Questions/Answers

The National Support Centers for the Integration of Migrants (CNAIM) of Lisbon, Porto and Faro are structures coordinated by the High Commission for Migrations (ACM). Their objective is the concentration and cooperation in a single space and with an identical working philosophy of various public institutions (attached to six ministries) related to migration. This allows migrants to access them and be able to solve, in a single visit, the issues pertaining to their integration process in Portugal. These centers also have offices for specialized support meant to meet migrants’ specific needs, namely in areas like family reunion and legal, social or employment areas. CNAIM also provides a Migrant Support Line, a complementary telephone service that constitutes an additional tool to promote and help guarantee the effective equality of rights and obligations. Through this line, information is made available to migrant associations, companies and public administrative bodies on Portuguese legislation and administrative procedures related, for instance, to access to employment, housing, health services and education, all of which are facilitating factors for migrant integration processes. In the same vein, articulation is made, when necessary, between migrants and the CNAIM, especially through scheduling interviews with the centers’ Support Offices.

The services inform, guide and advice citizens on the basis of joint work which improves information consistency and minimizes inaccuracy and delays in the implementations of procedures. The Immigration and Borders Services, Authority for Working Conditions, Social Security, Central Registry Office, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and the Citizen Space, as well as the Support Offices coordinated by the High Commission for Migrations - Welcoming and Sorting Office, Social Affairs and Inclusion Office, Legal Support Office, Support Office for Employment, Higher Education and Qualification - are all present and guarantee an integrated approach to public services.

The decentralization of the CNAIM, the mastery by their staff of 14 languages, the provision of 56 languages by the Telephone Translation Service, and the 98 Local Support Centers for the Integration of Migrants, all favor empowerment, social inclusion, equality of opportunities irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic status, fully in line with Objective 10.2, 2030 Agenda. Within Objective 10.7, the policies developed and carried out by the High Commission for Migration through the CNAIM provide a better framework for integration policies and promote quality and sustainability of migration as a factor of economic and population growth.

Between March 2004 and September 2018, CNAIM provided 4.599.749 services, centering their effort on a quality service. They constitute dynamic structures characterized by a great capacity to constantly adapt procedures, working and functioning methods to the needs of the migrants and to the changes of migration flows. The type and number of services have evolved in response to such needs or flows (especially with the arrival to Portugal of refugees). According to data from the Immigration and Borders Services, there were 421.711 foreign citizens living in Portugal in 2017, mainly in the districts of Lisbon, Faro, Setubal and Porto, which definitely confirms the need for the CNAIM in the three cities with the highest concentration of migrants. The integrated provision of services and support by staff with cultural and linguistic proximity with the migrants has constituted a major factor of integration, reducing the gap between public administration services and citizens and allowing a greater clarity of information which results in a reduction of unnecessary journeys to services.

- The integrated functioning of public services to meet specific needs of migrants; - Support provided by staff with specific academic training, most of whom are themselves migrants sustained by their own migratory experience and mastery of different languages. Currently and as a means to ensure equality of opportunities, these workers are incorporated in the ACM as public servants promoting the proximity of migrants to public services. - The provision of the Telephone Translation Service, which currently has a database of 60 translators (updated in accordance with migration flows) who perform translations in 56 different languages to overcome language barriers.

The CNAIM services’ integrated functioning model has been inspired from the operation mode of the Citizen Shops. However, the use of sociocultural mediators of different origins and nationalities to answer migrants’ demands, which resulted in the linguistic and cultural bridges to access public services; the cohabitation and joint work of services that formerly worked separately; the involvement and increased responsibility of different public entities, partners, migrant associations and NGOs to simplify access to public services and promote an efficient integration of migrant citizens, all constitute aspects of innovation in Portugal.

With regard to the transferability of the project, several countries have expressed their interest in the adoption of the One Stop Shop model. The experience has already been put into practice in countries such as the Czech Republic and Poland. Other countries have also imported the model, although with some adaptations to their reality and target audiences. The Handbook on how to implement a One Stop Shop was one of the main practical results of this Project: a new response to immigrant integration funded by the European Commission's INTI fund and coordinated by the High Commission for Migration.

