Oradea Social Assistance Directorate*

The social investigation is a method of investigation based on different techniques of collecting and processing information, for the purpose of analyzing the social and economic situation of individuals, families, groups, or communities.

The social investigation is conducted by the specialized social service within the town hall in whose territorial jurisdiction the person with disabilities has their domicile or residence.

To carry out the social investigation, the applicant (as the case may be, their family, legal representative, personal assistant, the non-governmental organization of which the person with disabilities is a member, or, in their absence, by any person representing them) will submit to the headquarters of the Oradea Social Assistance Directorate - Public Relations and Initial Assessment Service, an application accompanied by the documents necessary for the social investigation, after which the verification will be carried out in the field at the patient's home.

Purpose of the operational procedure:

• Establishes the method of carrying out the admission of beneficiaries in the Night Shelter Oradea as well as the people involved in carrying out this activity;
  
• Provides assurance regarding the existence of adequate documentation for the conduct of the activity;
  
• Ensures the continuity of the activity, including in conditions of staff fluctuation.
  

Scope of application of the operational procedure:

The activity of admitting beneficiaries in the Night Shelter is the process through which a person requesting social services becomes a beneficiary thereof. The admission activity is carried out in accordance with legal provisions and only if the Night Shelter can provide the minimum necessary services to meet the needs of the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries and/or their legal representatives know and accept the admission conditions.

All children up to the age of 18, as well as young people who have turned 18 and are attending high school or vocational education courses organized according to the law, are entitled to state child allowance until they complete these courses.

In the event that you also apply for the child-raising allowance, it is no longer necessary to apply separately for the state child allowance, as this benefit (state child allowance) is requested simultaneously with the child-raising allowance.

Procedure description

The services of the social assistance canteen are granted free of charge to persons who have no income or whose income is below the net monthly income level, for a single person, taken into account when establishing social assistance.

Entitled persons to benefit from the services of the social assistance canteen who have incomes exceeding the net monthly income level, for a single person, taken into account when establishing social assistance, may benefit from the services of the social assistance canteen, by paying a contribution of 30% of the income per person, without exceeding the cost of the meals served, calculated for the same period.

For the social services of the social assistance canteen, able-bodied persons from the family must perform 72 hours per month of actions or works of local interest, without exceeding the normal working hours; failure to fulfill this obligation results in the suspension of the social assistance canteen services, and if within 3 months from suspension this obligation is not fulfilled, the granting of the social assistance canteen ceases.

Beneficiaries

Children up to 18 years of age, who come from families benefiting from social welfare and canteen services, being cared for by those families whose average net monthly income per person is below the net monthly income level, for a single person, taken into account when determining social assistance and who provide proof of attending day courses at an educational institution.

Granting the right
The meal at the social assistance canteen is granted based on an application-declaration on one's own responsibility, accompanied by supporting documents regarding the family composition, income earned in the month prior to the submission of the application by its members, and assets owned, including in other administrative-territorial units.

The social inquiry is a method of investigation based on various techniques for collecting and processing information, for the purpose of analyzing the social and economic situation of individuals, families, groups, or communities.

The social inquiry is carried out by the specialized social service within the city hall in whose territorial jurisdiction the person with disabilities has their domicile or residence.

For conducting the social inquiry, the applicant (as the case may be, their family, legal representative, personal assistant, the non-governmental organization of which the person with disabilities is a member or, in their absence, by any person representing them) will submit to the headquarters of the Social Assistance Department Oradea - Public Relations and Initial Evaluation Service, an application accompanied by the documents necessary for preparing the social inquiry, after which the field verification will be conducted at the patient’s home.

Emergency Ordinance 63/2022 has as its object the establishment of temporary measures, consisting in petty material support, until 31.12.2023, for certain categories of vulnerable persons, provided for in this ordinance.

The material support for vulnerable categories of persons is intended to compensate part of the food expenses for ensuring daily subsistence, by granting social vouchers on electronic support, for purchasing food products or providing hot meals, in order to protect against the risk of material deprivation and the risk of extreme poverty.

Categories of beneficiaries

1. Pensioners of the public pension system who are registered with the pension houses

2. Persons – children and adults – with severe, accentuated, or medium degree of disability, whose incomes are less than or equal to 1500 lei.

