The Chilean PUENTE program A bridge between families and their rights Psychosocial support for families from the Intersectorial Social Protection System, “Chile Solidario”

Puente program – between the family and its rights Background, context, main approaches José Cisterna – Tutor of St. Vincent and The Grenadines

PURPOSE To strengthen family resources and improve the family’s connection to social, personal, community, and institutional networks in order to achieve quality of life improvements. OBJECTIVES Purpose and objectives of the Puente program To contribute to overcoming vulnerability and poverty, especially in indigent families.

It is a Psychosocial Support process that is carried out in 22 work sessions that are 45 minutes each and last 24 months. The sessions are held in the family’s home, and the family also participates in 5 group sessions. The Psychosocial Support consists of analysis, reflection, and identification of family resources and the conditions of family life in 7 areas or life dimensions (identification, education, health, family dynamics, housing, employment, and income). The Family Support Counselor has 79 minimum conditions that are defined by the program, which are contrasted with the family’s reality. Based on this, a work plan is developed jointly with the family to achieve a better quality of life. The program also provides a Family Protection Voucher, which is a financial aid that decreases with time. The purpose of the voucher is to aid in the social integration process of the families that participate in the program (equivalent to the operational cost of the management of the minimum conditions). The amount is: US $ (first 6 months), US $ (7th – 12th month), US $ (19th to 24th month). What is the Puente program?

That families recognize and improve their skills and strengths. That families develop the ability to successfully face the risks to which they are exposed. That families recognize and use social, family, community, and institutional networks independently. That families access the benefits and social services that are available in the institutional network. That families achieve the minimum quality of life conditions (there are 79), that are grouped in 7 dimensions: identification, health, education, family dynamics, housing, employment, and income. That families access the benefits to which they have rights (subsidies and guaranteed benefits). That families improve their well-being (objective and subjective). What do we want to achieve?

CALLE PUENTE CAMINOVINCULOS GAPS OR NEEDS (Minimum Conditions) IdentityEducationHealth HousingEmploymentIncome Preferential Access Psychosocial Support Work Health FOSIS Municipality Scholarships Daycare Women’s Empowerment Training Elderly Indigenous Development Housing Civil Registry Subsidies Water Subsidy Family Subsidy (US$ 13.60) Pension (US$ 200) Subsidy for ID (US$ 7) NGO Foundations Chile Solidario Family Dynamics IdentityEducationHealth Voucher (US$ 26) Subsidy to prevent drop outs

Legal Framework Presidential message. A Presidential Decree is created and distributed. Law Modification in tax law to finance “Chile Solidario” (tax raise from 18% to 19%). Law Creation of the “Chile Solidario” system. Law Creation of the Intersectorial Social Protection System The laws were proposed by the Executive branch, and approved unanimously by the Parliament.

Required Public Policy Elements The existence of (a) decision(s) on the same issue by the relevant authority. The decision(s) follow a certain formal or institutional process that allows the initiative to be transformed into public policy. A description of the problem and the discussion of the fundamental aspects of public policy require the integration of technical and rational approaches. Behind the development of a public policy, there is a political process in which various actors specify their interests in terms of the concrete contents that the policy should incorporate.

CRISIS INTERVENTION FAMILY SYSTEMS APPROACH To work with families as subjects of intervention Program’s Approaches To work with a Family Support Counselor and a methodology to face the crisis SOCIAL CAPITAL SOCIAL NETWORKS RIGHTS To recognize and fortify skills and social resources SOCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT To recognize the risks that families face and to work on them To recognize and generate permanent links to social networks To recognize the family from a rights based approach and to promote its protection

Rights Based Approach It comes from the ascertainment that the most essential rights of people in poverty are often violated, and that they are frequently subject to discrimination and exclusion. It is born in the latter half of the ´90’s. The UN adopts a policy to integrate the human rights approach into all of the activities carried out by its organs and agencies, especially those oriented towards development and poverty reduction. This approach connects the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with efforts to overcome poverty, social exclusion, and vulnerability of those who suffer from social deficiencies and disadvantages. The Rights Based Approach strengthens the ethical and moral bases of social policy interventions, because it recognizes the superior value and dignity of the human being.

Intervention with the rights based approach An intervention with the rights based approach involves the following issues: Developing specific activities that prevent discrimination and exclusion. Promoting a fair distribution of well-being opportunities and effective treatment. Incorporating aspects such as responsibility, equity, participation, and civil empowerment during the whole public policy implementation process. Overcoming poverty by the protection of a set of basic rights that guarantees the dignity of human beings and an obligatory minimum quality of life standard.

Rights based approach and social protection system Rights generally are formulated in an abstract way, therefore it is necessary to define them more concretely in order to apply them in real life. Therefore, there is a difference being made between rights and minimum social guarantees: Rights are a declaration with important ethical content. Social guarantees complement these rights and put emphasis on the services created by the society in order to carry out the declarations in real life. This is the reason why the minimum social guarantees are considered to be the operational body of the rights based approach within the framework of certain public policies. The State recognizes its obligation to respect, protect, strengthen, and guarantee the rights by implementing these public policies. The guarantees assure the access to basic well-being and the system of minimum opportunities that allow for the human development and social inclusion of each member of the society.

