was a change of priorities in evaluating people with mental, physical or psychological handicaps. Instead of measuring limitations through medical examination and psychological tests in order to justify government aid, social workers were trained to identify the abilities and talents of disabled persons. Existing Austrian models of evaluation have been amended and adjusted to the Romanian reality. A mix of training in professional skills as well as social competences combined with work placement and temporary employment in social workshops has been provided to more than 140 people. In parallel seminars for social workers and other experts from public institutions and authorities complemented the new approach. An important part of public relations were regional and national conferences for potential employers and employment agencies.

Group of participants in an occupational Regional seminar; explaining specific tools for evaluation and training program; internship occupational counselling

The cooperation between obds and Romanian partner organizations included a number of study visits and seminars provided by Austrian experts. These activities emphasized on subjects as an individualized planning of occupational orientation and personal development. As an important result of this approach CFCECAS succeeded to become the first Romanian NGO certified as formal training institute for occupational counselling based on the Romanian occupational standards.

Young woman showing the social worker Group discussion, participants of evaluation program what she has learned during practice placement in a hairdresser

Social reintegration by vocational training

From the very beginning the second project seemed to be a “mission impossible”, aiming to change the most rigid area of public administration and bureaucracy. The Romanian system of prison regime combines the legacy of communist ideology with radical budget cuts in public administration. The outcome is a model of penitentiaries mainly interested in executing the punishment and repressing aggressiveness within the prison walls.

Having in mind that changing a “social system” should respect core experience derived from “change management” he project “Supporting social reintegration of juvenile offenders by enhancing their access to the labour market” identified two target groups as beneficiaries of the activities: inmates and personnel. It would not be possible to improve the situation of juvenile prisoners without the full support of the staff.

Prison in Craiova 2007 Prison in Craiova 2011 locked up 23 hours per day Director Nicolai Tartulescu watching a theatre performance together with inmates In order to convince as many members of staff as possible, obds organized an intensive training program for 36 employees from two Romanian penitentiaries for juveniles and a number of study visits for directors and head of departments. Between July 2009 and December 2010 each participant visited the equivalent institution in Austria three times and became part of the daily routine for one week. Being aware that in contrast to theoretical seminars learning-by-doing and experiencing the differences would have an incomparable impact, we tried to open their minds for the unimaginable. And the result was stunning!

Training workshop – producing paperboard “Pizza Mafioso” – Training kitchen in the prison containers for pizza After the first visits in the Austrian prison “Gerasdorf” the Romanian colleagues started their experiments. With a minimum of resources they arranged a basic program for leisure time, development of social skills and conflict resolution. At the same time premises within the prison were renovated and equipped with machines and other devices in order to start occupational education. Some staff members qualified as instructors, others specialized in pedagogical assistance. In the end of 2010 the first workshops opened: a bakery, a training kitchen, a flour mill, a workshop for producing and imprinting cardboard boxes (serigrafie and cartonage), a carpentry, a blacksmith’s shop and a vegetable farm.

Maybe the most precise description of the project was made by one of the directors when he explained to a study group from obds: “With this project humanity arrived in our prison!”