3. Families with at least two dependent children, whose net monthly income per family member is less than or equal to 600 lei.

4. Single-parent families whose net monthly income per family member is less than or equal to 600 lei.

5. Families who have established the right to social assistance, in accordance with law 416/2001.

6. Homeless persons as regulated by the legal provisions in force.

Granting the electronic social voucher
The electronic social voucher for food/hot meals for homeless persons is granted based on a self-responsibility application-declaration, accompanied by a copy of the identity card and supporting documents regarding incomes obtained from occasional work in the month prior to submitting the application.

Based on the applications and the self-responsibility declarations submitted, the city hall draws up the centralized list of persons who meet the conditions for granting support.

The centralized list is sent electronically by the 5th of the month to the County Agency for Payments and Social Inspection, which centralizes the lists at county level within two days and sends them to the National Agency for Payments and Social Inspection at the national level.

The Oradea Social Assistance Directorate grants monthly allowances to persons with severe disabilities, based on the certificates of classification in the category of severe disability with a personal assistant.

The person with a severe disability benefits from a monthly allowance, which is equal to the net salary of the personal assistant grade 0, established according to the legal provisions regulating the salary level of personnel paid from public funds. Payment of the monthly allowance is granted for a determined or undetermined period depending on the validity period of the certificate of classification in the degree of disability.

The payment of the monthly allowance is ensured by the city halls in whose territorial area the person with severe disability has their domicile or residence.

The payment of the monthly allowance is made during the validity period of the certificate of classification in the degree of disability, issued by the child protection committees or by the committees for the assessment namely of adults with disabilities.

Parents or legal representatives of the child with severe disability, adults with severe disability or their legal representatives, may choose between a personal assistant and receiving a monthly allowance.

The option is expressed through a written request.

The monthly allowance is granted starting with the month following the submission of the application, based on the executive director's decision, and payment is made during the validity period of the certificate of classification in the degree of disability.

In order to grant the monthly allowance, the applicant / legal representative / proxy / parent shall submit to the headquarters of the Oradea Social Assistance Directorate - Public Relations and Initial Assessment Service, an application accompanied by supporting documents showing that the person classified in the degree of disability may benefit from the monthly allowance. The specialized service within DAS Oradea verifies the submitted documents and will draw up the report and the decision regarding the granting of the monthly allowance.

The allowance for raising children up to 2 years old, or up to 3 years old in the case of a child with a disability, is a form of support to which are entitled persons who, in the last 24 months prior to the date of the child’s birth, have earned income for 12 months from salaries, income from independent activities, income from agricultural activities subject to income tax according to the provisions of Law no. 571/2003 regarding the Fiscal Code, with its subsequent amendments and completions - taxable income, or have found themselves in one or more of the situations, called assimilated periods. This right may be granted to either of the child’s natural parents, as well as to the person who has adopted a child, provided that the eligibility criteria are met.

Persons who, during the period in which they are entitled to benefit from child-raising leave, obtain income subject to tax have the right to an insertion incentive.

The granting pipeline of emergency aid from the local budget of Oradea municipality in accordance with the provisions of Law no. 196/2016 regarding the minimum inclusion income with subsequent amendments and completions and Local Council Decision no. 1240/21.12.2023, regarding the approval of the methodology for granting emergency aid, to single persons/families in hardship situations and for preventing or reducing the risk of poverty and social exclusion, who have domicile in Oradea municipality.

The Mayor may decide to grant emergency aid, in cash or in-kind, to families or individuals who are in situations of necessity arising as a result of natural disasters, fires, accidents, epidemics, epizootics, as well as in other special situations that can lead to the emergence or increase of the risk of social exclusion, established by local council decision.

Beneficiaries

Emergency aid is granted once a year at the written request of the single person, the family representative or the entitled person, according to the Self-declaration Request for emergency aid (Annex no. 12 of H.G. no. 1154/2022 for the approval of the Methodological Norms for the application of the provisions of Law no. 196/2016 with subsequent amendments and completions).

Granting of the right

Following the written request of a family member or the single person registered at DAS Oradea, two counselors within the Social Service verify on-site the socio-economic and housing situation declared by the applicant and complete the On-site Verification Sheet.

The data mentioned in the application and self-declaration as well as in the supporting documents regarding the family composition and its income are entered into the IT application.

