Центар за породични смештај и усвојење Београд



THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILDREN AND FOSTER CARERS

Authors:

Dobrila Grujić

Radmila Zoranović

EXERCISING THE RIGHTS AND THE QUALITY OF CHILD PROTECTION

The quality of child protection for the child in foster care depends on numerous factors. There are more participants gathered around the child in foster care and their mutual cooperation, delegated roles and responsibility should provide the best for the child. People of the most importance and those who have a handful of tasks before themselves are: foster carers, case manager, counselors for foster care, legal advisors (lawyers). Their work can be measured through the developmental results of the child. One of the ways to put this on test is through exercising the rights of the child.

During its previous work and experience The Center for Foster Care and Adoption in Belgrade has identified certain weaknesses in exercising the rights of the child and also in the field of understanding the content of these rights. Also the manner in which those rights could be exercised as well as the level of responsibility showed certain limitations. In this issue we will be able to provide information regarding the types of the rights for financial compensation and the way those rights can be achieved. Mostly, we will be dealing with the content of the right for financial compensation for child support and also with introducing efficient control system that will be helpful in the process of exercising this right.

In the next issue, we will try to answer all the questions and find a way to achieve all the rights of both children and foster carers.

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|We would like to invite all the readers of this magazine to submit questions and contribute in any other way through their own |

|thoughts and opinions regarding these rights. |

|You can do this by using the following address: Center for Foster Care and Adoption – 11000 Belgrade, Radoslava Grujića no. 17; |

|or through the Center’s web page – .rs |

|or through the email – office@.rs |

THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

1. MONTHLY COMPENSATION FOR CHILD SUPPORT

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|Legal basis: Rulebook on criteria and standards for establishing the financial compensation for services in the field of social |

|protection, financed by the Republic of Serbia (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” number 15/92, 100/93, 12/94, 51/97, |

|70/203, 97/2003, 99/2004, 100/2004, 25/2005, 77/2005, 60/206 and 8/2011) – Article 10a |

|The ways of exercising the rights: Center for Social Work in charge of the child, ex officio, establishes the amount of the |

|compensation and provides the decision regarding the accommodation to The Ministry, which further on makes a payment on the foster |

|carer’s account. |

|Provided by: The Republic |

|Control of the process of exercising the rights: Counselor for foster care has an insight of all the expenses recorded in foster |

|carer’s notebook |

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| |

|Monthly compensation for child support is 52% of average earnings and it is adjusted each month with the cost of living index. For |

|the month of June 2014, this compensation is 23.593 RSD. |

|This compensation is increased: |

|by 50% from the amount for the care for the child with minor and severe developmental disabilities, this amount is 27.393 RSD; |

|by 100% from the amount for the child with mild and severe developmental disabilities, this amount is 31.193 RSD; |

|by 50% from the amount for child support in case of a child with significantly severe and multiple developmental issues, this |

|amount is 35.389,5 RSD. |

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|The real question is how this right is exercised in practice, how useful it is when it should meet the needs of the child in |

|question, and can it benefit completely to the child’s development. The purpose of this right is to provide all the conditions for |

|the child within the foster family – a child should have an adequate space, warm room for itself, adequately equipped, sheets, a |

|wardrobe and a bookshelf, a desk, clothes, all the necessary things for personal hygiene, for education and talent development, |

|leisure time and recreation, nutrition and maintenance of the living space and belongings of the child. Establishing the amount of |

|this compensation is done in accordance with the prescribed standards within the Rules on foster care. These Rules also envisaged |

|the type of control of spending the means intended for the child. |

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|Former way of control was actually a mere evaluation of the counselors based on the conversation with foster carers. In rare cases,|

|when the counselor expressed certain doubt, he/she asked for some proof, bills for the spent resources. Main problem was the fact |

|that it was really hard to estimate how realistic spending was beneficial for the child, especially if take into consideration that|

|some expenses are mutual and are used by the entire household, and foster carers did not save the bills of the goods bought for the|

|child. |

2. CHILD ALLOWANCE

|Legal basis: Law on Financial Support for Families with children (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, number 115/2005 and|

|107/2009). |

|The right provided by: The Republic |

|The ways of exercising the right: Foster carer submits an application to the Secretariat of Social Protection of the City of |

|Belgrade alongside all necessary documentation. |

|The right to child allowance is achieved only by a small number of foster carers, mostly those of a kin, because all the conditions|

|for exercising this right are closely attached to the financial status of the family in question. As the financial status of the |

|candidates is highly estimated during their assessment, most foster carers do not fulfill the conditions for exercising this right.|

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|The amount of child allowance is 2.593,75 RSD, or the increased amount of 3.371,48 RSD. |

