Barnahus, care service for child victims of sexual abuse

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Barnahus, care service for child victims of sexual abuse

Catalan Government, Save The Children

A pioneering integrated unit in Catalonia and Spain, made up of a specialised multidisciplinary team, whose objective is to avoid the re-victimisation of children and adolescents who are victims of sexual abuse and to provide all the necessary care in a single space.

Barnahus is a project to help children and young people –from 0 to 18 years of age– who have suffered sexual abuse and to prevent aggression against minors. It puts the victim of sexual abuse at the centre, working in a single space with all the care services they need and minimising the traumatic experience of reliving the aggression. This avoids victims having to go through courts, police stations, hospitals and children’s services. It is promoted by Save the Children and is supported by five Catalan government departments, mainly the Social Rights department, but in coordination with the Health, Education, Justice and Interior departments.

Barnahus has a welcoming and friendly appearance to provide security, comfort and confidence to children and their families. There are separate rooms to preserve privacy, a kitchen-dining room, offices and a medical examination room. The psychosocial team –consisting of psychologists and social workers with a coordinator– works full time, 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and also offers translation services.

Mixed Living, residents who live with and collaborate with highly vulnerable people

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Mixed Living, residents who live with and collaborate with highly vulnerable people

Tussenvoorziening

Mixed social housing blocks of flats where homeless and economically vulnerable people live together, which is beneficial for both groups. It facilitates access to housing more quickly for many people while the community activities carried out in the buildings promote social reintegration and break down the social isolation and stigmatisation of homeless people.

Mixed Living is a form of housing in which 70% of the people who live there are on low incomes and in need of social housing and the remaining 30% are people who are vulnerable, usually homeless people who are beneficiaries of the Housing First programme. Both parties must comply with the previously established conditions of commitment and rules, mainly regarding the care of the environment they share. Participating in this social accompaniment programme is advantageous for people in the first group, reducing their waiting time for access to social housing.

It is also clearly favourable for homeless people —and not only, because the programme is also aimed at people with a lack of social network or psychological problems— for whom the contact and cohabitation with other residents facilitates their social reintegration. In this sense, the shared housing enables proximity between the two groups with common meeting spaces that make it easier for them to have coffee, watch a football match or look after the courtyard. The project is supervised by professionals who visit the block of flats at least once a week and are responsible for assessing and managing the functioning of the cohabitation.

Mano, an app for social professionals working on the streets and in shelters

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Mano, an app for social professionals working on the streets and in shelters

Associació AURORE

Free app that facilitates and helps to improve the work of public service professionals working with vulnerable people, on the street and in sheltered areas.

Mano is a freely accessible application for smartphones that allows workers to continuously and closely monitor the people they follow during reception procedures and activities. It also has a web interface for computers. It thus makes it possible to complete and consult the medical-social files of these people, avoiding the loss of information and the need to constantly renew it. In addition, it also allows workers and their respective teams to have all tasks grouped together –those already carried out and planned– and to be alerted to future deadlines and commitments. It also automatically generates anonymous statistics and reports.

All of this guarantees the protection of the data of the people accompanied, which are encrypted and only the people who form part of the monitoring team have access to them. In fact, Mano’s functionalities have been specially conceived and designed by the users who use them and, for this reason, the tool is constantly being improved. The users have been trained by Mano, both on the streets and in the reception areas, as well as in telephone assistance.

Résorption-bidonvilles, the digital platform to accelerate slum upgrading and integration in France

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Résorption-bidonvilles, the digital platform to accelerate slum upgrading and integration in France

Résorption-bidonvilles, Dihal (Interministerial Delegation of Acommodation and Access to Housing)

Information, exchange and management platform promoted by the French government to effectively accelerate the improvement and integration of slums, known in French as bidonvilles. Through this tool, citizens can report on the situation in these neighbourhoods, administrations can follow the progress of the actions being carried out and associations can collaborate in improving the living conditions of their inhabitants. 