The case is presented by the secretary of the Commission for the analysis and proposal of granting emergency aid, and the commission members decide on the granting/non-granting of the aid and its amount. Subsequently, the documentation for payment of the aid is prepared by the Economic - Financial and Administrative Service.

Based on the Order of the Mayor of Oradea municipality, the Payroll is drawn up, and the specialist service within DAS Oradea will make the payment of the emergency aid. The applicant for emergency aid will collect this benefit based on the identity document presented in original.

The social investigation is a method of inquiry based on various techniques of collecting and processing information, for the purpose of analyzing the social and economic situation of individuals, families, groups, or communities.

The social investigation is conducted by the specialized social service within the town hall in whose territorial area the person with disabilities has their domicile or residence.

To carry out the social investigation, the applicant (as appropriate, their family, legal representative, personal assistant, the non-governmental organization of which the applicant is a member, or, in their absence, any person representing them) shall submit at the headquarters of the Oradea Social Assistance Directorate - Public Relations and Initial Evaluation Service, an application accompanied by the documents necessary for the preparation of the social investigation, after which verification will be carried out in the field at the patient's home.

Social housing is allocated with subsidized rent to individuals or families whose economic situation does not allow them to own a home or rent a home under market conditions.

Access to social housing, in view of rental, is granted to families or individuals with a net monthly income per person, obtained in the last 12 months, below the average net monthly wage in the total economy, communicated by the National Institute of Statistics in the last Statistical Bulletin prior to the month in which the application is reviewed, as well as prior to the month in which the housing is allocated.

Social housing is allocated by the local public administration authorities (Local Councils) based on the criteria established annually by them.

• homeless persons
  
• persons over 18 years old who are in situations of social risk
  

Persons who wish to benefit from social services shall submit an application at the center’s head office in Oradea, Johann Gutenberg Street, no. 8 and attach a copy of their identity document. The applications will be reviewed and approved by the head of the center, in accordance with the eligibility criteria.

In situations where persons do not possess identity documents, community services can also be provided without evaluation, as long as the persons are registered in the attendance register or presence lists.

Eligibility criteria for beneficiaries:

• must be homeless persons,
• must be persons over 18 years old who are in situations of social risk

Conditions for termination of social services provided by the Gutenberg Community Center:

• repeated failure by the social services beneficiary to comply with the center’s (R.O.F.) regulations of the social services provider;
• if the beneficiary has inappropriate behavior that makes it impossible to counsel them at the center under safe conditions for themselves, the other beneficiaries, or the center’s staff;
  
• at the request of the beneficiary;
  
• in case of the beneficiary’s death;
  
• force majeure.

The mission of the "Day Center for Children from Marginalized Communities in Oradea Municipality" service is to improve the standard of living in the disadvantaged Gutenberg area of Oradea and to diminish trends of social and economic decline, to prevent the abandonment and institutionalization of children by providing, during the day, care, education, recreation, socialization, counseling activities, development of independent living skills, school and career guidance, as well as support and counseling activities for parents or legal representatives.

According to Decision no. 70 of January 31, 2024 for the approval of the implementation mechanism for granting material support to certain categories of disadvantaged persons, in the period 2024-2027, the rules for granting, the method and frequency of support measures, as well as the responsible institutions for the year 2024, the material support - social vouchers on electronic support for food products and hot meals, has a nominal value of 250 lei and is granted once every two months also to the following categories of disadvantaged persons:

· families with at least 2 dependent children whose monthly income per family member is less than or equal to 675 lei;

· single-parent families whose monthly income per family member is less than or equal to 675 lei;

Families with children who do not benefit from child family support (VMI branch) may request the material support provided by this decision, if they meet the conditions, by submitting, by the family member who has full legal capacity and who requests, on behalf of the family, the granting of the support measure by means of an application and a declaration on their own responsibility.

The housing heating aid and the energy supplement are part of the category of social benefits granted through the Oradea Directorate of Social Assistance.

Content and role of documents

Content of the documents – personal data, information regarding the income earned by applicants, and information regarding the goods owned;

Role of the documents - they are the basis for establishing or denying the right to heating aid/energy supplement, for changing or terminating the granting of these benefits; rights are established by issuing the mayor's disposition.

