“We are not a “ministry of payments”, we are a ministry that forms the human capacity and resilience of every person”: Head of the Ministry of Social Policy
The head of the Ministry of Social Policy, Oksana Zholnovich, emphasized that her department should not be perceived only as a “ministry of payments”. According to her, the main task of the Ministry of Social Policy is to create conditions for the development of stability and independence of every person in Ukraine.
“First of all, it was important for me to start changing the philosophy of social support and social policy. The Ministry of Social Policy is about support, about service, about people-centeredness. We are not a “ministry of payments”, we are a ministry that shapes the human capacity and resilience of each person.
We don’t just pay out money, we build each person’s ability to be self-confident and independent. The state must provide conditions so that every Ukrainian has opportunities for development and does not feel dependent on social assistance.”, – she noted in interview for “Ukrinform”.
Zholnovich emphasized that no country in the world tries to provide social support to the entire population, because this creates relations of dependence, as it was in the USSR, where the state manipulated citizens through the system of social payments.
Not just money: a new approach to social support
According to the minister, it is important that social workers do not just calculate payments, but really help people by selecting the necessary set of social services for them. For example, if there are people in the family with gambling addiction, financial support will not solve the problem. In such cases, psychological counseling and long-term rehabilitation are required.
In September, the Ministry of Social Policy plans to launch a new initiative called “social case management”, which is aimed at an individual approach to each case and the provision of necessary services.
“We are implementing many digital tools. In his personal account, every citizen will be able to see all available types of support. For this, it will be necessary to pass a short survey to identify the problem and possible ways to solve it.”Zholnovich concluded.