3. AMOUNT FOR THE USER’S PERSONAL NEEDS – POCKET MONEY

|Legal basis: Rulebook on kinship involvement in providing support to the right users within the system of social protection |

|(“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” number 36/93, 88/93, 20/94, 35/97, 61/01, 99/04, 100/04 and 10/06). |

|The right provided by: The Republic |

|The ways of exercising the right: The Center for Social Work in charge of the child establishes the right for all the school |

|children, ex officio and should submit the decision to the Ministry for Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social issues which further|

|on deals with all the payments to the foster carers. |

|Control of the process of exercising the rights: Counselor for foster care during house visits |

|The right to have pocket money can obtain all children in foster care in the amount of 5.5% from the earnings of the employed |

|person in the Republic of Serbia in the previous month, which is 3.346 RSD. Counselor for foster care helps foster carers to |

|provide guidance to children so they could use their pocket money accordingly but also to have control over how that pocket money |

|is used. |

4. TRANSPORTATION TO SCHOOL

|Legal basis: Rulebook on criteria and standards for establishing the prices of services in the field of social protection financed |

|by the Republic (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” number 15/92, 100/93, 12/94, 51/97, 70/203, 97/2003, 99/2004, |

|100/2004, 25/2005, 77/2005, 60/206 and 8/2011). |

|The right provided by: The Republic |

|The ways of exercising the right: Center for Social Work in charge of the child establishes the right for school children, ex |

|officio, and should submit the decision to the Ministry for Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social issues which further on deals |

|with all payments to foster carers. |

|Control of the process of exercising the rights: Counselor for foster care during house visits. |

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|This right is exercised by children who go to school outside the place of their residence and in the amount of 7,5% of the average |

|earning in the Republic of Serbia in cases when the place of school is up to 20 km away, or 11% in those cases when school is more |

|than 20 km away. For the month of June, compensation for transportation is 3.330,00 RSD for the intercity transport up to 20 km, or|

|4.883,00 RSD for all transportation further than 20 km. |

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|Counselor for foster care controls the way this right is exercised. |

5. COMPENSATION FOR SCHOOL SUPPLIES AND BOOKS

|Legal basis: Rulebook on criteria and standards for establishing the prices of services in the field of social protection financed |

|by the Republic (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” number 15/92, 100/93, 12/94, 51/97, 70/203, 97/2003, 99/2004, |

|100/2004, 25/2005, 77/2005, 60/206 and 8/2011) – article 10a |

|The right provided by: The Republic |

|The ways of exercising the right: Center for Social Work in charge of the child establishes the right for school children, ex |

|officio, and should submit the decision to the Ministry for Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social issues which further on deals |

|with all payments to foster carers. Foster carers have an obligation to submit all the evidence regarding the school attended by |

|the child to the Center for Social Work. |

|Control of the process of exercising the rights: Counselor for foster care during house visits. |

|All school children can exercise the right for compensation of the expenses for books in accordance with the percentage of the |

|average earnings in the Republic of Serbia and as the following: |

|20% for primary education; |

|25% for secondary education; |

|30% for higher education. |

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|Special notes: the right that all children in foster care were entitled to and that was used for school supplies and books was |

|revoked based on the Decision of the City Assembly in 2013. |

6. COMPENSATION FOR THE PROM AND GRADUATION

|Legal basis: Rulebook on criteria and standards for establishing the prices of services in the field of social protection financed |

|by the Republic (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” number 15/92, 100/93, 12/94, 51/97, 70/203, 97/2003, 99/2004, |

|100/2004, 25/2005, 77/2005, 60/206 and 8/2011) – article 10a |

|The right provided by: The Republic |

|The ways of exercising the right: Foster carer submits the application to the Center for Social Work in charge of the child, which |

|further on establishes the right for the child and submits the Decision to the Ministry for Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social |

|issues. This Ministry provides the payments to foster carers. |

|Control of the process of exercising the rights: Counselor for foster care during house visits. |

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|Graduates in primary and secondary schools and university students after finishing faculty exercise this right. This compensation |

|is 30% of the average earnings in the Republic of Serbia based on the earnings materialized in April of the current year. |

7. COMPENSATION OF THE HOLIDAY AND RECREATION EXXPENSES, EXCURSIONS AND OUTDOOR CLASSES

|Legal basis: Rulebook on criteria and standards for establishing the prices of services in the field of social protection financed |

|by the Republic (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” number 15/92, 100/93, 12/94, 51/97, 70/203, 97/2003, 99/2004, |

|100/2004, 25/2005, 77/2005, 60/206 and 8/2011) – article 10a |

|The right provided by: The Republic |

|The ways of exercising the right: Foster carer submits the application to the Center for Social Work in charge of the child, which |

|further on establishes the right for the child and submits the Decision to the Ministry for Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social |

|issues. This Ministry provides the payments to foster carers. |

|Control of the process of exercising the rights: Counselor for foster care during house visits. |

