TEMA 20: Social Services in Madrid Centres PDF

# TEMA 20 El Auxiliar de Servicios Sociales en los Centros de Servicios Sociales de la Red Municipal de Atención Social Primaria. Acogida y atención al público en los Centros de Servicios Sociales ## Índice 1. Introducción a la red de Atención Social Primaria del Ayuntamiento de Madrid 2. Modelo o...

# TEMA 20 El Auxiliar de Servicios Sociales en los Centros de Servicios Sociales de la Red Municipal de Atención Social Primaria. Acogida y atención al público en los Centros de Servicios Sociales ## Índice 1. Introducción a la red de Atención Social Primaria del Ayuntamiento de Madrid 2. Modelo organizativo y metodología de la Intervención Social 3. Plan Estratégico de Servicios Sociales 2023-2027 4. Funciones del Auxiliar de Servicios Sociales Bibliografía ## 1. Introducción a la red de Atención Social Primaria del Ayuntamiento de Madrid The history of Social Services, as a set of personal services configured as a public system for social welfare, is relatively recent in our country. In the Community of Madrid, its initial regulation takes place through the Social Services Act of 1984, with the aim of more clearly defining the organization, content and benefits of this system. The Social Services Act of March, of 2003, consolidates said system, incorporating changes and adaptations to new social realities. The current Act 12/2022, of December 21, on Social Services of the Community of Madrid, constitutes the first step, and also the main one, in the process initiated by the Government of the Community of Madrid to transform the Public System of Social Services. A process of legislative, organisational and digital transformation, aimed at boosting the quality of social care, easing the work of professionals, providing more information, and doing it in a more transparent manner. A process committed to achieving closer and more personal services, focused on needs and prepared to support the demands of a society as dynamic as the one in Madrid. This new Social Services Act of the Community of Madrid acknowledges the right of access to these services and defines the set of social benefits that are configured as subjective rights of the people of Madrid. It introduces the creation of a portfolio of services; the development of new information systems, including the Social History Record and Social Card; it reinforces the coordinated action of primary and specialized care networks and the different protection systems: educational, healthcare, employment, housing or judicial; it enables new formulas of collaboration with social entities and other private entities, and proposes homogeneous work tools throughout the region to provide personalized, comprehensive, quality and equal care for all citizens. With this new Act, progress is made towards the aim of expanding the opportunities for social inclusion for the people of Madrid, for achieving a more autonomous life, which is a freer life, and to clear the space for the development of social services in our region, from now on and for the coming years. The City Council of Madrid, in 1989, drafted and published a Regulation of Organisation and Operation of Municipal Social Service Centres, a regulatory framework that has not been amended until today, and therefore, it is still in force. Next, we will analyse the contents of the Regulation of Organisation and Operation of Municipal Social Service Centres of June 22, 1989, published in the BOCM on September 14 of 1989, in which the competences, organisation and operation of all Social Service Centres were regulated for the first time, as basic equipment of the Social Services network of the City Council of Madrid. With it, finally, the need to develop what is competence and proper contents of Social Services as surpassing the charity that was fortunately abolished in the constitutional text of 1978 is achieved. If we delve deeper into the Regulation of Organisation and Operation of Social Service Centres, specifically in Title III thereof, entitled "Operation of Social Service Centres", we will see that it establishes that Social Service Centres, to develop the content of programmes and the management of benefits, will be organised in Work Units. This, in turn, consists of the following Work Units, all of them depending on the Social Service Centre Management: * Work Unit. * Work Unit. * Work Unit. Each of these Work Units has distinct functions assigned to them, which we will list below: * Work Unit: direct attention to the user of social services, continuous contact with individuals, groups, family units and organisations of the district, or the territory of the same assigned to each Social Service Centre. * Work Unit: develops the Family Cohabitation and Prevention/Reintegration Programmes, to provide specialized technical support to the Social Work Unit, as well as to manage the benefits contained in each of them. * Work Unit: carries functions that are its own as a central administrative device of the Social Service Centre. The coordination of the three work units falls to the Social Service Centre manager, who, as such, is responsible for ensuring that each Work Unit fulfils its assigned functions, taking the necessary measures to achieve it if necessary. The Regulation also sets out, as a minimum, the staff that each Social Service Centre will have: * A manager, who will hold the qualification of Social Assistant or a graduate in Social Work. * Three Social Assistants or graduates in Social Work assigned to the Work Unit. * A Social Assistant or a graduate in Social Work