This online platform –which is simple, agile and adaptable to the needs of each user– was born out of the realisation that in recent decades, in France, slums have reappeared, where precarious people live in housing that does not meet hygiene and sanitation standards and where basic services (access to water, access to sanitary facilities, waste disposal, etc.) are largely absent. There are currently more than 300 slums in the French Metropolitan Area, where more than 16,000 people live. The social marginalisation of the population living there is alarming: lack of schooling, non-participation in the labour market, neglect and discrimination of all kinds, among others.

The platform aims to transform public action and create a collaborative dynamic, connecting various actors –public administrations involved, landowners, associations that intervene with the inhabitants– that can help to improve precarious neighbourhoods, both at the level of decision-making and implementation. Access to the platform is open, but requests are validated by local administrators. Moreover, actors who have access to the platform can only consult information and report on interventions concerning the territory in which they are registered. Only users registered at the national level –ministries, central administrations or national associative partners– can consult all the data.

However, it is a tool with a global approach that combines social integration, respect for public order and the prevention of resettlement. In this sense, the platform makes the situation of the inhabitants of the bidonvilles visible –although no personal data is ever shared– and strengthens the power of action of each actor on the ground. It also makes it possible to draw up action plans and interventions, facilitate coordination between actors and measure and promote the results of the actions carried out.

Simulateur Aides Sociales, a tool that informs citizens of the social aids

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Simulateur Aides Sociales, a tool that informs citizens of the social aids

Beta.gouv.fr, CNIL, CAF, Assurance maladie, Agefiph, Pôle Emploi, Assurance retraite, Crous, Anah, Anil

A fast and efficient tool that informs the French population about the social assistance they are entitled to receive. Powered by several public and private actors and with an individualized online service, the simulator estimates to users the assistance benefits that are due to each of them.


The Simulateur Aides Sociale was born out of the realization that a large part of French citizens are unaware of the many social systems and benefits –both national and local– to which they are entitled and from which they can benefit. In France, billions of euros of social assistance do not find beneficiaries, either due to lack of awareness, demand or receipt, resulting in the loss of considerable income per household. The simulator, launched by the French government and in partnership with various associations and companies in the technology sector, aims to combat the high rate of non-appeals for social assistance by informing and guiding among the many existing aids.

It is a free tool that enhances the rights to social assistance of each person with a very simple and effective operation. With guaranteed anonymity and confidentiality of information, each user is asked to answer a few questions about family and professional life. Then, in a few minutes, the simulator classifies more than 1,000 social systems and lists the benefits available to each person according to their personal situation. Once the user is aware of the benefits, the relevant claims can be made and the financial aid can be received.

The benefits available in the simulator are grouped according to their function (health, housing, transport, professional integration, family, etc.) and are both national and departmental, depending on the place of residence entered by the user. However, it should be borne in mind that the result obtained from the simulation is indicative and does not guarantee that the user will end up receiving the aid, as only the organization empowered to grant it can decide whether the user is actually eligible.

Gavius, a virtual assistant for the processing of social assistance applications

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Gavius, a virtual assistant for the processing of social assistance applications

Gavà City Council

Intelligent assistant that provides information to citizens about the social assistances available to them, and at the same time facilitates its processing in a convenient, fast and simple way. It is based on a user-friendly application, which allows digital identification through biometric recognition, and automates the process of applying for aid and subsequent collection.

The Gavius project aims to contribute to moving towards more proactive and innovative social services, adapting technologies to the needs of individuals and social professionals. The assistant is accessible both to potential beneficiaries who identify themselves in the application, as well as to social services and citizen care professionals, for whom it provides support when granting and processing social assistance.


Gavius is an example of joint work between companies, citizens, administration and research centers. Thanks to a model based on machine learning, the application is able to adapt to the casuistry of each person and simplify and streamline the bureaucratic processes of the social services of local administrations.

JUS-APP, portable technology solution for municipal social workers

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JUS-APP, portable technology solution for municipal social workers

Hamburg City Council

Mobile application for municipal social workers of the Hamburg City Council (Germany) that allows them to automatically perform administrative tasks and access data of the persons served while they are at the person’s home, fulfilling all legal requirements of the municipal administration, including forms and checklists.

