KOMF in partnership with the Unicef ​​Kosovo Programme office held a consultation roundtable: “Organization, responsibilities, type and number of professionals, and the functioning of the Center for Social Work”.

Representatives from the Centers for Social Work, Municipal Directorates for Social Welfare, the Ministry of Justice and the non-governmental sector, brought their perspectives on the modalities for the reorganization and functioning of CSWs, the responsibilities, type and number of CSW professionals, the determination of the employment formula for CSW officials in accordance with the number of population and the number of cases, to contribute to the process of drafting the Administrative Instruction on the organization, responsibilities, type and number of professionals, and the functioning of the Center for Social Work.

The Law on Social and Family Services, adopted in December 2023, has officially opened the way to the reform of social services in Kosovo. The new law is expected to ensure that children, families and citizens in need receive quality and sustainable social and family services. This law provides that Centers for Social Work must have strong professional and organizational capacities, to assume responsibility for protecting the best interests of children and families. This law foresees the drafting of an Administrative Instruction on the organization, responsibilities, type and number of professionals, as well as the functioning of the Center for Social Work. KOMF in partnership with UNICEF will support the Ministry of Justice in drafting this administrative instruction.

There are 38 Centers for Social Work in Kosovo, in 38 municipalities with around 404 officials, around 164 are social services officials. Centers for Social Work are the main municipal public authorities mandated to provide social services to children and families in need and to coordinate the integrated system of services.

Centers for Social Work face many challenges in terms of organization and functionality. According to the legislation in force, the CSW also performs the function of the Guardianship Authority, where numerous difficulties have been identified in this regard. Also, the CSWs do not have the necessary human and financial resources to intervene with the necessary services, therefore their services do not reach all families in need. The CSWs are burdened with emergency cases, leaving aside prevention services, reintegration services and maintaining the quality of service provision. This is a consequence not only of the insufficient number of CSW staff compared to the cases in need, but also due to the lack of formula for the number of social service officers needed, in relation to the number of population or the number of cases and the lack of professional profiling within the CSWs.

The Administrative Instruction on the organization, responsibilities, type and number of professionals, as well as the functioning of the Center for Social Work is expected to strengthen the Centers for Social Work and impact the quality of services.