The conference was opened by Stanisław Szwed, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Family and Social Policy, who emphasised that the Ministry has more than PLN 7 billion at its disposal under the FERS programme.

We have under the new perspective more than PLN 7 billion at our disposal. These are large funds which will help us to solve problems concerning social exclusion, social economy, people with disabilities and pro-family policy – said Minister Stanisław Szwed.

Centres for Social Services – a new aspect of social policy

The first part of the conference focused on Centres for Social Services – new institutions providing social services in the local environment. With the support of European funds, 41 Centres for Social Services (CSS) have been established in municipalities across 15 voivodships. Thanks to the activities of these centres, social services can be more widely available to residents, and municipal governments can respond in a more comprehensive way to the changing needs of local communities.

During the conference, a ceremony to award Primus in Agendo badges of honour to those involved in setting up Centres for Social Services was also held.

"Toddler+" programme – more than 102,000 new childcare places for children under 3 years old

The strategic project implemented by the Ministry of Family and Social Policy in the current financial perspective is the Toddler+ Programme, thanks to which more than 102,000 new care places for children under 3 years of age will be created in crèches, children's clubs and day care centres. The Toddler+ Programme was discussed during the conference by Barbara Socha, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Family and Social Policy, who emphasised that PLN 5.5 billion was allocated to the programme from European Funds, the National Reconstruction Plan and the state budget.

The programme is structured in such a way that we promote or prioritise above all those local authorities, those municipalities, where until now there have been no care institutions. We call them white spots and we can clearly see how these white spots are disappearing from the map of Poland – said Minister Barbara Socha.

"Social bonus" – incentive to outsource social services to social economy entities

Noteworthy in the FERS programme are the wide-ranging measures through which the social economy sector will be further developed, professionalised and reinvested.

Within the framework of a panel discussion on the social economy, a new measure was discussed which enables the payment of the so-called "social bonus" to local government units commissioning or entrusting social services to social economy entities. This will contribute to increasing access to high quality social services in local communities, provided by social economy entities, and will encourage local government units to commission social services in the social sector.

European funds for the development of community-based social services

Effective use of European funds in the area of social inclusion will be possible thanks to the coordination of support by the Ministry of Family and Social Policy (under the so-called umbrella projects) and the Regional Centres for Social Policy (ROPS) in coordination projects. The ROPS coordination projects are a new formula that will allow for improved coordination of social policy in the area of social inclusion and social economy between the national and regional levels.

The discussion around system changes in social welfare, including the amendment of the Act on Social Welfare and the possible use of European Funds in this process was attended by representatives of the scientific community, grantees and representatives of the Ministry of Family and Social Policy.