UČINKOVITOST NAKNADA OPĆE SOCIJALNE POMOĆI I ULOGA CENTRA ZA SOCIJALNU SKRB U BORBI PROTIV SIROMAŠTVA

THE EFFICIENCY OF GENERAL SOCIAL ASSISTANCE BENEFITS AND THE ROLE OF SOCIAL WELFARE CENTERS IN COMBATING POVERTY The social work profession is rooted in combating poverty and the fight for human rights. Social welfare centers represent a key institution in that area, particularly the cash benefits departments in which social workers daily work with the poorest members of society. The system of social assistance benefits in Croatia includes the general and categorical social assistance programs. This paper is focused on general assistance programs, guaranteed minimum benefit and one-time allowance. The aforementioned rights are regulated by the Social Welfare Act which has been amended six times since 2011, thus bringing novelties to the area of realization of the right to general social assistance benefits. The paper presents the most important changes and provides an overview of their practical applicability. It also provides guidelines for improving efficiency of the two most important cash benefits with regard to the amount of the benefits and their targeting, efficiency with regard to beneficiary groups including children and retired persons and work activation of young persons (and) beneficiaries who are capable for work. Considering the crucial role of social workers in the deciding on the recognition of the right to benefits, special attention was paid to a critical overview the role of social workers n the cash benefits departments.

Good intentions and bad consequences: The general assistance mandate of the Trust Fund for Victims of the ICC

Recognizing the needs of victims in international criminal justice, the International Criminal Court (ICC or the Court) has introduced an innovative reparation scheme including the establishment of the Trust Fund for Victims. Besides the Fund’s role to implement reparation orders, a second mandate has been developed to provide immediate help to victims independent from a criminal conviction: the general assistance mandate. Surprisingly, this mandate has to date attracted little attention from scholars and remains vastly under-researched. By exploring in detail the work of the general assistance mandate, this article exposes its structural weaknesses as well as the negative impact it has on the procedures of the Court as a whole. It will demonstrate how the general assistance mandate weakens the legitimacy of the ICC as it undermines the presumption of innocence, risks compromising international and national Court proceedings, and masks the weaknesses of the Court. While there is no doubt that humanitarian assistance is urgently needed in situations that are investigated by the ICC, the mechanism chosen, namely the Trust Fund’s general assistance mandate is not an adequate solution. This article argues that general assistance has no place in an international criminal court and should, therefore, be completely separated from the ICC.

Implement of Smart Health Care Monitoring System using Mobile IoT and Cloud Computing Technologies

Starting late, many research works were excited about joining appropriated registering and IoT to design systems for splendid social protection. Different creators have incorporated the advantages of utilizing coursed figuring with IoT and proposed a cloud foundation to broaden the bound assets of the sensors and to engage the association of the sensor-driven applications in different domains. Regardless, about MCIoT mixing, there are less research works. One of the endeavors is about a made stage dependent on MCIoT where sensors can interface with a remote which advances toward the cloud by techniques for Internet utilizing Bluetooth. In context on tranquil web benefits, the system is realistic on asset obliged gadgets. Our work directs in a general sense toward think of a general assistance planning for gifted social assurance checking application, that joins the highlights of telephones, sensors, and scattered figuring to offer to the client the improved associations that are available any place while ensuring adaptability and security. Our general assistance design to make a structure for social insurance applications that made information is dealt with in the cloud our smaller application will show the distinct outcomes on client dashboard of their telephones.

Cash Assistance

This chapter discusses the public provision of cash assistance to needy families and individuals in the United States. The chapter briefly surveys the constitutional and international law status of a right to subsistence, then focuses on the three main cash relief programs in the United States: the state-federal co-operative Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF), which generally serves very low-income families with minor children; the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which serves low-income elderly, blind, or disabled people; and residual, “general assistance” programs, operated by some states to provide small cash grants to destitute families and individuals that do not qualify for other income support. The chapter provides a detailed account of the financial, categorical, and immigration-related eligibility requirements for these programs, the conditions attached to receipt of assistance (such as work requirements), and the processes for application and appeal of agency decisions. The chapter also examines the history, evolution, and social impacts of welfare programs for families in the United States and offers some critical perspectives on relief policies.

Humanoid co-workers: How is it like to work with a robot?

Human-robot interaction in corporate workplaces is a research area which remains unexplored. In this paper, we present the results and analysis of a social experiment we conducted by introducing a humanoid robot (Nadine) into a collaborative social workplace. The humanoid's primary task was to function as a receptionist and provide general assistance to the customers. Moreover, the employees who interacted with Nadine were given over a month to get used to her capabilities, after which, the feedback was collected from the staff on the grounds of influence on productivity, affect experienced during interaction and their views on social robots assisting with regular tasks. Our results show that the usage of social robots for assisting with normal day-to-day tasks is taken quite positively by the co-workers and that in the near future, more capable humanoid social robots can be used in workplaces for assisting with menial tasks. Finally, we posit that surveys such as ours could result in constructive opinions based on technological awareness, rather than opinions from media-driven fears about the threats of technology.

Social Factors and Patient Perceptions Associated With Preventable Hospital Readmissions

Background: Preventable hospital readmissions are costly and erode the quality of care delivery. Few efforts to incorporate the patient perspectives and social factors associated with readmission preventability exist. Objective: To identify patient perceptions and social barriers to care related to readmission. Methods: Prospective cohort study of 202 respondents readmitted within 30 days of hospital discharge from 2 inpatient adult medicine units at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts between January 2012 and January 2016. Results: Few participants indicated that their readmission was due to unattainable health care after discharge. Almost half indicated that they needed more general assistance to stay well outside the hospital. Those reporting a barrier related to at least 2 measures of social determinants of health were more likely to have preventable readmissions (34% vs 17%, P = .006). Participants with a history of homelessness or substance use disorder were more likely to have preventable readmissions (44% vs 20%, P = .04 and 32% vs 18%, P = .03, respectively). Conclusion: Strengthening nonmedical support systems and general social policy may be required to reduce preventable readmissions.

Punishment, Religion, and the Shrinking Welfare State for the Very Poor in the United States, 1970–2010

The U.S. social safety net for the very poor has been shrinking for several decades. Two factors stand out as potential drivers of this transformation: a neoliberal turn in poverty governance that favors incarceration and other punitive policies and “religious neoliberalism,” which melds neoliberal, anti-statist political ideology with conservative Christian ideals of compassionate assistance administered not by government but through local congregations. Yet these two streams have not been studied simultaneously in relation to welfare retrenchment. Analysis of the demise of state General Assistance (GA) programs using Cox regression models and a unique longitudinal data set shows that higher incarceration rates and higher church density both contribute to the decline of public assistance over time. Findings support the theoretical perspective of religious neoliberalism.

Care for victims of sexual violence, an organization pushed to its limits: The case of Médecins Sans Frontières

Over the past ten years, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has provided medical care to almost 118,000 victims of sexual violence. Integrating related care into MSF general assistance to populations affected by crisis and conflicts has presented a considerable institutional struggle and continues to be a challenge. Tensions regarding the role of MSF in providing care to victims of sexual violence and when facing the multiple challenges inherent in dealing with this crime persist. An overview of MSF's experience and related reflection aims to share with the reader, on the one hand, the complexity of the issue, and on the other, the need to continue fighting for the provision of adequate medical care for victims of sexual violence, which despite the limitations is feasible.