Document flow

- Documents serving as the basis for granting aid: Applications and affidavits accompanied by supporting documents regarding the family composition and income earned by its members are registered by applicants at the DAS Oradea headquarters - Public Relations and Initial Evaluation Service and at the Multifunctional Social Centers in the city's neighborhoods; data are processed in a software program; at the end of the granting period (November – October) an archive is established;

- Documents for institutional use: Counselor - Head of Service - Executive Director - Mayor of Oradea - Thermal/natural gas/electricity provider – AJPIS Bihor/other institutions.

Applicants for housing heating aid/energy supplement submit individually or through homeowners/tenants associations applications and affidavits accompanied by supporting documents regarding the family composition and income earned by its members at the DAS Oradea headquarters – Public Relations and Initial Evaluation Service and at the Multifunctional Social Centers in the city's neighborhoods.

Monthly, counselors with responsibilities process in the software program the newly registered applications/changes/termination of rights for the period between the 21st of the month and the 20th of the following month; they verify the accuracy of declared data, determine rights, prepare reports and dispositions, generate summary reports with beneficiaries, and send them to energy providers and AJPIS Bihor; prepare statistical reports and send them to AJPIS Bihor; check the summary sheets with beneficiaries sent by providers, forward them for certification, and send them to AJPIS Bihor for reimbursement; prepare payrolls for beneficiaries of aid/supplement for energy with solid and/or liquid fuels.

Conducting the operations and actions of the activity

- documenting legislative provisions regarding housing heating aid/energy supplement – counselors with responsibilities from the Social Service;

- requests are sent to the Economic-Financial and Administrative Service within DAS Oradea via a Note for necessary materials/supplies for the proper conduct of activities;

- forms for Application/Affidavit regarding occurred changes/Field verification sheet are printed in collaboration with Oradea City Hall, based on a Reference/Internal Note to the Directorate for monitoring operating expenses and event organization;

- a written request is addressed to the Economic Directorate of Oradea City Hall and the thermal energy provider for communicating the local billing price for thermal energy to the public;

- intent letters are sent to institutions holding databases for the conclusion of protocols/additional acts for monthly checks, throughout the period of granting benefits (November – October), regarding incomes (salaries, allowances, pensions) / movable and immovable goods of benefit applicants;

- Lists of assets leading to exclusion from aid eligibility, List of required documents to be attached to applications, and Income brackets for each of the 4 types of aid will be posted in electronic format on the institution's website and also made available on paper; these documents will also be made available to homeowners’ associations and electronically via email communication with the support of the Guidance and Control Office for Homeowners Associations within Oradea City Hall;

- the aid granting conditions for heating aid/energy supplement, as well as other related information, will be made public in the local press through press releases;

- applicants will fill out the Application and affidavit accompanied by supporting documents regarding family composition, earned incomes, and proof of housing, and will submit them individually at the Public Relations and Initial Evaluation Service, at the Multifunctional Social Centers in the city's neighborhoods, or send them online ;

- Applications and affidavits must be submitted by the 20th of each month to benefit from aid starting with the current month (e.g. – by 20 November), and after the 20th of the month to benefit starting the following month.

- The counselor, with permanent or temporary responsibilities, checks the consistency between the data filled in the application and the supporting documents attached. For incomplete applications, the applicant will be informed in writing (and verbally – by phone) via an invitation about the identified discrepancies.

- The counselor writes their legible name, date, and signature, registers the application in the special register/software program (only complete applications will be registered), each application having a unique number containing the following elements: applicant’s name and surname, provider code, address, signature of the person who submitted the application;

- A registration number from the special (electronic) register will be issued for each application/type of heating – by which the applications will also be archived;

- Complete and registered applications for granting housing heating aid/energy supplement with: thermal energy, electric energy, solid or petroleum fuels as well as natural gas will be processed in the software program, being assigned a unique number from the institution’s CID program, and forming a database for determining the granting/denial of benefits. If there are suspicions regarding the accuracy of what the applicant has declared, field checks may be carried out (Field verification sheet); if the applicant/beneficiary is not found at home, a Finding Note is drawn up and an invitation is left in the mailbox to determine the possibility of conducting the home visit and completing the Verification Sheet;

- Within 15 working days from the registration date of the application for housing heating with electricity, the field verification (Field verification sheet) is carried out, a necessary and essential part, after which the data from the applications are processed in the software, determining the granting/denial of benefits;