The implementation of the centers was co-funded through European funding and funding of the Portuguese State. The allocation of human resources to the specialized offices coordinated by the ACM was funded by European funds through partnership contracts with immigrant associations. The resources allocated to the ministerial services have been made available by the respective ministries to carry out functions within the ACM.

The project sustainability involves the commitment and recognition on the part of the institutional stakeholders and civil society, who have always been involved in the continuity and further development of what has been accomplished. In this regard, partnerships established through collaboration protocols allow the allocation of specialized human resources - public servants and previous socio-cultural mediators - to attend migrants’ requests in the CNAIM services. This ensures access by migrant citizens to a set of free services in different intervention areas that aim to improve their quality of life and their integration, mainly through the reinforcement of the access to information and the promotion of the full exercise of their citizenship. With an initial investment of about 1,4 million euros mainly focused on human resources (recruitment and training) and material resources (facilities and equipment), the project’s implementation also entails annual management costs covered by the State. Despite the economic crisis, the country has been unwilling to de-invest in public services, and resort was made to complement the State funding effort by the Community Funds.

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Two external and independent evaluations of the CNAIM services had been conducted by the International Organization for Migrations, in 2006 and 2008, with a special focus on the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of services and from the perspective of all the stakeholders. In July 2018, a satisfaction survey was conducted by an external entity among the migrants who had used the CNAIM services between July 2015 and June 2018. The study evaluated the support, accompaniment and information provided to migrants who had resorted to the three CNAIM. There were 600 telephone surveys realized to this end, from a random choice.

The evaluation carried out in 2018 used 7 parameters to measure satisfaction with the support service in general, the accompaniment and the information provided, namely: - Support service in general; - Quality and clarity of the information provided; - Level of sympathy of face-to-face support service; - Accompaniment through the various stages; - Contribution of the CNAIM to the integration in the Portuguese society; - Quality of CNAIM services in response to the different situations; - Level of sympathy of the telephone support services.

A level of satisfaction of 83.1% was obtained with respect to the work developed by the Centers, which demonstrates the high degree of confidence and satisfaction of migrants with the services provided. The review per indicator revealed the following satisfaction levels: Support service in general -85,50% Quality and clarity of the information provided-85,10% Level of sympathy of face-to-face support service-86,20% Accompaniment through the various stages-79,90% Contribution of the CNAIM to the integration in the Portuguese society -80,00% Quality of CNAIM services in response to the different situations-81,70% Level of sympathy of the phone support services-74,30%

The commitment of the Portuguese State in the designing and implementation of the CNAIM had been fundamental, mainly with regard to anticipating and reacting to the changes of the migratory flows and solving the problems related to these changes. ACM had been the major actor in the designing of the model, together with the main public institutions involved. Partnership protocols have thus been established with these institutions, and work methods, procedures and relevant expertise shared within the framework of the project. Migrants associations and NGOs working on migration issues have also been involved and contributed through reporting the main obstacles felt on the ground and proposing solutions, and dissemination of information. These institutions, involved in service management and sharing responsibility, made available sociocultural mediators, now public servants who attend to the needs of migrants within the CNAIM Support Offices. This guarantees cultural and linguistic proximity with migrants who use the Centers, and establishes an essential link between public administration and migrants. The work that is being done aims answering the needs of migrants who use the CNAIM. This is why the centers are committed to regular evaluation processes meant to permanently assess the adequacy and quality of the services offered.

Lessons learned lie mainly in the importance of networking, sustained by consistency and efficiency, direct involvement and articulation with the various stakeholders. Strategies for reducing barriers to integration and inequalities among citizens have thus been developed, along free and easy access to information, which resulted in the alienation of low skilled networks and interlocutors that often took advantage of the migrants’ vulnerability. The improvement of the services depends on the permanent assessment of migrants’ needs and privileged partners. It also depends on the continuous adaptation of the answers, the reinforcement of efficient and innovative communication channels between all institutional stakeholders.