The application is connected to the municipal system JUS-IT in real time, which has different functionalities to simplify daily administrative tasks and make your work more attractive. Among others, it includes the automated management of alimony and social benefits, saving time for social workers and making their work more efficient. In addition, it is connected to other specialized procedures, such as police reports, providing fast, networked, results-oriented management.

The application, based on Cúram Software, also allows capturing details of meetings, such as audio or video recording of user interviews or home visits, and automated pre-filling of forms.

Scottish national program to help implement Self-Directed Support

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Scottish national program to help implement Self-Directed Support

Social Work Scotland

National program to facilitate the implementation of the Self-Directed Support intervention model in local social services in Scotland’s municipalities. It aims to bridge the gap between the regulatory framework and the day-to-day practice of Social Services by providing guidance and support to overcome the challenges faced by social professionals in implementing the model..

Self-Directed Support is a model for accompanying people who are served by Social Services, with a focus on support in decision making. The aim is for people to have control and power of choice over the actions or support plans aimed at improving their living conditions, based on their demands and their rights. Within this approach, this Social Work Scotland program aims to ensure that social workers are able to implement the model based on the principles, perspective and values of human rights. The aim is to empower social workers to be autonomous in implementing the model with each person served.

The program has three main lines of action. First, to promote the autonomy of social professionals in the implementation of the model through the definition of standards and training and advisory activities aimed at improving social intervention. Secondly, to provide a community of practice where public professionals and community entities can learn together to find solutions to the challenges posed by the implementation of the Self-Directed Support model. And finally, to energize a collaborative Scottish network of all public and private stakeholders to contribute to the development of the Scottish national Self-Directed Support framework.

Within this national framework, a library of tools, resources and practical examples for practitioners is provided. In addition, the program is working to get personal assistants recognized as members of the social care workforce, and to bring about changes in the Scottish legal framework to facilitate effective implementation of the model.


Cozy Cloud, accessible technology for digitally illiterate people

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Cozy Cloud, accessible technology for digitally illiterate people

CEMEA

Personal data platform for digitally illiterate people, especially the elderly and people from low-income households. It aims to solve their digital exclusion through a digital channel that is close and very easy to use.

It offers users an intelligent and decentralised data storage system, which allows secure control of one’s own data. Cozy brings together several services (storage applications, bank aggregator, password, contact and photo manager) and data, simplifying use with simple and easy-to-use functions: direct links to share a folder or document, password management with automatic generation of strong passwords, automatic online data retrieval with a simple click, alerts and help to monitor the budget, etc.

The user has a USB key with which he can open his Cozy digital home from any computer. The content of this key is systematically synchronised to the user’s digital home. The USB key physically symbolises the possession of their data (and also, for certain groups, the security of not running the risk of losing a photo, a letter, a diploma… the only witnesses of their history), although it will of course be kept in a cloud. The password is really just the simplified access key to your personal space, inaccessible without a password. The browser – Firefox – is installed and configured to the key and therefore the user does not leave any personal data (cookie, browsing history, etc.) on the computer where he/she enters the key to access his/her personal space.

It includes Cozy Cloud, a data storage service in the cloud that preserves privacy and allows automatic import of your own documents, such as invoices, online purchases or bank details (Cozy Collect), access to documentation from any synchronised device (Cozy Drive) and a backup copy of photographs available when you need them (Cozy Photos).

Getxo Zurekin, community accompaniment at the end of life

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Getxo Zurekin, community accompaniment at the end of life

Fundación doble sonrisa

A local community network that supports and accompanies people who are in a situation of advanced illness, offering a model of health, social and community care to improve their well-being and quality of life that goes beyond the resources and capacity of the health and social services systems.

The network acts in different areas: raising public awareness of the importance of care and support for dependent people or those at the end of life; training neighbors in palliative care; and promoting research to foster a paradigm shift in community care.

The network also provides information on the resources available in the municipality in relation to palliative care and the situation of people with advanced illness, in the form of a local observatory that seeks to detect support needs based on a pioneering collaborative methodology where citizen participation is key.

Getxo Zurekin believes in the strength of the community and in networking among people of the same population to take care of each other, to reach where public services cannot reach.