Rights that should be protected: Right to food: Every person has a right to safe, sufficient,and adequate food and not to suffer from hunger or starvation. Right to healthcare: Every person has a right to healthcare and to being treated with dignity and respect. Right to safe water: Every person has a right to safe drinking water. The State should guarantee the provision of this service. Right to housing: Every person has the right to a decent home that shelters them adequately from the elements and allows them to develop their family life. Right to education and culture: Every person has a right to basic education and to all levels of education offered by the educational system. Right to work: Every person has a right to decent, productive, and adequately paid work. Right to justice: Every person has a right to access the justice system that protects all citizens. Rights based approach and social protection system

Puente program – between the family and its rights Registration and Monitoring System – technology supporting public policies José Cisterna – Tutor of St. Vincent and The Grenadines

The Puente program has its own Registration and Monitoring System, in place since The RMS is designed for different users and functions: Family Support Counselor, Head of the Family Intervention Unit, and Regional and National Supervisors. The RMS is part of the internal program management; it is available at The RMS started with a restricted set of tools, but during the years, innovative tools have been incorporated. Registration and Monitoring System (RMS)

Online system that records information and facilitates the monitoring process

Functions of the RMS Register the families’ incomes Register the interventions of each Family Support Counselor with his/her families Activate and monitor the Social Protection Voucher Make the monitoring process easier (as it applies to the system’s stakeholders such as heads of the Family Intervention Unit, Family Support Counselors, Supervisors) Assist in family supervision Provide information for the creation and distribution of public social services Make goal monitoring easier Provide data for other social information systems

Providing a fair income for families The system shows the names of all the families that potentially could participate in the Puente program. It makes targeting easier. Families are listed following a hierarchy of selection criteria. The information comes from the Social Protection Scorecard. This tool is used for identifying and prioritizing individuals and families for social benefits, considering vulnerability as the key criteria in a new social policy based on the Rights Approach. Mistakes dealing with inclusion and exclusion are minimized.

Registering the interventions The Family Support Counselor enters information about each intervention session with the family, which includes family members, achievements in each Puente pillar, and minimum conditions. The RMS: Registers resources that have been activated or generated by the intervention. Registers the family’s and the Family Support Counselor’s commitments in order to improve quality of life. Allows continuity in the registration even if the family moves to another house or town.

Activating the Social Protection Voucher The Family Support Counselor starts working with the Social Protection Voucher for the family. The Family Support Counselor may change the beneficiary (within the family) of the Social Protection Voucher. The monthly pay of the Social Protection Voucher may be monitored.

Making monitoring easier The system allows Family Support Counselors to monitor the progress of each family. The system provides indicators for the progress of each family in the different areas of intervention. The Supervisors can monitor each Family Support Counselor and each Municipality. The system allows for the identification of the strengths and weaknesses of the intervention.

Guiding the supervision Based on the information monitoring by the system, supervisors can oversee the revision of family records. Guide or lead field visits. Carry out a cross supervision between the Registration System, the records, and the family reports.

Providing social data The RMS: Generates databases of families and individuals. Generates databases of beneficiaries of the Social Protection Voucher. Generates data bases of completed minimum conditions. Based on this data, it is possible to analyze information, monitor, and detect the families’ needs and requirements. Data is provided on each administrative level (local, regional and national).

Making program goal monitoring easier Automatic registration of families on each administrative level (national, regional and local). The system allows goal definition associated with the completion of minimum conditions for quality of life. It also allows goal definition for the intervention processes.

Coordination of a training system Allows for the implementation of a training system for Family Support Counselors, and for the registration of training courses and participants. Allows supervisors, Family Support Counselors, etc. to upload relevant documents for interventions.

Incorporation of other data systems The RMS works with information from the Social Protection Scorecard. This allows for updated information about family indicators such as the number of family members, social score, role of the head of household, etc. The RMS works with data from the Chilean Civil Registry. This allows for the verification of information about family identification (date of birth, ID number, and whether the beneficiary is living or deceased).

Providing data for the inter-sectorial Social Protection System Interaction with other information systems: The RMS exports monthly information to the Integrated Social Information System (SIIS). SIIS provides data to all public institutions and social services that are part of the Social Protection System “Chile Solidario”.

Summary Registry systems add value and efficiency to the management of governmental social policies. The systems are providing, on one hand, management information, and, on the other hand, they allow for information management. This means that the institutions count on databases that facilitate assessment processes, especially impact evaluations. These systems also are an important contribution to the Government, especially to the Ministries of Social Development that must make use of a unified system of information. This helps to avoid the never- ending process of people having to repeatedly provide the same information when they need support from the State. Thus, the technological tools of the Registration System are contributing to overcoming vulnerability and poverty.

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