for each of the areas that make up the Work Unit. * An administrator. * Three administrative assistants. * Enough orderlies to attend to the tasks assigned to this category. * Two social service assistants. Following this brief exposition of the organisation and operation set out by the Regulation of Organisation and Operation of Social Service Centres, which was passed in 1989, a great advance for its time is observed, as it is still in force as a regulatory framework for the activity of municipal Social Services. However, it is evident that it needs an update in line with the new reality of Social Services in the city of Madrid. Within the Primary Care Plan of the City Council of Madrid for 2008-2011, there was a reference to the revision of the Regulation with the aim of adapting it to the new legislative, organisational and management framework. Its flexibility has made it possible to adapt it to the new legal, organizational and management framework. Its flexibility has made it possible to adapt and incorporate the changes that have taken place. The intention was to define the organisation design of Social Service Centres, as basic equipment of the care network, under the then current Community of Madrid Social Services Act. <start_of_image>* In a bid towards an update in line with the new reality of Social Services, The City Council of Madrid, since the late 1996, has taken on a process of improving its General Social Services, with the aim being to increase the quality of care for users, understanding that improving the quality of a public service required addressing three aspects: the organization of work, management tools, and the facilities or infrastructure needed in which to base the social care. That improvement process led to an Organisational Model, the implementation of which took place throughout 1998, and which, to this day, is also in force. The Social Services Department designed a new Care Model for General Social Services, which was presented at Municipal Workshops held in November 1997. The progressive implementation of the model in the 21 districts was carried out from February to June of 1998. The Care circuit is a key strategy in defining the new model, This circuit is represented as follows: [The diagram of the circuit of the UTS and the UA will be inserted here] Source: Government Department for Family and Social Services. Primary care plan 2008-2011. The City Council of Madrid. 428 Did you know that...? The new Act 12/2022, of December 21, on Social Services of the Community of Madrid, defines a public system adapted to current possibilities and demands, and it is capable of supporting and attending to the necessary evolution of social services. In 2017, an Improvement Plan for Social Service Centres of the City Council of Madrid was drafted, the latter only affecting Primary Care and not Social Services as a whole. Thus, the Plenary Session of the City Council of Madrid, in its meeting (30/2018), held on November 27 of 2018, approved a proposal in which it was mandated that the government team would take the lead in "drafting a new public social service system for the city of Madrid, with the consensus of all the parties represented in the Plenary Session of the City Council of Madrid, trade union organisations and professionals of the system." In the context of the crisis caused by COVID19, all the political forces represented in the City Council of Madrid agreed in July 2020, to reaffirm La Villa Agreements, in which, among other measures, it is stated that "we will promote the reform of the Municipal Social Service model". In 2022, the unanimous approval, of The Agreements for a New Public Social Service System, was reached at a Plenary session held on 7/2022, on May 31 of 2022. The latter, represent the materialization of the political, professional and civic will to build a New Social Service system. Within them, the following Final Provision appears: > > "First: This agreement represents a commitment from the city of Madrid to provide municipal social services with a model in line with present and future needs. To that end, the need to develop the necessary economic resource and human resource plans in line with the essential nature of these services is recognized. For which, the necessary strategic plans will be developed to include those needs, a programmed development will consider those needs and the relevant bodies for collective negotiation will be used. > Second: The approval of this agreement implies the creation of two bodies to monitor and plan its development: > 1. Monitoring committee of agreements for a new model of social services, coordinated by the Family, Equality and Welfare Government Department, with representation from all political parties represented in the Plenary Session, trade unions and civil society representatives, that will issue a report on the evaluation and compliance with the Agreements. > 2. To approve that, by the end of 2022, at least, we will have a Strategic Plan for Social Services, that will determine a: > a) Analysis and diagnosis. > b) Economic report > c) Measures to be implemented > d) Programming of measures. > 3. Drafting of the new regulation of organization and operation of Social Services, in accordance with the development of the new model." In response to this mandate from the Plenary Session, the "Strategic Plan for Social Services 2023-2027, New Public Social Services System of the City of Madrid", was drafted. Its objective is to guide social policies that fall under the responsibility of the Government Department