United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

Social work in the context of youth welfare basically aims at advising and supporting families in the fulfillment of their tasks, concerning care and education of minors. The various aids range from ambulant support to displacement of the minor, if this be necessary to the childs welfare.

The demographic progress in a globalised world issues a growing challenge to social support systems. Administrative structures - that are historically evolved - are no more up to handle those challenges.

The summarized results of the analysis of the problem area at the beginning of the project:

•the flow of granting supports is overgoverned
•a frequent absence of clear functional responsibilities
•the measures of administration are often doubled
•the groups of professionals that are planning supports often are working competitively
•the appropriateness of the granted measures for the citizens requires optimisation ( to say the least )
•the course of the cases is often unnecessarily prolonged, the expenses rise unjustifiably

Further analysis in detail:
•The structure of administration that had grown over decades lead to „working in succession“ of trained employees instead of an interacting that should take place for the purpose of a concerted planning of support.

•A quick, flexible and resource-oriented work of professional specialists was complicated by organisational and operational structures.

•The overgoverned structure of double responsibilities caused uncertainties for the acting professionals of the Welfare Office as well as for the applying people.

•The responsibility for families was not determined by social setting but rather by alphabetic keys.

•The duplication of work and the parallel structures lead to an excessive bureaucracy, especially the organisational disconnectedness of functional, legal, administrational and financial decisions caused an overgoverned situation.
•The amount of the required budget depended :

I.on the number of individual counselling
II.on target groups : especially burdened groups of persons like e.g. migrant women, lone mothers, mentally ill persons or addicteds. Those were „ located“ and compensatory „looked after“ due to lacking ressources or offers of other concerned resp. authorized support agencies,
III.on real estates : the system of financing implicated the common practice of the supporters to „maintain“ cases for economical reasons,
(occupancy rate of real estates or other offered products ). This current practice engendered unnecessarily prolongated developments of cases and unjustifiably high costs.

The rising in costs corresponded to the increase of numbers of cases, target groups and real estates.

The StJWG (Styrian Act on Children and Youth Welfare), being the normative basis of Youth welfare, exerted a restrictive effect.

With the initiative the Children and Youth Welfare Office has set off to find new creative and flexible ideas for a changement of parameters and to effectuate them on the legal basis of the StJWG.

