Small Grants for Social Services for Families with Children: 228 Applications Received from Providers

The second meeting of the Supervisory Board of the "Small Grants" Project took place, which included representatives of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine. In particular, among the members of the Supervisory Board were: Oksana Zholnovych, Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine; Munir Mammadzade, Head of the UNICEF Office in Ukraine; Vitaliy Muzychenko, Director General of the Fund for the Protection of Persons with Disabilities; Iryna Tuliakova, Head of the Coordination Center for Family Upbringing and Child Care; as well as representatives of the British Embassy in Ukraine and civil society organizations.

During the meeting, board members presented interim results of the competition. In particular, it was noted that 228 applications were submitted for the open "Small Grants" competition. Among the submitted applications were social service providers from both the non-governmental sector and municipal institutions. Specifically: 91 participants from civil society organizations and charitable foundations, 137 from municipal institutions, LLCs, and sole proprietors.

To select communities for participation in the Project, the competition organizers:

• developed and approved Methodological Recommendations for providing the social service "transitional/supported living/learning apartment";
• organized meetings in 10 regions and Kyiv for over 800 participants;
• created an online course about the content of 8 services participating in the project and the provider registry. Number of views - over 5,000;
• conducted webinars, prepared explanatory materials, instructions, and guides;
• organized a hotline operation - over 1,000 inquiries;
• introduced a "feedback" format when submitting competition applications - processed over 400 letters from applicants.

Oksana Zholnovych, Minister of Social Policy, noted that the implementation of the "Small Grants" Project very successfully complements other strategic initiatives of the Ministry and positively influences cooperation between civil society and the state with international partners.

"The large number of those wishing to join the Project demonstrates society's readiness to work with vulnerable categories and support families in need. Thanks to the opportunity provided by the UK Government, the state can purchase social services from non-governmental organizations and other types of providers. Moreover, we have the opportunity to scale international expertise to improve the work of specialist teams and engage civil society," emphasized Oksana Zholnovych.

"The enormous interest in the competition confirms that small grants will lead to big changes, as a result of which local service providers will provide quality and accessible social services to the most vulnerable children and families," said Munir Mammadzade, Head of UNICEF Office in Ukraine.

"This is an important step forward in defining the future model of social service provision through state systems and utilizing the potential of service providers at the community level," Mammadzade added.

"Developing social services at the local level is key to supporting families with children. Currently, we are focusing specifically on creating demand for such services through project implementation. Let me remind you that the main goal of the project is not temporary support but a systemic procedure where communities will not be able to function fully without providing such service and a provider in the future. The integration of quality social services into community life is extremely important," noted Vitaliy Muzychenko, Director General of the Fund for Social Protection of Persons with Disabilities.

Rachel Kean, Head of Socially Restored Inclusion at the British Embassy in Ukraine, thanked the Ministry of Social Policy for leadership in reforming the sector and for reliable partnership, and reminded them of special ties between the UK and Ukraine under the Centenary Partnership Agreement.

During the meeting, the Supervisory Board discussed opportunities to involve frontline communities in the Project and help them overcome humanitarian challenges by ensuring access to social services. In addition, the board planned to sign contracts with providers by the end of June, conduct training on grant management and specifics of providing selected social services in early July, and start providing social services by mid-July.

The Project provides for the support and development of social services at the community level, in particular:

• Building resilience of children and their families.
• Daycare for children with disabilities (subgroup A).
• Support for inclusive education.
• Temporary respite for parents caring for children with disabilities.
• Social support for families in difficult life circumstances.
• Transitional supported living for orphans and children deprived of parental care.
• Social support for families raising orphans and children deprived of parental care.

Early intervention.

This Project was made possible thanks to the support of the Government of the United Kingdom within the framework of the "Social Protection for Inclusion, Resilience, Innovation and Transformation (SPIRIT)" project, implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the Fund for Social Protection of Persons with Disabilities, and UNICEF Ukraine, administered by ISAR Ednannia. The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of the United Kingdom, the Government of Ukraine, UNICEF, or the Fund for Social Protection of Persons with Disabilities.

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