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|All school children can exercise the right for compensation for excursion and outdoor classes organized by school or preschool. All|

|children who have not used the right for compensation of the expenses for excursions and outdoor classes during the year can |

|exercise the right for compensation of the expenses for holidays and recreation. It is important that the right to holiday and |

|recreation of the children is exercised only in cases when it is organized by some of the institutions of social protection (Center|

|for Foster Care and Adoption or Center for Social Work) or by local government or Red Cross. This means that this right does not |

|include holidays and recreation of the children in private arrangement by foster parents. Cost structure includes also expenses for|

|summer holidays with foster family. It is of extreme importance that children in foster care have summer/winter holidays with |

|foster family. Every exclusion of the child from mutual family holidays and other family activities can bring up the question of |

|competency of the family as well as keeping the licence for foster care. |

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|We have to take into consideration the fact that the children’s right to holiday and recreation and their right to excursion and |

|outdoor classes is linked, or the fact that during a period of one year only one of these rights can be used. This type of |

|information is of great essence to foster carers also because of the fact they need to plan the budget, which will be optimal for |

|satisfying the needs of the child. It can be more cost-effective for foster carers to finance the excursion on their own, and to |

|seek financial support for holiday and recreation of the child so that child could be included in both activities, especially in |

|cases when foster family cannot provide to go on holiday together. |

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|Analysing the content of this right leads to a conclusion and demand aimed towards foster carers and implies they are obliged to |

|plan and provide both holiday and recreation to the child in foster care because they have the financial means provided for that. |

|So far, the pratice has shown that significant number of children in foster care was unable to have holiday ouside the place of |

|his/her residence. Therefore, a great number of the children in foster care did not have an opportunity to spend a holiday by the |

|sea or on the mountain. There were examples of children not taken to excursion with their peers, which is a deprivation of the |

|given right. |

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|Because of the fact that the content of this right was not seen as an obligation, a number of children in foster care were deprived|

|of this right. If we take into consideration the fact that the amount for this right is ensured based on the expenses stated in the|

|invoice of the organizer, there is no obvious reason not to use it. On the other hand, summer holiday of the foster family with the|

|children in foster care represents a significant obligation for foster carers (financial means are planned within the structure of |

|the compensation for child support), so the planning of holidays and recreation of both children and foster family is tightly |

|connected with the plan for exercising this right. |

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|Counselor for foster care will enhance his/her contribution in planning and controlling of exercising the right to holiday and |

|recreation of the child in foster care, and he/she will help foster carers to make a clear and concise plan fot the upcoming year |

|with active participation of the child. |

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|Special notes: the right that all children in foster care were entitled to and that was used for school trips and excursions was |

|revoked based on the Decision of the City Assembly in 2013. |

8. THE RIGHT TO REFUND OF THE HOLIDAY AND RECREATION EXPENSES OF CHILDREN FORM PRE-SCHOOL INSTITUTIONS IN BELGRADE

|Legal basis: Decision on the Rights of the Child in the field of financial support to the families with children on the territory |

|of Belgrade (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” number 45/2003) – article 6, paragraph 1, indent 5. And Rulebook on |

|conditions and ways of exercising the Right of the Child in the field of financial support of families with children on the |

|territory of Belgrade (“Official Gazette, number 57/2013) – article 34. |

|The right provided by: The City of Belgrade |

|The ways of exercising the right: the right can be exercised within the pre-school institution of the child. |

|The City of Belgrade provides the refund of expenses used for holidays and recreation of children up to 50% of real expenses. |

|Foster carer submits an application to the pre-school alongside a decision as an evidence regarding the right to compensation of |

|overall accommodation expenses for a child in pre-school institution. This right can be applied in cases of children who attend |

|pre-school institutions in Belgrade and it can be exercised only once during the year. It should be taken into consideration that |

|pre-school children could exercise the right to completely free holiday, for which the Republic in accordance with the submitted |

|invoice provides all the means. More useful right should be used, in other words, if the child should go on holiday two times |

|during the year, then both possibilities could be used – one provided by the Republic and other provided by the City of Belgrade. |

9. COMPENSATION OF THE EXPENSES OF ACCOMMODATION IN PRE-SCHOOL INSTITUTION – FREE ACCOMMODATION OF THE CHILD IN PRE-SCHOOL INSTITUTION

|Legal basis: The Law on financial support to families with children (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, number 16/2002, |

|115/2005 and 107/2009), article 23. Paragraph 1 and 3. |

|Decision about the Rights of the Child in the field of financial support to the families with children on the territory of Belgrade|

|(“Official Gazette of the City of Belgrade”, number 45/2013) – article 2. And 3. Paragraph 1. Indent 5. And article 5. And Rulebook|

|on conditions and ways of exercising the Right of the Child in the field of financial support of families with children on the |

|territory of Belgrade (“Official Gazette, number 57/2013) – article 1. Paragraph 1. Clause 1. And article 7. Paragraph 1, indent 5.|

