specific needs of children and elderly left behind as a ... - IOM Moldova

CHAPTER II
ate their family situation, living conditions, and character It is hard to
work with them because they are very sceptical” (FG_EE_urban);
• There is a situation of vulnerability: “there are many cases when the elderly
have lost something and they have made suicide attempts, as, for example,
when they lost their child who helped them the most, some of them might
even start drinking. In my sector I have neighbours who tell me if children
migrated abroad and then we get involved,”; “if they do not ask for our help,
their neighbours, relatives, or the police, do. We visit the sector every day
and identify the elderly whose children returned home or left abroad, thus
we are informed of what happens every day in the sector” (FG_EE_urban).
Factors that lead to inappropriate monitoring and keeping record of the
elderly left behind are determined by:
• Limited professional competence of social workers: “not all of the community
social workers have basic knowledge in this field. The complexity
of problems beneficiaries face today, require a wide knowledge basis to deal
with them but social workers do not always posses sufficient knowledge ”
(III_EE_8);
• Illegal migration of old people’s children: “Their children migrate without
informing social services that there is an old person living alone. Most
of them go abroad illegally and it is very difficult for us unless we trace them
by chance or after inquiring with people ” (FG_EE_urban_rural);
• Barriers related to age peculiarities of the elderly: “many of them fear
that someone will find out that they live alone. They are afraid they can be
attacked as thieves might think that their children send them money” (FG_
EE_urban_rural) and reported cases of vandalism and abuse: “they heard
of cases on TV where families went abroad and the young were robbed and
now they fear this. The elderly learn from other people’s mistakes. If they
saw it once they will continue to think this way” (FG_EE_urban_rural).
Training courses were organized to ensure provision of quality social services
and to improve skills of social workers “initiated in 2007 and continued
in 2010 by the MLSPF approaching all aspects community social workers
have to deal with: case management, human rights, etc. Professional abilities
of social workers can also be improved through mechanisms of monitoring.
Thus, in complicated cases the actions can be coordinated with an experienced
social worker-supervisor. This mechanism makes the group work of
the social assistant and social worker more effective” (III_EE_8). Significant
support in this regard is the methodology developed by the Ministry of
Labour, Social Protection and Family: “Case management: social worker’s
guidebook” specifies the stages of working with people in difficulty, respectively
identifying the case, initial evaluation, case opening, complex evaluation,
monitoring, assistance plan revising in case of changes and closing the
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