competent in matters of Social Services, through actions responding to the needs of the population of the City of Madrid. The new regulation of organization and operation of Social Services, in accordance with the development of the new model has not yet been drafted. As a way of concluding, we can say that the legislative framework that endorses the composition and operation of the Primary Care network of the City Council of Madrid, is made up by the Regulation of Organization and Operation of Social Service Centres, which was passed in 1989 (while the new regulation, foreseen by the Agreements for a New Public Social Service System, is not drafted yet) the Strategic Plan for Social Services 2023-2027, and the Act 12/2022, of December 21, on Social Services of the Community of Madrid. ## 2. Modelo organizativo y metodología de la Intervención Social Taking the Regulation of Centres, as we saw in the previous section, as a starting point, in which the Social Work Unit (UTS) appears as the unit where the fundamental function is attending to the user or neighbour, the proposal is to split this UTS in two differentiated moments, both in terms of functions, methodology and competence. These two moments are: 1. UTS - Primary Care. 2. UTS - Zone. ### 2.1. Unidad administrativa: Circuito de atención In this first moment, we will introduce the care circuit which is set out as the “access gate” in the Public Social Service system, and is configured in the following stages: * Access: through the Administrative Unit (AU) * Primary Care: in the UTS - Primary Care. * Zone Care: in the UTS - Zone. Access to the care circuit will be made through the Administrative Unit, which will be in charge of receiving and channelling users or neighbours. The functions of the Administrative Unit with regards to the Care Circuit would be the following: * Receiving the neighbour/user in person or over the phone. * Initial screening of the type of demand raised by the user, determining whether it is likely or not to be addressed at the Social Service Centre. * Information about municipal or other Services. * Channelling of users that could potentially be addressed at the Social Service Centre, referring them to the UTS - PA (Public care), or, instead setting up an appointment for them to go to the UTS - Zone. * Compiling new user identification data. * Locating files for scheduled interviews. * Review and verification of the documentation requested by the professionals of the UTS (Primary Care, Zone Care). The professionals of the Administrative Unit that carry out these functions should preferably be located in a space which meets the following conditions: * Accessible and open (counter or similar) close to the entrance of the Social Services Centre. * Identified, and clearly visible to users, if possible with a sign to indicate where it is. * Located close to the waiting room. * Close to the offices of the First Care Social Workers. Receiving users at the Social Services Centre implies that it is: * Courteous and friendly. * Quick and efficient. Remember that ... The information provided to the user has to be objective, and it is advisable to avoid entering into aspects of the raised situation that are not needed in receiving neighbours or users. Therefore, the professional of the Administrative Unit should only require those data or information that are strictly necessary to appropriately perform their duty. To easily, quickly and efficiently carry out the activities that are their own, administrative assistants should organise, as far as possible, their workstation, so that the computer and files are close by. It is also advisable to have all the other instruments and working documents close by, to avoid unnecessary time wasting: * Social Worker Zone appointment book. * User appointment card or sheet. * Trays or boxes for Social Workers. * Terminal connected to AS 400 for access to the 010 database (already files). * File or list of resources. As a preliminary step in receiving the user, they must have the ability to differentiate users who are likely to be addressed at a Social Services Centre from those who are not. Users that are likely to be addressed at a Social Services Centre will be informed by the Administrative Unit of the different schedules, as well as the requirements needed to be addressed by the UTS - Primary Care or to get an appointment to be addressed by the UTS - Zone. The Administrative Unit must discriminate the following situations of the users: * Users that can be referred to Primary Care: * New users: within new users, there are two types: those that come to the Centre for the first time, and that, therefore, do not have a file in General Social Services, and those that, even though they have a file, it is not currently active because they have not received any care for the last 12 months. These users will be considered in practice as new. In this Primary Care, an assessment of their current situation will be carried out. All these users will be addressed by the Primary Care UTS with no prior appointment, within the schedule set aside for this care. * Users that express an urgent situation that requires immediate care, regardless of whether they are new cases or have an active file. Urgencies will always be a priority. * Users to be given an appointment with Zone. The Administrative Unit will set up an appointment for users with an active file in General Social Services or for users referred from Primary Care to be addressed by the UTS - Zone. [The diagram of the flow of the users will be inserted here] Source: Social Service Centres of the City Council of Madrid: organizational criteria for the improvement of social care. Social Services Department Madrid, 1999. 