ČeštinaSPOD quality standards
SPOD quality standards
Municipal Office Říčany, Department of Social Affairs and Health – Social and Legal Protection of Children
Comenius Square. 1850, 251 01 Říčany
The amendment to Act No.359/1999 Coll., on social-legal protection of children, as amended, and Decree No.473/2012, on the implementation of certain provisions of the SPOD Act, introduce quality standards for social-legal protection of children into the activities of social-legal protection bodies. The quality standards are a set of criteria through which the level of quality of the social protection provided is determined in the procedure of the child social protection authorities in relation to children, parents and other persons responsible for upbringing.
The content of the standards includes written working procedures for working with clients, standards of personnel and organisational provision and technical and operational provision of social-legal protection.
On the basis of Annex no. 1 of Decree no. 473/2012 (see annex below), the Department of Social Affairs and Health has developed quality standards for SPOD, which are followed in the performance of social legal protection and are based on both legal norms and good practice. The SPOD quality standards are conceived as a “living organism” that not only builds on good practice but also directly influences it.
The elaborated standards are available in printed form for public inspection at the Department of Social Affairs and Health, office no. 11 with the head of the department.
- Standard 1a
- Standard 4a
- Standard 7a
- Standard 7b
- Standard 13a
- Standard 14a
- Organisational structure of the Department
Quality standards for social-legal protection in the provision of social-legal protection by social-legal protection authorities
Annex No. 1 to Decree 473 /2012 Coll.
| 1. Local and temporal accessibility | |
| Criterion | |
| 1a | The social-legal protection authority shall ensure the effective provision of social-legal protection to the extent necessary throughout the territory of its administrative district. |
| 1b | The duration of social-legal protection shall be adapted to the needs of the persons to whom social-legal protection is or may in the future be provided or targeted, in particular children (hereinafter referred to as the “target group”). The personal exercise of social-legal protection is ensured every working day; outside working hours and on rest days, there is a continuous on-call service. |
Criteria 1a and 1b are not assessed for a social protection authority if it is a municipal authority, a regional authority, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Office for International Child Protection.
| 2. Environment and conditions | |
| Criterion | |
| 2a | Social-legal protection is provided in premises suitable for communication with children and families at risk. The social-legal protection authority shall provide premises for the exercise of social-legal protection that constitute adequate facilities for the exercise of social-legal protection and whose capacity corresponds to the number of consultations related to the provision of social-legal protection. |
| 2b | The social-legal protection authority has appropriate material equipment with regard to the performance of social-legal protection both on and off the job. In particular, the necessary number of cars, mobile phones, laptops, cameras and other recording equipment for field work is available. |
| 2c | The social-legal protection authority shall have at its disposal appropriate material equipment for working with persons from the target group to whom social-legal protection is provided (hereinafter referred to as “the client”), in particular with regard to the needs of children. |
| 2d | The social-legal protection body shall have the necessary hygienic facilities and personal protective equipment for employees assigned to social-legal protection bodies to perform social-legal protection. |
| 3. Awareness of the performance of social-legal protection of children | |
| Criterion | |
| 3a | The social-legal protection authority shall publish, in a manner allowing remote access or by other appropriate means, the rules and procedures it has developed to meet these quality standards for social-legal protection in the provision of social-legal protection. |
| 3b | The social-legal protection authority has prepared information on the scope and conditions of the provision of social-legal protection in a form understandable to the target group. This information is publicly available. |
| 4. Staffing of social-legal protection of children | |
| Criterion | |
| 4a | The social-legal protection body has a number of jobs and job profiles of individual employees assigned to social-legal protection bodies to perform social-legal protection within the established organisational structure. |
| 4b | The number of staff is appropriate to the administrative district of the social protection body. |
| When calculating the appropriate number of employees of the social-legal protection body, the criterion affecting the complexity of the performance of social-legal protection in the administrative district of the social-legal protection body is taken into account.The basic starting criterion is at least 1 employee per 800 children (persons under 18 years of age) who are registered for permanent residence in the administrative district of the social-legal protection body. The number of staff includes the senior worker in proportion to his/her involvement with clients. | |
| 4c | The social-legal protection authority has written authorizations and duties for individual positions related to the performance of social-legal protection within its organizational structure, applying specialization especially for the area of foster family care, social curatorship for children and youth and protection of abused and abusive children, and consistently ensures that a specific position is reserved exclusively for the performance of social-legal protection. |
Criterion 4b is not assessed for a social-legal protection authority if it is a municipal authority, a regional authority, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Office for International Child Protection.
| 5. Recruitment and training | |
| Criterion | |
| 5a | Every employee assigned to a social-legal protection body to perform social-legal protection meets the qualification requirements for the profession of social worker under the Social Services Act and has special professional competence in the field of social-legal protection. |
| 5b | The social-legal protection body has written rules for the recruitment of new employees assigned to social-legal protection bodies to perform social-legal protection. |
| 5c | The social-legal protection authority shall register a new employee assigned to the social-legal protection authority and performing social-legal protection within the time limits set by law for the examination of special professional competence. |
| 5d | The social-legal protection authority has written rules for the training of new social-legal protection staff. |
| 5e | The social welfare authority determines whether to allow students and other natural persons to become interns or volunteers in its workplace. The social protection authority allows students or other natural persons to act as interns or volunteers on the basis of a contract and after appropriate training. |
Criterion 5a and 5c are not assessed for the social protection authority if it is the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Office for International Child Protection.