It was and still is the designated target to create and enshrine framework conditions on an organisational level, that are juridically funded and based on professional principles. Parameters, that are applicable to secure the support and assistance of families in the best possible way, as well as to plan and to act economically, effect-orientated and comprehensible.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
The benefits of the initiative can be seen at different levels of the management and also at the target groups : * Cutback of Duplication of Work The merging of financial responsibility and case-responsibility caused responsibility und competence to be one-handed. This implied that in this field of work the equivalent of two full-time employees could be economized, thus optimising the process in regard to quicker methods. * Downsizing of Bureaucracy The new financial system (all-in-settlement instead of settlement by individual case), that came into effect in January 2010, has an immediate effect on the administrativ and personal expenses, for both, the public provider and the non-instittutional provider. Thus, the number of invoices - in terms of a quarterly period - could be reduced from 8.750 in the year 2009 to 6.000 in 2010 . Three more full-time-equivalents could be economized. * Benefits for the Welfare Recipients The process of planning social support for the whole of Graz determines standard guidelines. In the voluntary sector the mutual benefit was that the planning of support turned into a participatory process. This aimed at the free will of persons in context with the scope of duty of the Youth Welfare Office. In the sector of investigation and in the services to people at risk (safeguarding of child protection) clear and detailed instructions and requirements are issued. The approval of the parents is sought for, but is not condition to act oficially. By this, it is ensured for the parents to be clearly aware of •what they can do for their part to avoid endangerment •what consequences are executed by the Youth Welfare Office and when this is done •and that the measures of the Youth Welfare Office are forseeable, comprehensible and transparent. Social work, that is not case-specific has the practical effect for the population of a social setting, that it brings an improvement of infrastructure of a certain area(Benefit for the Commonwealth). The rebuilding of the organisational structure has the benefit for the welfare recipients, that •they know, what kind of professional (specialist, trained assistant, skilled employee) is responsible for their family, •which administration in the social sector they can approach, if it comes to queries or complaints (formerly up to 4 different team supervisors were responsible ) •there is a center, where they can ask for advice unbureaucratically and in a low-threshold way. * Benefits for the Groups “ voluntary agencies and public agencies” The contracts concluded between municipal town and country that include an extension of the legal framework allow a cutting down of bureaucracy as well as a higher flexibility of professional acting. •Apart from the above mentioned effects concerning the downsizing of bureaucracy and the reduction of staff, the financial planning for the whole of Styria can be carried out more precisely. •The contracts are the basis for the merging of responsabilities and competences, thus delegating the professional responsibilities in many domains to the town of Graz. * Budgetary and Professional Benefits arise as a result from the intensive co-production of the public agencies with the private agencies: the voluntary agencies take over financial responsability for a certain area. On the functional level decided advantage is the consequence of the intensified collaboration of professionals of both sectors: •All professionals, that are concerned in the planning of support, are involved from a very early moment. •The knowledge of each professional can very well be used in the team when developping precisely fitting solutions. •Collegial dialogue in the team ensures creative and flexible solution approaches.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
1.Aid is granted •close to residence •perfectly fitted (flexibly and individually concerning the problem and the situation of resources ) •and adapted to the will and the aims of the persons in need. 2.The granting of support should rather be done in an activating way than be providing/ caring. It is the designated target that the people should live independently and self-determined without governmental support, as quickly as possible. 3.The granting of support uses existing resources of the living environment of the families. There is a growing co-operation with other social support systems (as schools, educational establishments, maintenance institutions, health services..) 4.Co-operation with the above mentioned support systems is actively looked for and is structurally established and promoted. 5.Support is not only granted to individuals as before, but aids and care are supplied to overlapping cases(that is support for a group of people sharing the same problem). Support will be non-specific in the way that the work will be done not only to support a particular person, but to ensure, that people don’t get into the situation to be obliged to demand public welfare. 6.The set-up organisation and the process organisation have to be changed in a way, that they can perform both : support functional aims as well as establish the maximum possible benefit for all target groups. That emphasizes •the reduction of duplication of work and parallel structures and the reduction of overgoverned administrativ processes and on the other hand •the set-up of networks in the local social community, so that the work is being done closer to the living environment and •an intensified collegial dialogue. 7.Clear proceedings in the planning of support provide assurence to the target groups and ensure administrative acting, that is transparent, clear and comprehensible. The process of planning supports has a particular relevance in determination of authorities and responsibilities in the sector of child protection. 8.It is a designed target to make optimal use of existing financial means resp. to work against the common cost increase in this area whilst at the same time increasing the quality of the social work.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The professional SOCIAL WORK in Graz is based on the scientifically approved „Fachkonzept der Sozialraumorientierung“ (Professional Concept of Orientation on the Social Sector”). To be able to implement this professional concept into the methodical acting of the Youth Work Professionals, framework conditions were developed with the use of project management. This made it possible to facilitate the achievement of not only contentual and financial goals, but also of control-relevant goals with the means of organisation. Thus, efficiency and effectiveness of administrative acting do not occur “ by chance” but are based on : •accordingly developed proceedings •developed quality standards and •specified procedures. The Office of Youth and Family in Graz extends the model “New Public Management” taking as a basis the so-called Kontraktmanagement = Management by Contract and presents it to its administrative management. The Management by Contract has been elaborated by the KGSt, the municipal administrative position for simplification of the administration. The initiative “Sozialraumorientierung in Graz” has an enormous innovative impact by its commitment to the constitutional principles even in processes of change. The existing legal framework was optimised in co-operation with the federal state government, it is now possible to act in a flexible and functional way. •The management is/was professionalised and qualified, efficency and effectiveness are ensured. •On the one hand the focus is on the profitability and on the other hand it is brought in line creatively with the humanitarian mandate of the social work, existing financial means are used in the best possible way by a simultaneous gain of quality, •The intended effects of supports correspond to the applied budget. Further indicators of the innovational strenght of the project: •a consistent orientation towards the will of people and their resources •an orientation towards solutions and targets in the planning of supports •early involvement of all professionals, to be able to benefit of their knowledge and to develop precisely fitiing solutions for the families in a team, •transparency of administration acting •leaner administration - cutting down of duplication of work, generating synergies and implementing them, •flattening of cost increase in unison with increase of the quality of supports The setup of controlling structures works in an innovative way : •control units per social sectors •setup of a controlling unit (leadership and team of a social sector) •setup of a corresponding organisational structure to guarantee the newly created administrative units und the adequate standards of the functional areas •setup of available resources of the living environment - improvement of infrastructure, •setup of voluntary work as sensible addition to the institutional support •new and innovative financing models and standardized processes of support-planning

