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  • "One Stop Social Services Shop"

    "ONE STOP SOCIAL SERVICES SHOP"

    Azg/Arm
    4 Nov 04

    Aghvan Vardanian, RA minister of labor and social issues, and John
    Evans, US ambassador to Armenia, opened the second pilot Integrated
    Social Services Center in Masis, Armenia, on November 2. The first
    pilot opened on March 29, 2004 in Vanadzor.

    The idea of grouping different organizations providing social services
    in the same building, known as "One Stop Social Service Shop" has
    become increasingly common in European countries. The Vanadzor pilot
    project is being viewed with interest by social service agencies in
    other countries, including Romania, Albania and Georgia. The CE and
    Millennium Challenges representatives have also visited the pilot site
    in Vanadzor.

    The Integrated Social Service Center brings together all the local
    level state social services offices, Regional Social Services Agency,
    the Republican Employment and Labor Service Agency, Social Insurance
    Fund and Social Medical expertise Commission under one roof. A NGO
    referral office has also been included in the building to provide
    information and assistance to citizens who have a need but may not
    qualify for state benefits, and for those citizens who need additional
    services that state social service offices are not able to provide.

    The Integrated Social Service center will provide better services for
    Masis. Citizens needing access to social services now have a single
    location where they can make applications for pensions, benefits,
    social security cards, register as unemployed and make enquires as to
    alternative social services available.

    John Evans, US ambassador to Armenia, said:" Such programs are
    directed to help the people in need, the pensioners, the disabled and
    the unemployed. Tomorrow we may appear in one of these groups,
    i.e. we help ourselves by establishing such a center."

    Aghvan Vardanian, RA minister of labor and social issues, said that
    the state aimed to spread this model throughout the republic. "In the
    first stage we try to involve such cities where at least the majority
    of the services were located in one building, to make the
    organizational and renovation works easier. My dream is to have an
    opportunity to build a social center complex center in all the
    regions," he said. As for Yerevan, according to Mr. Vardanian, it may
    need 10-12 such centers.

    Aghvan Vardanian assured that the residents of Masis and the
    neighboring villages will soon feel the benefits of the complex
    center. "We invest contemporary technologies in the social sphere,"
    the minister said.

    One of the main features of the center is the integrated reception
    area. Another vital aspect of the Integrated Social Service Center at
    Masis is the database exchange software that has been developed by the
    "Nork" Center with financial assistance from USAID under the Armenia
    Social Transition Program. This system will enable each of the offices
    in the ISSC to access certain limited data sets from key state social
    service office database.

    By Tamar Minasian
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