IPN interview with Viorica Dumbraveanu, head of the Family and Child Rights Protection Division of the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family.

– The amendments made to the Law on Public Procurement enable the nongovernmental organizations to provide social services alongside the state institutions. Why was such an initiative necessary and what is the mechanism?

– The necessity of contracting social services from NGOs resulted from the increasing number of possible beneficiaries of these services. Many elderly persons remained without care as a result of the migration of their adult children. The social services are also intended for children who remained without parental care as a result of migration and other phenomena when the parents are deprived of parental rights or when the children become orphans following their parents’ death. Regretfully, we face such phenomena as domestic violence and trafficking in human beings. We thus need to develop social services.

There are many services for these persons provided by the NGOs. Thus, there is no need for the local public authorities to develop the same set of social services. The best solution is to contract private social service providers. That’s why a mechanism for contracting providers of social services, namely private, was needed. In order to facilitate this process, the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family drafted a bill with amendments to the Law on Public Procurement, which guarantee the public associations’ right to take part in the acquisition of social services. The relevant standard documents designed based on a Government Decision define all the stages of the public procurement process, from the submission of the application, presentation of the offer up to the selection of providers and signing of the contract.

Another document coordinated by the Ministry with the Public Procurement Agency concerns the identification codes for socials services. Each social service included in the nomenclature of social services will have an identification code, according to international standards and international identification codes. Thus, foreign private providers can take part in the public procurement procedure. Based on this code, they can easier determine what type of social services an authority purchases. It is something new for Moldova.

– What mandatory documents a social service provider must present for the public procurement procedure?

– The necessary documents are: the certificate concerning the registration of the public association issued by the Ministry of Justice, the constitution decision issued by the local public authority, or the registration certificate issued by the State Registration Chamber as well as the certificate regarding the allocation of a bank account, a certificate showing that the taxes were paid regularly, the last financial report of the participant, and the accreditation certificate issued by the competent authority, which is obligatory. The organization must also present a CV where to describe the services provided, the group and number of beneficiaries, the name and value of every implemented project, the list of participants, and the CVs of the personnel and the statement on ethical conduct and non-involvement in fraudulent and corrupt practices. Besides the enumerated documents, the providers will have to submit a set of documents typical of the social service providers, namely the accreditation certificate and information about the general experience.

– What will be the criteria for selecting social service providers?

– The price accounts for 40% of the allotted points, while the qualification of the personnel – for 25%. The providers’ experience of offering social services included in the Social Services Nomenclature represents 15%. It is very important for the service provider to propose a draft budget based on programs of activities for providing the service. When the budget and program do not meet the minimum quality standards, there is offered zero points. If the providers offer a budget and a program that meet these standards, they get 5 points. If additional projects are presented, they get 10 points. 10 points are given for the possessed technical-material goods.

The social services that do not need technical-material support will be assessed according to different criteria. The price is offered 40%, the qualifications of personnel – 30%, the experience of providing the service – 15%, the budget correlated with the program - 10%. Only 5% is given for the technical-material goods as they are used only by the personnel.

– For what period will the contract for the provision of social service be valid?

– The contract with the service provider will be signed for a period of three years. However, there appeared the possibility of signing a multiannual contract, which is a new element. Such a provision was necessary so that the local public authorities do not have to go through public procurement procedures every year as they are rather complex and take time. In the case of a multiannual contract, the service provider is paid 15% of the value of the contract in advance, while the rest is divided into equal tranches that are paid to the provider every half of year. Every tranche is disbursed on the presentation of a service provision report by the provider and the approval of the report on the assessment of the quality of the services provided. The contract can be terminated and the accreditation certificate is withdrawn when the services do not meet the minimum quality standards and are not in line with the service provision program. The contract is also terminated when there is an imminent danger to the life and health of the beneficiary of the service.

–Do the service providers need accreditation? Who offers it?

– Starting with 2013, the public service providers, as well as the private ones, are accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Social Service Providers. The accreditation is based on the observance of the minimum quality standards. When the services are of a poor quality, the accreditation is withdrawn. But, given that the procedure lasts long, when the service providers do not honour their responsibilities, the withdrawal of accreditation is skipped over and the contract is terminated immediately.

– What will be the difference between the social services provided by the state and those provided by NGOs?

– These services do not have to differ because they must be provided in accordance with the regulations on service provision and the minimum quality standards.

– What does the state plan to get from such a partnership, including at financial level and as regards the human resources?

– We lay emphasis on the human resources because the criteria for selecting offers are based not only on the price, but also on the quality of services. We hope the participating providers will have skilled staff and the necessary equipment. We will then be able to speak about cost-efficiency as there is no need to create new services. We bank on the quality of services and the satisfaction of beneficiaries, while the providers will have to tend to improve the quality of their services.

– What changes should the beneficiaries expect? Won’t some of the social services provided by the state disappear?

– We consider that certain services can be reorganized, but not overnight. I speak about the residential care system. Some of the residential institutions may disappear because there will be demand for services of a high quality and they will have to satisfy this demand. But this does not mean that we will reduce the possibilities of the beneficiaries to benefit from certain services.

– What are the greatest challenges and difficulties in the provision of social services and how will the NGOs be helped in this process? Are the NGOs ready to provide such services?

– The greatest challenge is the sustainability of the social services that appeared in a large number owing to foreign backers and how well they satisfy the needs of beneficiaries. We welcome the assistance of foreign donors, but the financing must be correlated with beneficiaries’ needs. The Moldovan NGOs are very well prepared because they invested in human resources and equipment and aim to develop the services. There are organizations that provide service of a higher quality than that stipulated in the minimum quality standards. The range of services furnished by private providers is very wide.

– Will all the NGOs be able to provide social services or only the public utility ones?  How will they be monitored?

– The amendments to the law were aimed at involving all the NGOs that meet the mentioned criteria in the public procurement process, not only the public utility ones. As to the monitoring of the social service providers, this will be done by analyzing the activity report that will show how well the presented program of activities is implemented. The local public authorities of the area within which the providers work will also be able to monitor them. The authorities are obliged to make sure that the rights of the beneficiaries are observed.

The Social Inspectorate will also monitor the social service providers, including the private ones. A social service can be acquired by the Ministry as a central authority that established the necessity of providing social services to a group of persons. The local public authorities can also purchase such services.

– What are authorities’ expectations in this field for the next few years? How should a model social service look?

– The expectations include ensuring a greater coverage of the population with social services of a really high quality. The model service is a service that satisfies beneficiaries’ needs by involving the beneficiaries. We have very good workers, but we must center more on the beneficiaries. This means that the social service providers of Moldova will have to lay emphasis on the satisfaction and involvement of the beneficiaries in service provision. We aim to create flexible services, centering on the needs of the beneficiaries. Most of the standards that we review and implement place stress on the participation and opinion of the beneficiaries in the service provision process.

Alina Marin, IPN