40 Next, we will see a graphical representation of the general protocol of reception of the Administrative Unit, [The diagram of the reception will be inserted here] ## 2.2. Unidad de Trabajo Social (UTS) - Primera Atención The UTS - Primary Care is very important since it is the entry point for Social Services and for the decisive role it plays in the initial assessment of cases and the detection of social risk. The supervision carried out by the Centre manager is a key element in ensuring a uniformity of criteria and quality in the care provided. The functions that a professional in Primary Care generally carries out are the following: * Receiving the user and contextualizing them; providing them with the necessary information and guidance. * Providing advice. * Carrying out the completion of the Primary Care User Form (FUPA). * Managing benefits and resources. * Assessing the situation. * Closing, and referring the case. General criteria for intervention to be taken into account for primary care, in a broad sense, should be in line with the following methodological characteristics: * Short in terms of time, with no follow-up. * It informs and guides. * It carries out a quick assessment. * It carries out crisis intervention whenever it applies. * It resolves. * It closes, and refers. The UTS - Primary Care will address users daily from Monday to Friday, within the 9 am to 12:30 pm schedule. Emergency care will be carried out throughout the working day. As a general rule, one Primary Care professional will be assigned for every three or four Zone professionals. The specific proportion will depend on the volume of care and the characteristics of each District. With regards to the overall distribution of the Social Assistant’s or Social Worker’s time, as a general rule, the distribution of working time should be aligned with the following percentages: * Direct attention to users: * Interviews at Social Service Centres: 47.8%. * Home visits/groups: 12.2%. * Management and drafting of Reports: 20% * Coordination, supervision, and training: 20% When we speak about the interviews carried out at the UTS - Primary Care, these should have a maximum duration of around 20 minutes, with a maximum of three interviews per day, and given the speed required for this first moment of care, it is considered necessary to carry out a proper distribution of interview time, focusing on capturing the demand appropriately and adjusting the response. Those cases that only need information and/or guidance and the occasional benefit management will be addressed only in UTS - Primary Care, being resolved in a maximum of three interviews. Those benefits that can be processed by the UTS - Primary Care will be those benefits which do not require follow-up for either the user or their family unit. In the event that the benefits assessed in Primary Care are a benefit managed by the UTS - Zone and another managed by the UTS - Primary Care, both benefits will be processed by the UTS - Zone, just as when a user from UTS - Primary Care is referred to the UTS - Zone, the latter professional will carry out the appropriate processing and follow-up for all the benefits included in the Social Intervention Design (DIS). As a guide, the Benefits of the Community of Madrid that do not require follow-up are the following: * Senior Citizen’s Dinning Hall. * Senior Citizen’s Telephone Installation. * Senior Citizen’s Home. * Senior Citizen’s Temporary Home. * Senior Citizen’s Day Centre. * Centre for people with disability. * Taxi coupon for people with disability. The resolution or closing of Primary Care can be done from the first, second or third interview. In general terms, it will be ensured that as soon as it is envisaged that intervention requiring follow-up from the UTS - Zone is necessary, the appropriate referral is made (if possible from the first interview without waiting for the second or third. The referral to the UTS - Zone must be made with an assessment recording the reasons for the intervention with follow-up from the UTS - Zone. Those cases that access Primary Care presenting an urgent situation will be addressed with the same criteria of duration (from one to three interviews), using crisis intervention techniques with the aim of: * Reassuring and/or alleviating the user. * Guiding the raised problem * Laying the foundations to channel their solution by mobilising the necessary resources, either for the user personally or for others. Did you know that...? Addressing a case of urgency does not mean solving it. Once the case has been guided, the procedure will be the same as in the previous cases: either closing it in UTS - Primary Care, or, referring it to UTS - Zone or to other services. The documentation to be used in the UTS - Primary Care would be the following: * Primary Care User Form. * User Form annexes; Demand and Care Form. * File Sheet. We will mention some instructions needed to correctly complete the FUPA (user form of primary care): * The user data will be those of the beneficiary or person on whom the benefit is being provided. * The Social Worker of the UTS - Primary Care collects the relative data on date of birth and ID card. In the information technology application of the Primary Care User Form a "drop" automatically happens after four months have passed from the last coding of the interview or visit, without the Social Worker of the UTS - Primary Care closing the