Unacceptable actions of certain members of the new Government related to social policy which grossly violate the right to protection of the most vulnerable groups in Croatian society and violate the fundamental principles of responsible governance of the state on behalf of all citizens of the Republic of Croatia have unpleasantly surprised us and at the same time showed us how little the work of civil society organizations is valued by some high-ranking persons.
The Prime Minister appointed a young member of his party to head the Ministry of Social Policy who had never worked a single day in the social welfare system (or anywhere else except in politics, in well-paid jobs), which initially did not seem like a major problem to us because we expected that when creating policies, he would consult experts, the academic community and civil society - all those who think and work directly on the ground with the poor and socially excluded.
However, a very unpleasant surprise happened. A week ago, organizations began receiving individual invitations to the Ministry, to the address where only a small part of the employees of the former Ministry of Health and Social Policy remained. Four female employees, huddled in a small room, handed us a piece of paper on which was written the amount that the Ministry was allocating to us for the third year of the implementation of the three-year programs and the answers a and b, of which only one had to be circled: option a) we accept the offered funds; b) we do not accept. The approved amounts offered from 60 to 70% less funds compared to the initially agreed amounts. Namely, in accordance with the JIM (Joint Inclusion Memorandum) signed by the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the European Commission in 2007, the then Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, in accordance with the decision on the necessity of decentralization and deinstitutionalization of social services and improvement of their quality and level of efficiency, decided to support for three years the activities of associations that had proven themselves in their work with vulnerable groups: people with autism, children with special needs, people with mental illness, the elderly and sick, women and children victims of violence, etc. The level of services was to be raised every year, and at the end of the third year, after an evaluation, it was to be assessed how to fit individual services into the overall system of social support for vulnerable groups. Funds for the programs were provided from the revenues of the Croatian Lottery. One month before the start of the third year of the program, without evaluation, discussions with service providers and users, the new Ministry of Social Policy (!) and Youth unilaterally decided to drastically cut funds, without any explanation offered. And the Croatian Lottery is receiving more funds than ever.
In a difficult economic situation, when even able-bodied and educated people are not easily able to survive turbulent times, the Ministry has made it clear that the poor and socially excluded must manage as best they can. In addition, this action has completely devalued the work of civil society organizations and completely nullified the story of partnership. The Ministry's leadership did not even consider it appropriate to invite us for a conversation and explain why and how the decision to cut funds was made.
The minister stated in her first public reaction after the announcement of the associations that she had to take care of taxpayers' money (!), which should mean that we are irresponsibly spending money on unnecessary things, even though a financial analysis was conducted before the program began, which showed that the services would be provided in a far more appropriate manner at a significantly lower cost than when provided by system institutions. In her second statement, after numerous criticisms expressed in public, she stated that she would personally advocate for the protection of children. Today, we learn that she has invited several organizations that deal with children with special needs to come for a meeting and promised to raise the necessary money (!).
Can this kind of behavior be considered the implementation of a well-thought-out policy? Where did the money come from for certain organizations and their activities? And on the basis of which criteria and indicators was the original decision changed?
We have no choice but to inform international institutions about the irresponsible behavior of the Ministry of Social Policy and Youth, which we would rather call the Ministry of Arbitrariness and Arrogance.