|And article 11. |

|The right provided by: The Republic and the City of Belgrade for the children from Belgrade |

|The ways of exercising the right: Foster carer submits an application to the Secretariat for Education and Child Protection. |

|All children in foster care who have the right to child allowance have the right to free accommodation in kindergartens. Children |

|who use the services of pre-school institutions that belong to the network of pre-school institutions within the territory of the |

|City of Belgrade have free accommodation in kindergaten based on the right of local government i.e. the City Assembly and the City |

|of Belgrade provides the means for this. |

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|The right is exercised when the foster carer submits an application to the Secretariat for Education and Child Protection on |

|prescribed form. |

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|If the child has the right to child allowance, application is submitted on special form which is accompanied by the certificate of |

|the pre-school institution that the child is accommodated in the institution, decision regarding the accommodation in foster family|

|and decision on the right to child allowance. |

|If the child is not the user of the right to child allowance, foster carer should submit the application on another form. |

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|Due to the fact that children in Belgrade actually exercised the right to free stay in kindergartens (this right was cancelled |

|during one period, but then reestablished again at the end of 2013. In other words, it is valid since 1st January 2014. In |

|accordance with this, it is necessary that all foster carers who accommodate pre-school children from Belgrade, and in case when |

|those children attend pre-school, submit an application for exercising this right to Secretariat for Education and Child |

|Protection. Secretariat phone numbers that can be used for additional information about this right: 011 330 93 83. |

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|Using the services of pre-schools is considered to be a significant way of providing support to foster family, so the content and |

|using of this right is also of extreme importance to the development of the child. Time needed to incorporate the child in |

|preschool is evaluated with counselor because it is necessary to take into consideration the age of the child, health condition, |

|time needed for mutual adjustment both for the child and foster family, and also some other things. |

10. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR EQUIPMENT FOR CHILD ACCOMMODATION

|Legal basis: Decision on rights and services of social protection (“Official Gazette of the City of Belgrade”, number 57/13) – |

|article 58. Paragraph 1. And Article 60. -63. |

|The right provided by: The City of Belgrade for the children from Belgrade |

|The ways of exercising the right: Procedure for exercising the right for this financial assistance and payments is conducted by the|

|Center for Social Work |

|This is the right for financial assistance for clothes and footwear for the child needed at the time of placing the child into |

|foster family. This right can be used for one child only once during the calendar year. This type of help is 50% of the average |

|earning per employed person in the City of Belgrade during the previous month. |

|Foster carer has an obligation to use all the means given in accordance with this right for the child in foster care in order to |

|fulfill the minimum of basic needs during the time of placing the child. This should provide the following: one pair of shoes, one |

|pair of slippers, three pairs of socks, two pairs of underwear, two shirts, two pyjamas and one set of lower and upper parts of the|

|clothes depending on the age and sex of the child. |

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|Besides, the Center in charge provides for all real transport expenses of the child to the family if that is necessary. |

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|Foster carer has an obligation to use the means for the child’s needs and in accordance with this decision, and to keep all fiscal |

|accounts that will be recorded during the first house visit made by the counselor. |

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|All children from another municipalities can exercise the right to this type of financial assistance in which case foster carers |

|should address to the authorities within the Centers for Social Work in their own municipality. The amount of compensations in |

|municipalities from the areas of our region are: |

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|Belgrade – 22.805 RSD, |

|Šabac, Bogatić and Vladimirci – 5.000 RSD, |

|Valjevo – in the amount of real expenses, and highest to the level of average earnings in the City of Valjevo during the previous |

|month. |

11. OCCASIONAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

|Legal basis: Decision on rights and services of social protection (“Official Gazette of the City of Belgrade”, number 57/13) – |

|Article 64. |

|The right provided by: The City of Belgrade for the children from Belgrade |

|The ways of exercising the right: The Center for Social Work provides a decision based on the request from foster carers |

|The pupils of primary and secondary schools from Belgrade can exercise this right and the financial resources should be used for |

|the transportation expenses from the place of residence to the educational institution in the amount as high as the lowest fee of |

|the public line transport in Belgrade. City of Šabac also covers the transportation expenses for all primary school children. |

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|Financial assistance through the Center for Social Work is provided by the City of Šabac, Vladimirci and Bogatić for all children |

|and foster carers, occasionally for medical services, travelling expenses when it is necessary to travel to another town due to |

|health control, trials or kinship contact. Furthermore, children in Šabac receive also a gift card within the program of |

|celebrating “The Children’s Week” – the amount on the gift card for the previous year was 3.000,00 RSD. |

12. PERMANENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

|Legal basis: Decision on rights and services of social protection (“Official Gazette of the City of Belgrade”, number 57/13) – |

|Article 68. Paragraph 1. Indent 3. |

|The right provided by: The City of Belgrade for the children from Belgrade |

|The ways of exercising the right: The Center for Social Work provides a decision which is submitted to the City Secretariat for |

|social protection of the City of Belgrade |

|Young people in foster care can exercise the right to permanent financial assistance since the day when the foster care ended until|

|they find a job position, and it cannot be longer than one year. (This right lasted for the period of two years before this |

|decision was made). In order to exercise this right, children should reside on the territory of Belgrade at least for the period of|

|two years before the official ending of their education. |

| |

|The amount of permanent financial assistance is provided monthly up to 50% of the average earnings in the City of Belgrade. |

13. SCHOLARSHIP

|Legal basis: Decision on rights and services of social protection (“Official Gazette of the City of Belgrade”, number 57/13) – |

|Article 72. |

|The right provided by: The City of Belgrade for the children from Belgrade |

|The ways of exercising the right: The Center for Social Work provides a decision based on the request from foster carers and then |

|submits the evidence of the school success of the child. The application is submitted by 30th September at the latest for all |

|pupils, and by 30th November for university students. |

|The students of secondary schools who finished the previous grade with very good or excellent success and university students who |

|managed to pass all exams in the given time frame can exercise the right to scholarship. The amount of the scholarship is up 50% of|

|the minimal earnings in Belgrade for university students and up to 25% for the secondary school students. |

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|The right to student’s scholarship can be obtained in Šabac. Loznica provides scholarships for university students with an average |

|above 9,00 and students from primary and secondary schools who achieved first, second and third place in the competitions on the |

|Republic level. |

14. SERVICES OF TEMPORARY ACCOMMODATION

|Legal basis: Decision on rights and services of social protection (“Official Gazette of the City of Belgrade”, number 57/13) – |

|Article 26. |

|The right provided by: The City of Belgrade for the children from Belgrade |

|The ways of exercising the right: The Center for Social Work provides a decision based on the request of the users. |

|The young people can exercise this right even after ending the foster care in case when they are unable to return to their own |

|families or they are unable to resolve the accommodation problem in any other way. This service can be used during two years after |

|the accommodation within foster families has ended. |

|The right to the accommodation with assistance have also the children in Šabac. |

15. DAY CARE CENTAR FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

|Legal basis: Decision on rights and services of social protection (“Official Gazette of the City of Belgrade”, number 57/13) – |

|Article 7. |

|The right provided by: The City of Belgrade for the children from Belgrade |

|The ways of exercising the right: The Center for Social Work |

|Children and young people in foster care who are facing some kind of disabilities have the right to use services of day care center|

|until the age of 26. Day care center is providing its services for up to 12 hours a day during the working week, except for the |

|period over the weekend. Transportation from the place of residence to day care center is also provided. |

| |

|This right can be exercised apart from Belgrade also in Šabac, Loznica and Valjevo. |

16. OTHER CHILDREN’S RIGHTS

|The right to free meal for students with developmental disabilities in special classes of primary school – Loznica |

|The right to compensation of transport expenses for students with disabilities in cases when they are educated outside the City – |

|Loznica, Valjevo |

|Services of urgent foster care – Valjevo and Loznica |

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Planning and control of spending the funds dedicated to the child

Center for Foster Care and Adoption Belgrade has established the structure of expenses for supporting the child within the foster family. This represents the basis of the control process and can be an asset to the quality of child protection.

|The Center for Foster Care and Adoption Belgrade will pilot this preposition for the structure of expenses during next year in |

|order to achieve real price structure, as well as to gain complete insight in how the funds dedicated to the child are spent. |

Structure of expenses is done based on the consumer basked which was estimated at 66.023,011[1] RSD during the time of work on the structure and it is calculated for the household as it is presented in the following chart.

[pic]

CONSUMER BASKET

• Food and non-alcoholic beverages

• Alcoholic beverages and tobacco

• Clothes and footwear

• Habitation, water, electricity, gas and other fuels

• Furniture, household equipment and maintenance

• Health care

• Transport

• Communication

• Recreation and Culture

• Education

• Restaurants and hotels

• Other goods and services

Consumer basket has served us and helped us in gaining the insight of the average participation of certain expenses in overall expenses of the average household. Taking into consideration that families with children have different expenses, as well as the fact that the children in foster care are eligible to have some of the expenses financed, we have suggested the structure of the expenses for the child in foster care, also as average, while the counselor in cooperation with the child and the family will estimate the age and developmental needs of the child and based on this, the structure will be coordinated for each child. It is estimated that 60% out of the compensation for the child is used for joint expenses of the household, while the remaining 40% is used for singular needs of the child in foster care. This is further more elaborated in accordance with the prescribed standards.