corresponding Primary Care User Form. With regards to the Social History, it is worth saying that it is an exclusive instrument of the UTS - Zone, since it is neither opened in the UTS - Primary Care, nor is the data of inactive files of the UTS - Zone updated. In the latter case, new data will be reflected, in any case, in the Primary Care User Form. The Primary Care Social Worker can establish Informative Groups that they deem appropriate, according to the Management and in the spaces foreseen by the Care Model. When we are referring to requests from new Social Service users that require a fostering care or extended family fostering care, the UTS - Primary Care will inform them and provide the corresponding documentation, in which case, it will be the fostering care request. Subsequently, the case will be referred to the Social Work Unit – Zone. The organization of unexpected replacements in UTS - Primary Care will be carried out as follows: * For a single Social Worker of the UTS - Primary Care: when the UTS - Primary Care is covered by a single Social Worker of the UTS - Primary Care, unexpected replacements will be carried out by the Zone Social Worker foreseen as the first replacement, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the Management or whomever they determine will be considered as the replacement. * For two Social Workers of the UTS - Primary Care: when the UTS - Primary Care is covered with two Social Workers of the UTS - Primary Care, one replaces the other. Scheduled replacements in Primary Care (holidays, other leave, etc.). They will be carried out according to the criteria of the Manager (based on the Regulation of Organisation and Operation of the Social Service Centres). This UTS addresses new users, and urgent cases. Urgent cases can be addressed in these two circumstances: * Through their own initiative. * Referred from the Urgencies/Emergencies Service (current SITADE) or other Services. To conclude with the criteria for organizational procedures, we will summarise the different situations that can arise in closing care in the UTS - Primary Care: * Closing or resolving the case in Primary Care – Referral internally to the UTS - Zone. * External referral to either Municipal or non-municipal Services/Protection systems – Abandonment. ### 2.3. Unidad de Trabajo Social (UTS) - Zone The UTS - Zone addresses users referred from the UTS - Primary Care and users with active files, always with a prior appointment set up by the Administrative Unit. For operational purposes, we define Social Intervention from the UTS - Zone as that which is carried out on a restricted level, systematically, and with follow-up. This intervention is based on knowledge of the reality, formulates hypotheses for work and sets prevention, modification or containment objectives. Care in the UTS - Zone will follow the following itineraries: * Cases in exclusive and specific Zone intervention, with the beginning and end of social intervention in the Zone. * Cases in Zone intervention, with partial referral to other Social Protection Systems or other Administrations. This intervention, just like the previous one, begins and ends in the Zone. * Cases in Zone intervention, with the definitive referral to other services/protection systems. In this case, the cases begin in the Zone and are closed when the referral is made. Did you know that...? Cristina De Robertis states that Social Work is also a practice of transformation and social change, both at an individual and collective level. To achieve this objective, the profession has developed its methods and techniques, which are the formalized and organized procedures of "savoir-faire"(know-how). The profession has defined its methods, conceptualized them, and has created operational and transferable intervention models. Addressing cases in the Zone must consider the three levels of Social Intervention: individual-family, group and community. Depending on the type of cases and problems raised, the relevance of one or another level will have different importance, however, it is important to always bear in mind that group and/or community intervention that may arise from an individual-family intervention must be at the service of meeting the objectives outlined therein. The following techniques and actions most relevant to carry out in each of these levels will be described below: #### 1.0 Individual-family Intervention: * Reception of new cases referred from the UTS - Primary Care * Interviews in the office. * Home visits. * Coordination with other professionals and services. * Management of resources. #### 2.0 Group Intervention: * Analysing the demand and care that is repeated periodically in the UTS - Zone. * Making a proposal to the Centre Manager on interventions that should be approached from a group perspective. * Carrying out a group pre-design from the Zone responsible. * Drafting a definitive design of group intervention (Manager-Programme and UTS - Zone). #### 3.0 Community Intervention: * Assessing cases that require a community approach. * Participating in meetings of associations and entities of the Zone. * Contacting and coordinating with the natural and associative networks of the Zone. The percentages of time for visits, groups, and community work can be redistributed according to the needs of the Zones, respecting the schedule set aside for direct attention for interviews at the Social Services Centre, with prior consultation to the Centre Management. The Zone Social Worker must reserve space in their schedule for handling cases referred from the UTS - Primary Care. The percentage of spaces reserved should be close to the percentage of referrals that are made. With regards to the overall distribution of the Social Worker’s time, as a general rule, the distribution of working time should be aligned with the following percentages: * Direct attention to users: * Interviews at the Social Service Centres (care schedule: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) 38.2% * Home visits, groups and community intervention 21.8% * Management, drafting of reports, drafting and evaluation of the Social Intervention Design: * Coordination, supervision and training: 20%. Care for users at the UTS - Zone will be carried out, in general, in the 21 Districts, three days a week – Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays – within the 8:30 am to 1 pm schedule. Interviews and care carried out at the UTS - Zone will be framed within the Social Intervention Design, and in accordance with the objectives set out therein. The duration of these interviews is a maximum of forty minutes. The different stages that are carried out in the intervention process are the following: Study; Assessment; Formulating the Social Intervention Design, which includes: objectives, strategies, deadlines, evaluation and end of the process. The documentary support that the UTS - Zone uses is the Social Intervention Design, as a methodological instrument or specific support for this intervention. This support also includes the key moments of the intervention process: the formulation of the intervention, the review/s, and the end of it, with the corresponding evaluation. All cases addressed in the UTS – Zone must have a Social Intervention Design drawn up in writing. The Zone Social Worker will always be the Professional of reference for those cases. Remember that… Every person who accesses social services has the right to receive individualised care which respects their identity and dignity, and ensures that they receive appropriate treatment at all times. The duration of the intervention process with a user or family unit should not exceed two years. Nonetheless, it can begin again with a new intervention process with the same user/family unit, if, after a period has passed from the closing of the last intervention, similar circumstances or circumstances arise such that this is advisable. It is the fundamental task of the Zone Social Worker to maintain the information of the files updated, structured, codified and comprehensive, so that the Social Histories fulfil their purpose of being the basic and central instrument that provides the information for intervention. The Social History is the "Document that records exhaustively the personal, family, health, housing, economic, employment, education and any other relevant data of a user’s socio-family situation, the demand, the diagnosis and subsequent intervention and the evolution of such situation”. The objectives that were set for the UTS - Zone in the year 1998 were the following: * Objective 1. Organization of appointments at the UTS - Zone: * From the moment the Model was implemented, Zones have been addressing users by appointment, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, between 8:30 am and 1:00 pm. * Each Zone must foresee a number of weekly spaces within its schedule for addressing cases that are taken from Primary Care to the Zone, proportionally to the percentage of cases referred from Primary Care to the Zone. Those addressed as urgent cases in Primary Care and that are referred to the Zone will receive preferential attention, being given an appointment in the first available space in the Zone. This priority, will be decided by the Zone Social Worker, depending on the characteristics of the case. * As the Zone Social Worker attends to users with appointments and drafts the Social Intervention Design, they will set out the frequency for the following interviews, depending on the objectives set out. * The user must know in advance the next appointment scheduled with their Zone Social Worker. To do so, the Administrative Unit will make a note of the date of the next interview on a card or appointment sheet. The frequency of the interviews will always be determined, depending on the objectives set out in the Social Intervention Design. This frequency will vary throughout the intervention process. * Objective 2. Updating of the files (Social History): each Zone Social Worker will be responsible for ensuring that the files they are assigned are updated with: * Basic Social History data. * Note-taking of interviews and codes in Follow-up sheets (Pink sheet). * Drafting of the Social Intervention Design. * Objective 3. Drafting of the Social Intervention Design (DIS): the Zone Social Worker will draft, in writing, the Social Intervention Design for all the cases they are addressing in their scheduled appointments It can be either old cases or new ones (referred in this case, from the UTS - Primary Care). When it comes to methodological criteria needed for the correct drafting of the Social Intervention Design, we will see that any professional intervention in social action must be framed in a structured process in three stages: opening, development and closing. * **1st stage of opening:** This first stage involves knowing the demand of the user, creating the framework, identifying the most relevant problems, raising diagnostic hypotheses, formulating objectives, setting deadlines and times for evaluation. In practice, this stage ends with drafting the Social Intervention Design, in writing. * **2nd development or