Clearing guidance social service “WHERE TO?”

(V.D.02) New Technologies, (V.D.10) Vulnerable Families

As a partial measure of the overall project “No Child Left Behind – Establishing Community Prevention Chains”, an effective pilot service for the Carinthian population was installed in October 2021 in cooperation with the LOTSE association (see www.wohin.or.at). By means of telephone, chat, face-to-face counseling, or by searching a database on one’s own, a “matching” is established between the individual need for the help of children, young people, and families and the support services that are best suited for them regionally and thematically.

The aim is to ensure awareness of the many psychosocial support services available and to minimize obstacles to the use of help, thus achieving case histories that are as early as possible and have a preventive effect. The service is free of charge and anonymous. The offer is also available to all professionals with their own referral needs.
Experience so far confirms the basic conceptual assumptions and the number of users is steadily increasing. User satisfaction is positive and the coordination between the client (Province of Carinthia) and the provider as well as those responsible for the services is close-meshed, learning-friendly, and development-oriented.

Official Name of Signatory

State of Carinthia (Austria)

Delegation

Europe

Website of the Signatory

Name of the person presenting the Good Practice

Mag. Raphael Schmid

Position/Job Title of person presenting the Good Practice

Head of sub department

Aim of the Good Practice

- Increasing the visibility of social services and social work - Matching individual help needs with the best possible help and support offer - Early use of help and support - Accurate, resource-efficient support for professionals in referral situations - Needs-oriented social planning

Target Group of the Good Practice

The population of Carinthia and Carinthian professionals in a broad sense (from teachers, elementary school pedagogues, medical professionals, and municipal employees to psychosocial professionals).

Implementation period

Annual funding; permanent existence currently envisaged.

Consistency over time

The innovative offer was able to establish itself quickly and demonstrate the conceptually based benefits and effects. It has been proven that the number of calls for and use of the service is steadily increasing, that it has already been provided with more resources in line with demand, and that it is constantly monitored by experts. Currently, the need for the service has been clearly confirmed and regular funding has been secured.

Evaluation of the Good Practice

The implementation so far exceeds expectations and represents the conceived closing of the gap in low-threshold, rapid, accurate matching between individual help needs and available help and support services. The feedback from users is significantly positive.

Key stakeholders and partnerships

LOTSE association (provider of the service); Carinthian Health Promotion Fund; networking partners in the psychosocial and health care landscape

Link for more information

Future Goal 1

Further stabilization and safeguarding of the offer while maintaining positive implementation experiences.

Future Goal 2

Increased focus on "client feedback" / impact evaluation

Future Goal 3

Integrate the feedback from the pilots into considerations of social planning and needs-based design of the care landscape.