STRUCTURE OF THE COMPENSATION EXPENSES AIMED FOR CHILD SUPPORT

- Participation in common expenses of the household and personal needs of the child

|No. |TYPE OF EXPENSES |Monthly amount |Annual amount |% of the compensation |

| | | | |amount |

|1. |Food and non-alcoholic beverages |9.204 |110.448 |39 |

|2. |Habitation, water, electricity, gas and |3.183 |38.196 |13.5 |

| |other fuels | | | |

|3. |Furniture, household equipment and |740 |8.880 |3.2 |

| |maintenance | | | |

|4. |Transport |500 |6.000 |2.1 |

|5. |Other goods and services of the household |529 |6.348 |2.2 |

|6. |Other expenses for the child[2] |9.437 |113.244 |40 |

| |Overall: compensation for child support[3] |23.593 |283.116 |100 |

Based on this structure, in August 2014. Foster carers will be able to use 14.256 RSD of the compensation money aimed for child support for common needs of the household, while the remaining 9.437 RSD can be spent on the child’s needs. In the following chart you can see the ratio of certain expenses. It is necessary that foster carers should be led by the percentage of the participation of the expenses within the compensation for child support so they could through cooperation with counselors coordinate monthly amounts of the changeable compensation. This was shown in the following chart.

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• food and non-alcoholic beverages

• habitation, water, electricity, gas and other fuels

• furniture, equipment

• transport

• other goods and services of the household

• other expenses of the child

THE WAYS OF SPENDING THE FINANCIAL MEANS FOR THE CHILD’S NEEDS (40% OF THE COMPENSATION)

In order to fulfill child’s needs it is necessary to plan the available amount on a yearly basis, because the expenses can vary depending on the period of the year, age of the child, school status of the child, etc. also, it should be taken into consideration that in accordance with the Rulebook on foster care (articles 11-13), the standards are prescribed for the child in foster care, and they will serve as guidance in the process of planning these expenses. We have already pointed out that 60% of the compensation is used for the household joint budget, while the 40% us used for child’s needs and predominately for clothes and footwear, personal hygiene, toys, school necessities, sport, cultural and educational activities, interests of a child, holidays, etc. Apart from 40% that foster carers receive within the regular monthly compensation for the child, there are also some other forms of compensations for the child that can be used one time or are paid on a monthly basis for certain purpose: pocket money, compensation for textbooks, excursions, transport, prom night and so on.

Each year, one foster family has approximately with 113.244 RSD for personal needs of the child only from the regular monthly payments for the child with orderly developmental needs. This amount is obtained when the expenses for the child’s needs in the amount of 9.437 RSD on a monthly basis are omitted from the structure of the expenses.

Estimation of necessary amount of financial means on annual basis

The estimation of the necessary financial means is calculated based on the prescribed standards that are provided by the foster carers in accordance with the Articles 11-13. Of the Foster care Rulebook. Estimation is done based on the average prices of the items and their offer on the market. Prices can be more favorable or higher for certain items, which depends on the child’s age, as well as the market offer.

1. Clothing and footwear – article 11. Of the Foster care Rulebook

|TYPE OF THE ARTICLE |OVERALL ANNUAL AMOUNT |

|Pyjamas |2.000 |

|Underwear |1,1541111000 1.05000541012ec105551 |

|Socks |7004 |

|Trousers | 7.50055 |

|Dresses |4.000 |

|T-shirts/blouses |6.000 |

|Skirts/shorts |2.000 |

|Jacket |12.000 |

|Jumper |2.000 |

|Cap, shawl, gloves |1.500 |

|Towels |1.200 |

|Sweatsuit |3.000 |

|Slippers |1.000 |

|Trainers |6.000 |

|Shoes |4.000 |

|Sandals |4.000 |

|Boots |4.000 |

|Overall |661.9501 |

2. Items for personal use and hygiene – article 12. Of the Foster care Rulebook

|TYPE OF THE ARTICLE |OVERALL ANNUAL AMOUNT |

|Tooth paste |800 |

|Tooth brush |400 |

|Deodorant |900 |

|Soap |600 |

|Shampoo and shower lotion |1.800 |

|Facial cream |1.600 |

|Sanitary napkins |1.800 |

|Shoe cream |400 |

|Shaving set |1.000 |

|Set for manicure and pedicure |2.000 |

|Comb - hairbrush |1.000 |

|Overall |12.300 |

3. Educational needs of the child – article 13. Of the Foster care Rulebook

|TYPE OF THE ARTICLE |OVERALL ANNUAL AMOUNT |

| |Presented in RSD |

|Toys |3.000 |

|School supplies-needs |3.000 |

|School bag |3.000 |

|Sport equipment and all the |6.000 |

|necessities for talent development | |

|Entrance tickets for cultural |4.000 |

|activities | |

|Summer holidays |20.000 |

|Overall |39.000 |

It is of high importance that foster carers who take care of young children – babies or young people – students, fulfill their needs and in accordance with their age adapt expenses shown in the tables above, or in other words, they should be able to arrange overall means in order to meet all the needs of young people/children. It is very important to plan the fulfillment of the needs. This also means certain savings should be made and also a transfer of some of the financial means from one month to another in order to meet all the needs in timely fashion.