execution stage:** This involves carrying out the actions foreseen in the Social Intervention Design, with ensuing planned follow-up interviews and the relevant revision of the Social Intervention Design. In this stage, the foreseen resources are applied and partial assessments are carried out of the degree of achievement of the operating objectives set out. * **3rd closing or completion stage of the intervention:** this stage involves performing the global assessment of the intervention carried out, with the reference being evaluation indicators or expected results. In addition, an assessment of the achieved and unachieved objectives will be carried out, analysing the reasons and the degree of achievement. A maximum duration of two years is set for intervention, considered as a period uninterrupted from the beginning of the intervention, coinciding with the drafting of the Social Intervention Design, until its closing or completion, with the corresponding evaluation. It is important to point out that closing a case or intervention process does not mean that all the situations / problems that triggered its opening are solved. The closing of a case is a deliberate action on the part of the professional that represents a more or less extended interruption in time of the intervention that has been carried out. This deliberate action represents a moment for reflection and evaluation, both in relation to the professional as well as the user or subject of intervention. All Intervention should be framed within the General Objectives** of Prevention, Modification, and Containment: * **Prevention:** It is aimed at preventing the emergence of a problem. The action is focused on detecting risk factors that could lead to the emergence of deficiencies or problems that have not yet occurred. In this case, we would be talking about early detection. It is also referred to prevention when a situation that is the object of intervention has already occurred but is aimed at reducing the effects of that problem. * **Modification:** intervention is aimed at inducing or bringing about a change in the situation on which it is focused, which is considered necessary and/or beneficial. Any modification pursued in social intervention should aim to remain, that is, the results achieved should be realistic and achievable. To do so, it is essential that the subject/s of the intervention take an active role, both in the identification and resolution of their situation – problem. * **Containment:** it is any action aimed at preventing the deterioration of a situation. It is aimed at helping to maintain certain conditions when the affected person cannot do so themselves. A basic aspect of this objective is that the person achieve a sufficient balance to guarantee a degree of personal and/or family autonomy in line with their possibilities. The effects of the Social Intervention Design on interview duration is established as the unit of measurement to determine the intensity and frequency of intervention. Home visits will have the same consideration as the interview carried out at the Social Services Centre: * **Intensity:** it is determined by the greater or lesser amount of time dedicated to a case. In practice, it is reflected in the frequency of scheduled interviews.. * **Frequency:** number of times that interviews are held with a user and/or members of a family unit during a period of time determined. **Intensity levels in Intervention:** minimum: 1 interview per year. Maximum: 14 interviews per year. Based on intensity and frequency, three intensity levels are established: high, medium and low. The period of time is annual. * **High intensity:** from 7 to 14 annual interviews. Average frequency: bi-monthly or monthly interviews. * **Medium intensity:** from 3 to 6 annual interviews. Average frequency: quarterly or bi-monthly interviews. * **Low intensity:** from 1 to 2 annual interviews. Average frequency: yearly or semi-yearly interviews. [The diagram of the UTS - Zone organization will be inserted here] Source: http://www.madrid.es/UnidadesDescentralizadas/ServALaCiudadania/SSociales/ Publicaciones/CriteriosOrganizativosParaMejora/TrabSocialZona02.pdf ## 2.4. La Unidad de Programas The Programme Unit is located in parallel to the UTS, including General Programmes that are at the same level as the Social Work Unit of the Zone. In this context, the use of terms such as "specialization" or "supervision" with regard to Programmes is not appropriate. In fact, Social Workers from both units have the same level, as well as the same training, qualification and accession system. The Programme Unit is constituted as such, to provide technical support to the Zone Social Workers. Next, the functions and general tasks assigned to the Programme Unit will be described. Based on the general function of the Programme Social Workers to provide technical support to the Zone Social Workers, we will outline the internal coordination, external coordination and development of specific District Projects functions. These three axes intersect and complement the heart of the Programme Unit. Coordination is understood as: any activity through which information is exchanged, strategies are discussed, agreements are reached, etc, within a professional framework, with two or more agents or professionals involved, from either the same or different institutions.. Its applicability is determined by its level of structuring, which necessarily involves: * Setting priorities. * Formulating objectives. * Defining content. * Identifying participating professionals. * Presetting