Inclusive role of civil society in the provision of services for disabled persons in the Republic of Serbia

• Main Authors: Jelić Milica, Babić-Mihajlović Suzana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University Dzon Nezbit 2018-01-01
• Series: Megatrend Revija
• Subjects: social services; persons with disabilities; civil society
• Online Access: https://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/1820-3159/2018/1820-31591802233J.pdf

The reform of the social welfare system since the beginning of year 2000 was directed towards expanding the actors of system, along with the development of quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the rights and services that are provided to the users. The engagement of civil society in providing services to persons with disabilities has been continuously upgraded towards increasing the effectiveness of services to empower users. The main objectives of this paper are the mapping of social services provided by civil sector, detection of obstacles in the development and implementation of social services of civil sector at local level, as well as assessment of users satisfaction with the provided services. Through analysis of documents, participation of the civil sector will be evaluated along with the mapping of the advantages and difficulties in the implementation of social services provided by the civil sector. Addition to this research is empirical research in the city of Kraljevo. Through a questionnaire addressed to the service providers and service users the content has been examined as well as the quality and possibilities of improving social services at the local level. The results show that certain types of social services are more frequent, daily services and services for independent living, while in the city of Kraljevo project activities are often implemented and the main problem is the lack of continuous funding. Service users are mostly satisfied with the engagement of providers and with improving personal awareness of additional activities in which they can participate and the rights that they can exercise. Research findings are that the civil sector promotes social inclusion of persons with disabilities, but it is necessary to engage public sector in the development and implementation of social services at the local level.