- Monthly, the movable and immovable assets of the applicants/beneficiaries of heating/energy supplement aid will be checked by overlapping the database with the existing situation in the Economic Directorate of Oradea City Hall as well as with the Civil Status Service records regarding deceased persons; in addition, information regarding applicants'/beneficiaries’ incomes is requested monthly, based on collaboration protocols, from A.J.P.I.S., A.J.O.F.M., C.J.P., etc., as well as, via internal note, the situation regarding personal assistants and allowances granted through DAS Oradea;

- Granting/denial, modification/termination of housing heating aid/energy supplement is performed by mayoral disposition, which will be communicated to holders, A.J.P.I.S., and providers within 5 days from the date of issuance; the calculation of the maximum aid for housing heating with thermal energy is performed considering the average consumption established for the temperate area and the local price of gigacalorie;

- Holders of heating aid are required to communicate any changes in family composition and their incomes within 5 days from the date of change, by submitting the affidavit regarding changes in family composition and/or their incomes, accompanied by supporting documents;

- Changes or, as the case may be, termination of the right to housing heating aid are made starting with the month following the change;

- In case of changes, new dispositions regarding the modification of the aid will be issued.;

- At the beginning of the cold season, the method of payment of aid for heating with solid fuels is established by mayoral disposition;

- After establishing the right to heating aid each month, centralizing reports for all types of aid/energy supplement containing: name, surname, provider code, amount and percentage of aid are drawn up and communicated to: providers and A.J.P.I.S.;

- Heat, electricity, and natural gas suppliers send, based on the summary report, borderaux to the homeowners’ associations; Homeowners’ associations are required to transmit to the suppliers of thermal energy, electricity or natural gas the itemized consumptions;

- Based on the official records, providers of thermal energy, electricity, or gas calculate the actual aid and send the situation to DAS Oradea for certification by the mayor; the checked and certified situations serve as payment documents and are sent to A.J.P.I.S. Bihor for the transfer of funds to the ESCROW-type accounts of the providers; a copy is resent (electronically and/or in print) to the providers;

- Based on the monthly summary report including the beneficiaries of heating/energy supplement aid with solid fuels submitted to A.J.P.I.S. Bihor and in accordance with the Disposition regarding the method of payment of benefits, DAS Oradea requests the amounts required for the payment of benefits through the Economic-Financial and Administrative Service; the situation of heating/energy supplement aid with solid fuels is communicated monthly, via internal note, with the Economic-Financial and Administrative Service, which will make the payments based on the Payroll; if, at the end of the cold season, there are beneficiaries who have not collected their financial entitlements, payrolls are drawn up based on a written request from the beneficiary;

- The period for making the payment of heating aid for housing with solid fuels will be communicated through mass media and by SMS;

- Statistical reports are drawn up monthly including the beneficiaries of heating/energy supplement aid (number) separately for each type of aid (electricity, thermal energy, natural gas, solid fuels) and submitted to A.J.P.I.S. Bihor;

- In the event of undue granting of aid, it ceases with the following month and the mayor's disposition is issued for the recovery of sums granted as heating/energy supplement aid; The mayor’s dispositions establishing debts are forwarded to A.J.P.I.S. Bihor for the issuance of the Executive Director’s Decision regarding the recovery of amounts unduly granted;

- Resolved applications accompanied by supporting documents will be archived in the order of registration numbers in the special registers/software program.

Beneficiaries

Heating aid and energy supplement are granted to families and single persons with low incomes to fully or partially cover housing heating expenses, for the cold season period November – March, and to fully or partially cover expenses for home lighting, supporting cooking facilities and providing hot water in the home, ensuring continuity of electricity supply for equipment on which peoples’ lives depend, for health reasons and for the use of communication devices involving energy use for the period November - October.

Granting of the right

Families and single persons with low incomes using centralized thermal energy for housing heating benefit from aid through the percentage compensation of the actual thermal energy bill. Vulnerable consumers using natural gas, solid or petroleum fuels, or electricity for home heating benefit monthly, depending on the average net monthly income per family member, from an amount established by law. The energy supplement is granted in a fixed amount, depending on the sources of energy used. The necessary funds for the payment of the heating aid are provided from the state budget, through the budget of the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity.