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
* Division of Control units per Social Sectors At the beginning of the project Graz was devided into four administration- and control units. planning: 2004,2005 the social sectors were defined authoritatively. project status : concluded * Matrix Organisation In 2006 the setup organisation of the Youth Welfare Office was changed in direction of a matrix-organisation to a process-orientated responsibility. (concluded) * Guidance of Social Sectors Four social sector leaderships were installed in office provisionally effective 1.1.2006 and definitely in July 2007. They execute their tasks having regional leadership in one of the four sectors. They are hierarchical superiors of a multi-professional team (concluded) * Generation of Multiprofessional Social Sector Teams that are Regionally Responsible Responsibilities by alphabetic keys were replaced by sectoral responsibilities. Since June 2007 the following staff-members work regionally : •qualified social workers •psychologists •youth support workers •doctors (med.) (concluded) It is scheduled for 2011 to assign further organisation units to the social sectors. * Merging of Case- and Financial Responsibility By using synergies the dual check of legal framework could be reduced to a single one. (concluded) * Change of Operational Organisation The modified setup Matrix organisation made (and still makes) it necessary to alter operational flows. All the business processes of the Office concerning Youth Welfare are constantly revised and improved for the purpose of a continual optimisation of the functional process. (ongoing) * Case - Budget of Social Sector The task-orientated budget, that had been allocated to functional units untill dec. 31. 2008 was split to social sectors with effect from january 1st 2009 and enables a autonomous control of the budget of a social sector in the future. (finished) * Youth Welfare Budget of Social Sector Technical requirements were made to allocate the expenses of the Youth Welfare to the social sector and to be able to present them. The current data are part of the financial principles of controlling. (finished) * Implementation of a Social Sector Budget A new and innovative financial model has been developed, that supports the welfare work in the social sector on the financial level. (ongoing since Jan.1 2010 unto Dec. 31 2012) * Process of Planning Supports The professionals working in the planning of supports can now draw on a statutorily regulated standard. It controls the process, the clear responsibilities, the replicability and the transparency of support planning. A specifically developed system of documentation forms assists to the process. (concluded) * Measures of Qualification Every team in the social space is backed by continued education so the principles of work in the social work are rooted in the every day routine of the professionals. (ongoing) * Inquiries of Indicators of Quality of Life A control-mechanism for the use of professionals, that enables them to give some indication about the quality of life of people and also informs about their resources and shortcomings . In addition to inquiries of objektive data two population polls were carried out (2005 and 2009). (concluded)

