Measures of Social Assistance Activated within the Romanian Educational Environment: Developments during the Recent Economic Crisis

Autori:

Liliana STAN, Nicoleta Laura POPA

Cod: ISSN: 1583-3410 (print), ISSN: 1584-5397 (electronic)
Dimensiuni: pp. 307-324

How to cite this article:

Stan, L., Popa, N.L. (2014). Measures of Social Assistance Activated within the Romanian Educational Environment: Developments during the Recent Economic Crisis. Revista de Cercetare si Interventie Sociala, 47, 307-324.

Abstract:

Social existence requires constant management of all types of social and human manifestations, including those expressing vulnerability, a burdensome for the individual, as well as for the group or the community. Scientifically-based reactions of the society facing social vulnerability sums the corresponding measures arising from social policies, social protection and social assistance, and imply the employment of public resources with the aim of reducing marginalization and exclusion. Social protection and social assistance are two large and far-reaching approaches exerting a major impact on normality of the social life. Interventions addressing the situation of vulnerable children and young people are developed within and beyond their family life. In Romania, the school constitutes a social space where several intervention programs aiming vulnerable children and youths are activated. The present study comments on some of these programs, and based on corresponding considerations proposes pedagogical and social assistance valorisations. Within this general framework, relevant Romanian experiences are presented, using as landmarks the number of beneficiaries of the assistance programs, namely “Roll bread and milk”, school supplies for pupils, different types of scholarships, the monthly financial support “Money to attend Secondary School”, the programme “Euro 200” which provides funding for the acquisition of computers, and the programme “The Second Chance”. The study also captures the larger European context in which these Romanian initiatives are designed and implemented, as well as developments of social protection and assistance programs conducted in the school during the recent economic crisis.