The minimum inclusion income represents the monthly financial support granted by the state in order to ensure a minimum standard of living for single persons or families with legal residence in Romania if the net monthly income of the single person or family is lower than the guaranteed minimum income.

The payment of the minimum inclusion income is ensured by the Bihor County Agency for Payments and Social Inspection, from the budget of the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity.

For the amounts granted as minimum inclusion income, one of the employable adults in the family must perform monthly actions or works of local interest, for all family members, without exceeding the normal work schedule; failure to fulfill this obligation results in the suspension of the minimum inclusion income, and if this obligation is not fulfilled within 3 months from suspension, the payment of the minimum inclusion income ceases.

This procedure regulates the mode of collaboration between the Directorate of Social Assistance and licensed social services for elderly persons operating within the municipality of Oradea, and by exception with social services from other administrative-territorial units that host beneficiaries domiciled within the municipality of Oradea.

Through case management, the social worker within the public social assistance service (SPAS) ensures the coordination of interventions from various fields for the integrated realization of needs and resource assessment, planning and intervention, monitoring and evaluation of the impact of community services provided to elderly persons, for the implementation of the principle of person-centeredness.

Case management is provided in collaboration, by the social worker within the Directorate of Social Assistance and the designated social worker/other specialist from the social service provider/social service.

Beneficiaries - eligibility criteria

Elderly persons are considered, according to the legislation in force, those who have reached the retirement age established by law.

According to Law no. 17/2000, republished with subsequent amendments and additions, the following benefit from the provisions of this procedure: the elderly person, defined at art. 1 para (4), that is, the person who has reached the standard retirement age established by law and who falls into one of the following situations:

a) has no family or is not supported by any person or persons legally obliged to provide such support, in accordance with the legal provisions in force;

b) does not have housing and cannot secure housing conditions based on own resources;

c) does not have own income or the income is not sufficient to ensure the necessary care;

d) cannot manage on their own or requires specialized care;

e) is unable to secure socio-medical needs due to illness or physical or mental condition.

The Directorate of Social Assistance identifies a case through at least one of the following forms:

a) the elderly person's phone;

b) the request of the elderly person/that person's legal representatives submitted to SPAS/FSS for social services or minimum inclusion income;

c) notification received from an FSS regarding:

- the conclusion of a social services contract for the provision of social services to the elderly person;

- suspension of service provision for a determined period;

- termination of service provision.

d) referral from the community healthcare assistant, from another public service or private organization;

e) self-referral;

f) notification from informal caregivers.

Procedure for appointing the case manager/case officer:

The appointment order (MC) is issued respecting the maximum number of cases per person, namely 50 elderly persons, domiciled within the administrative-territorial area of the municipality of Oradea, who have directly addressed (through a written request) the Oradea Directorate of Social Assistance for the granting of social services. When appointing the MC, SPAS takes into account at least: the complexity of the case, the need to ensure continuity in the relationship between the beneficiary and SPAS/social service provider, the MC's professional experience and knowledge regarding the typology of social services for elderly persons, the MC's coordination, communication, and collaboration skills, as well as the chronology of request registrations.

FSS issues the appointment order of the case officer. Decisions are communicated, as appropriate, between SPAS and the local FSS.

MC/RC, in all activities carried out within the stages of case management, respects the professional code of ethics, is based on the principle of respect for inalienable dignity, individual autonomy, including the freedom to make their own choices, and the independence of elderly persons.

Request for the provision of social services

If the elderly person requests the support of the Directorate of Social Assistance for access to social services then SPAS carries out the entire procedure of assessment, planning, issuance of order, etc. If the person does not address SPAS before accessing the social service or does not require the issuance of an order for granting social services as a social assistance measure, then SPAS receives and registers the notification regarding the existence of the beneficiary in the social service, lists the beneficiary in the Register of vulnerable elderly and monitors the situation according to the legal provisions. In this case, the provisions regarding initial notification, initial assessment, intervention/service plan, and appointment of case manager from SPAS no longer apply.

The request for the provision of social services may also be addressed directly to a private social service provider, in which case, if a service provision contract is concluded with the applicant, the provider is obliged to inform, in writing, the administrative-territorial authority in whose territorial area the beneficiary of the respective social service is domiciled or resides, and to register the information in the National Register of Beneficiaries of Social Services.