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
•The project is effectuated in the ongoing business by the professionals and their assistants, there is no additional staff or budget for the implementing. •There is bewilderment and uncertainty among the staff, some fear that the progression of the former work could be called into question and be misvalued by the project aims (progression of the professional work). •Change of mangement in this dimension requires spirit and courage of the staff, positive changes could not always be positively witnessed and experienced - especially at the beginning of the project •not all the members of staff understood the reasons for the change, this led to resistance.. (“... always have done it that way, why alter it now...”) •work in a multiprofessional team might lead to loss of power, this being the case mostly in the group of qualified social workers •a fitting information system and communication concerning the projekt had to be etablished •principal and agent logic in public and free /private repositories is/was an obstacle •pedagogizing attitude of the professionals towards the clients (“...I know, what’s good for you ...”) instead of meeting at eye-level and respecting the will of the person concerned •irritaton of members of non-institutional agencies (private repositories), especially of those, who are not close to the action in the process of changing •very large scope of agencies, rather difficult handling because of the large number The length of the project is a fundamental challenge : the process of change, that started in 2004 requires patience, endurance and preseverance. Examples for information system and communication : •accompanying advisery board has been invested, consisting of assistants of the different professions •information events have been organized for the staff •internal newsletters ( monthly ) were issued •information was perpetually circulated in the meetings •employee letters were sent frequently to the staff from the managers •information concerning personal contacts/ digital media/ letters/ meetings •organisation of advanced education and training of the staff during a period of two years •external scientific project controllers have been introduced •the services of organisational consulting were engaged

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
As measured by its impact the project „Sozialraumorientierung in Graz“ (“Networking in the Local Community in Graz”) is worth copying. All the changes are projected and implemented by the management personnel of the Office of Youth and Family Welfare. They made all this within normal working hours apart from their regular work. No manager/professional has been dispensed from his usual tasks to work on the project. The management was experienced in the administrative district, they knew the deficiency of the system and the potential of optimising, this was an advantage of the chosen approach for the Office of Youth and Family Welfare as well as of course the immens amount of saved expenses. The transferability of this approach requires however : •a management, that is essentially interested in changement •that the leading professionals are resilient (able to cope with stress and a heavy workload) •that they are conceptually engaged to networking in the local community and •methodically able to implement projects/ concepts. Scientifically support to the project is granted by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang HINTE to the extent of 15 days per annum. Mr. Hinte is at the disposal of the management and the professional employees for advice and consulting. For the extension of the action competence in the sense of social networking a joint continuing education has been organized for the staff of the Youth Office and the agencies in the years of 2009 and 2010. The costs of this educations are shared by the Office of Youth and Family and the federal state of Styria. Each team was granted eight days of advanced education for a period of two years.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
Subject-matter knowledge in social sectors and the resulting process of change are basically transferable to all organisations of social work. An especial impact can be achieved by the set up of controlling structures, based on this subject-matter knowledge in social space. A transfer of the initiative to the three departments youth welfare, the services for people with special needs and the nursing resp. senior citizens sector is very well imaginable in •statutory cities •district comissions ( of Styria ) •federal states ( of Austria ) The whole of the social system in Austria has a similar presentation of the problem as the Youth Welfare in Graz had. Especially the lacking flexibility concerning the fiitting support of every individual has the effect of reducing quality, not least because of the tight legal corset (framework) and the resulting factoring of singular/individual cases. The expenses increase continually, if the procedures and processes are too long. Further scopes of social sector orientated work could be : •the non-institutional youth work, •centers of care of children, •different service centers of advice •comprehensive target groups projects in city districts (comprehensive target groups planning and the merging of target group specified budgets could bring benefits to the populatoin and act integratively

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
A transfer of the initiative to the three departments youth welfare, the services for people with special needs and the nursing resp. senior citizens sector is very well imaginable in statutory cities, district comissions (of Styria)or federal states (of Austria). More informations see at point "Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?"). Lessons learned: See the informations at point "What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome?").


Institution Name:		Office for Youth and Family Welfare/Graz
Institution Type:		Public Organization
Contact Person:		Edith Sandner-Koller
Title:		Projekt Manager
Telephone/ Fax:		0043 316 872 3000
Institution's / Project's Website:		0043 316 872 3009
E-mail:		edith.sandner-koller@stadt.graz.at
Address:		Kaiserfeldgasse 25
Postal Code:		8011
City:		Graz
State/Province:		Austria
Country:		Austria

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information