When the compensation for the child is enhances due to the need for intensive and additional support, it is estimated that around 60% of enhanced compensation should be used for common household expenses, while the remaining 40% should be used for child’s needs.

In Article 44 of the Foster Care Rulebook, it is defined that foster carers have the obligation to write a “Workbook for foster carers” where all important activities are written down. Among other things, foster carer makes a record of the use of received financial means for child support and also keeps all the bills and invoices. If the bill was not received, foster carer should keep a record of that and it should be joined to other bills.

Control of how the means are spent

Center for Foster Care and Adoption Belgrade is facing the need to help foster carers in keeping the record of spent means, but also to control this process and all in order to achieve the full realization of legal obligations concerning the part of the use of the means. So far, there have been some difficulties with certain number of foster carers, because they weren’t keeping any records. Also, foster carers often forget to enter some important data within the Workbook. On the other hand, uneven approach in keeping the records within the workbook among foster carers represents a problem and it is noticed. Because of this, Center for Foster Care and Adoption has printed out workbooks for each child with marked spaces for keeping the records as well as the envelope for keeping the bills.

Counselor for foster care is obliged to check all the bills while doing house visits and to record the overall amount of financial means that are spent for child’s needs, how much of that amount is saved but also how the savings are kept. Counselors also have the obligation to submit a report at the end of the year in which it is described how the means are spent and to what extent those means contributed to fulfilling the needs. Fiscal accounts are kept only for the things bought for the child (clothes, footwear, things for personal hygiene, or paid entrance tickets for cultural and other events, fees for additional activities, summer holidays and so on).

Fiscal accounts are kept within the pocket on the last page of workbook until the counselor for foster care checks them, and then in his/her notebook, the counselor makes a record of the data regarding the review. All the data are inserted into foster carer’s workbook, while the counselor inserts the data in his/her working journal.

Any possible deflection in comparison with the given structure, and caused by the need of the child and foster carer, foster carers make and agreement and coordination with the counselor for foster care.

As the compensation for child support is being agreed on a monthly basis, foster carer and counselor will coordinate the structure of expenses guided by the percentage share of certain expenses in overall compensation for child support, i.e. the basis for this coordination is 60:40, which means that 60% of the compensation is delegated to household joint budget, while the remaining 40% are used for the child’s needs.

THE RIGHTS OF THE FOSTER CARERS

1. MONTHLY COMPENSATION FOR THE WORK OF FOSTER CARERS

|Legal basis: Rulebook on criteria and standards for establishing the financial compensation for services in the field of social |

|protection, financed by the Republic of Serbia (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” number 15/92, 100/93, 12/94, 51/97, |

|70/203, 97/2003, 99/2004, 100/2004, 25/2005, 77/2005, 60/206 and 8/2011) – Article 10a |

|The ways of exercising the rights: Center for Social Work, ex officio, establishes the amount of the compensation for the work of |

|foster carers and further on makes a payment of the compensation. |

|Provided by: The Republic |

|Compensation for foster carers is established in accordance with the average earnings per employee in the Republic of Serbia and in|

|the appropriate percentage as following: 32,5% if one child is placed into accommodation, or 20% per child in cases when more than |

|one child is placed into foster care. For the month of June 2014, compensation for the work of foster carers is 14.360 RSD for one |

|child, or 8.837 RSD per child in cases when more than one child is placed into foster care. |

2. PENSION CONTRIBUTION

|Legal basis: The Law on Pension and Disability Insurance (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” number34/2003), Law on |

|Amendments and Supplements to this Law (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, number 75/2014 – Article 12, paragraph 1, |

|Indent 3) |

|The ways of exercising the rights: Center for Social Work, ex officio, makes a payment of the insurance for pension and disability.|

|Provided by: The Republic |

|Foster carers, expect from the relatives who are obliged in accordance to the Family Law to provide support to the child, have the |

|right to insurance for pension and disability. Insurance is paid by the Center for Social Work, ex officio. The amount of the |

|insurance for the month of June 2014, for foster carers with one child in foster care is 4.534,74 RSD or 2.790 RSD per child is |

|cases where more than one child is placed into foster care. |

| |

|As for the suspension of the family pension in case where the pensioner who receives family pension achieves the agreed |

|compensation that excesses 50% of the lowest basis of the insurance of the employees, in accordance with the latest Amendments to |

|the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance, Article 117, paragraph 4, this limit is deleted, so that now foster carers with family|

|pensions will not suspend family pension in cases when their income is below the lowest basis of the insurance of the employees. |

|The lowest basis for payment of insurances for the payments in the month of August, September and October is 21.716 RSD (source: |