| 6. Professional development of employees | |
| Criterion | |
| 6a | The senior employee of the social-legal protection body assigned to the performance of social-legal protection shall regularly evaluate subordinate employees involved in the performance of social-legal protection. A senior employee of a social-legal protection body is evaluated by his or her immediate superior at least once a year. The evaluation focuses in particular on the definition, development and fulfilment of personal professional goals and continuing professional development needs. |
| 6b | The social-legal protection authority has written individual plans for further training of individual employees assigned to the social-legal protection authority for the performance of social-legal protection. |
| 6c | The social-legal protection authority shall provide ongoing training for employees assigned to social-legal protection authorities for the performance of social-legal protection in the scope of at least 6 working days per calendar year, in the form of participation in |
| employees assigned to social-legal protection bodies to perform social-legal protection at training courses accredited by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The training of employees assigned to social-legal protection bodies to perform social-legal protection is based on individual plans for further training and is aimed at expanding professional qualifications. | |
| 6d | The social-legal protection authority shall ensure the support of an independent qualified expert for employees assigned to social-legal protection authorities to perform social-legal protection who work directly with clients. |
| 7. Prevention | |
| Criterion | |
| 7a | The social-legal protection authority actively seeks out and monitors children at risk. Demonstrably coordinates or creates conditions for prevention activities in its administrative district. |
| 7b | Within the framework of preventive activities, the social-legal protection authority cooperates with other natural persons, legal entities and public authorities, in particular with local authorities, authorized persons, social service providers, representatives of schools and educational institutions, the Police of the Czech Republic, the Probation and Mediation Service, the court, the public prosecutor’s office, health service providers, or other natural persons, legal entities and public authorities involved in the care of children at risk, according to local needs and conditions. All of the above entities may choose the Children and Youth Team as a form of cooperation within the above framework. |
| 8. Receipt of notification, assessment of urgency and assignment of the case | |
| Criterion | |
| 8a | The social-legal protection authority shall follow a uniform procedure for receiving and registering the notification of a case. |
| 8b | Each case of a social protection authority is assessed with regard to its urgency. |
| 8c | Each case is assigned to a specific case coordinator. The coordinator manages the course of social-legal protection in a given case. |
| 8d | Each employee assigned to a social-legal protection body to carry out social-legal protection works with a maximum of 80 families, or 40 families in the case of a probation officer for children and youth. In the case of work with carers and people on the register, it works with a maximum of 40 families. |
Criterion 8d is not assessed for a social protection authority if it is a municipal authority, a regional authority, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Office for International Child Protection.
| 9. Discussion, evaluation and individual child protection plan | |
| Criterion | |
| 9a | When dealing with a client, the social-legal protection authority observes the basic principles of social-legal protection, in particular, it respects the individual approach to all clients, is based on the individual needs of each client, supports the independence of clients, applies an individual approach to the needs of each client, motivates to care for children, strengthens the social inclusion of clients, consistently observes human rights and fundamental freedoms, promotes contact with the natural social environment, informs the client about the procedures used in the exercise of social-legal protection. |
| 9b | The social-legal protection authority provides the services necessary for dealing with persons with specific needs, or has arranged cooperation with natural persons and legal entities that provide these services externally. |
| 9c | The social-legal protection authority carries out in all cases, in particular at the time of the introduction of the child into the register of children referred to in Section 54 of the Act, a basic assessment of the needs of the child and the situation of the family (hereinafter referred to as the “assessment”), focused on whether the child is a child referred to in Section 6 and Section 54(1) of the Act. (a) of the Act, a child referred to in section 54(b) of the Act, or a child included in the register of children for any other reason. If the conclusion of the evaluation shows that the child is a child referred to in Section 6 of the Act, the social-legal protection authority carries out a detailed evaluation. |
| 9d | In the case of a detailed assessment concluding that the child is a child referred to in Section 6 of the Act, the social protection authority prepares an individual child protection plan, reassesses it as necessary and subsequently concludes it. |
Criteria 9c and 9d are not assessed for a social-legal protection authority if it is a municipal authority, a regional authority, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Office for International Child Protection.
| 10. Case control | |
| Criterion | |
| 10a | The social protection authority shall ensure regular monitoring of cases. |
| 11. Risk and emergency situations | |
| Criterion | |
| 11a | Employees assigned to social-legal protection bodies to perform social-legal protection are prepared for the occurrence of risk and emergency situations and are demonstrably familiar with situations that may arise in connection with the performance of social-legal protection, including the procedures for dealing with them. |
| 12. Documentation on the performance of social-legal protection of children | |
| Criterion | |
| 12a | The social-legal protection authority shall apply a system of processing, keeping, recording and archiving documentation, including electronic documentation in the information system of social-legal protection of children about clients and other persons. |
| 12b | The records of the social protection authority shall be kept in such a way as to be comprehensible to the client. |
| 13. Handling and filing complaints | |
| Criterion | |
| 13a | The social-legal protection authority has developed rules for the submission, handling and registration of complaints in a form that is understandable to all clients. |
| 13b | The social-legal protection authority shall inform clients and other persons about the possibility of lodging a complaint in a manner that is comprehensible to clients and other persons. |
| 14. Follow-up of social-legal protection of children to other natural persons and legal entities | |
| Criterion | |
| 14a | The social-legal protection authority mediates and recommends to clients the services of natural and legal persons according to their needs, in accordance with the objectives of support set out in the individual child protection plan. |
| 14b | The social-legal protection authority is intensively involved in the area of preparing for independent life for children over 16 years of age who are in institutional care, in foster family care or in the care of curators. |
Criterion 14b is not assessed for a social-legal protection authority if it is a municipal authority, a regional authority, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Office for International Child Protection.