|webpage Penzijainfo.rs). |

| |

|When paying this type of insurance, there is frequent confusion on whether it is paid and for what period. We were informed that |

|every foster carer may submit a request for access to the payments of this type of insurance and this can be done in the Pension |

|Fund on the counters 24-27. |

|Foster carers with family pensions who have not received compensation for foster care, in order not to lose family pension, or |

|those who froze family pension should recalculate the overall revenue from foster care and compare it with the lower basis in the |

|insurance of the employees and turn to the Center for Social Work with a request to receive the compensation for the work of foster|

|carers, as well as the insurance for pension and disability. They will have right to this starting from January 1st 21015 when the |

|new Law on Pension and Disability Insurance comes into force. |

3. HEALTH INSURANCE CONTRIBUTION

|Legal basis: The Law on Health Insurance (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” number 119/2012) – Article 17, paragraph 1, |

|indent 8 an 16 |

|The ways of exercising the rights: Center for Social Work, ex officio, makes a payment of the health care insurance |

|Provided by: The Republic |

|Foster carers who are not otherwise insured, and based on the contract for the accommodation of the child, are entitled to |

|compulsory health insurance in accordance with the Law on Health Insurance. Center for Social Work makes the payment for |

|contributions and conducts extension of the health insurance card for foster carers. |

4. RIGHT TO ABSENCE FROM WORK FOR CHILD CARE – PAID LEAVE AND PART-TIME WORKING HOURS, ABSENCE FROM WORK

|Legal basis: Labour Law (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” number 24/2005) and Law on Amendments and Supplements to the |

|Labour Law (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” number 75/2014) – Article 97, 98, 99, 100. |

|The ways of exercising the rights: Foster carer submits the request to the employee together with required documentation |

|Provided by: The Republic |

|Employed foster carer or adoptive parent who accepts the child under the age of five to be placed into accommodation is entitled to|

|absence from work for the child care and in case if the accommodation of the child took place before the age of three months of the|

|child’s life, for a period of eleven months. If the child is older than three moths and younger than five years, the foster carer |

|is entitled to absence from work for the period of eight months. During that time, foster carer is entitled to a compensation of |

|the earnings in accordance with the Law. |

|Part-time working hours: Foster carer or adoptive parent who takes care of a person suffering from cerebral palsy, polio, some kind|

|of plegia, or if the person is suffering from muscular dystrophy and other severe illnesses, based on the opinion of competent |

|health insurance, may, upon his/her own request to work part-time, but not less than half of the working hours. Foster carer or |

|adoptive parent is entitled to the right to have an adequate income in proportion to the time spent at work. |

| |

|Absence from work until the child reaches three years of age: Foster carer or adoptive parent is entitled to be absent from work |

|until the child reaches three years of age. During the absence from work all the rights and obligations based on the work |

|regulations are put on hold. |

Special notes:

The right to a subsidy based on the expenses of the utility services provided by the City of Belgrade, was cancelled on the 1st January 2014.

JURISDICTION AND APPEAL

LAW ON FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO THE FAMILY

Jurisdiction over the rights of this Law in the first instance has the municipal, or city government in the residence of the applicant, except on the right to compensation of salary during maternity leave, absence from work due to child care and absence from work due to special child care upon which municipal, or city government of the employee’s residences, makes a decision. (Article 29. Of the Law)

Minister responsible for social issues makes decisions regarding the appeals on decisions of the Courts of First Instance in the second instance. (Article 30. Of the Law)

LAW ON SOCIAL PROTECTION

In the first instance the Center for Social Work in charge of the child solves the rights and services provided by the Republic and in accordance with the Law on Social Protection. It is also dealt with according to the procedure of exercising the rights and services defined by the Law on Social protection.

City government of the City of Belgrade deals with the appeals on decisions of the Courts of First Instance in the second instance.

Regarding the rights provided by the Republic and in accordance with the Labour Law, the employers, and organizational unit of local council for financial support for the families with children deals with the payouts.

Regarding the rights and services provided by the Republic and in accordance with the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance and the Law on Health Insurance, all issues are solved by the Center for Social Work in charge for the child in foster care.

The rights and services provided by the City of Belgrade or any other local government based on the Decision regarding the rights of the child in the field of financial support for the families with children is taken care of by appropriate organizational unit for the business of financial support for the families with children.

The rights and services provided by the City of Belgrade or any other local government based on the Decision regarding the rights and services within the social protection is taken care of by the Center for Social Work or appropriate organizational unit of local government.

Organizational unit of the City government in charge with the business of social protection solves appeals against the decision of the Center for Social Work. [pic]

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[1] For the month of July 2014 – Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications

[2] it can be applied only in case of a child in foster care (clothing, footwear, hygiene, education, cultural, sport needs, nurturing the talent and interests of a child, as well as summer holidays)

[3] June 2014.

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