Return of the human touch
Social services back to face-to-face care
Social services in Jávea took a step towards a return to normality this week with a return to face-to-face appointments for those needing a helping hand.
It enables the town hall department to carry out essential emergency work over two daily shifts and replaces the ‘telecare’ of two months of lockdown.
The move comes as it was revealed that Jávea town hall granted 850 applications for emergency benefits in the first 50 days of lockdown as some families struggled to cope in the economic downturn sparked by the Covid-19 health emergency.
Making appointments available allows meetings so staff can meet people asking for help to apply for benefits, care for victims of domestic violence, different forms of income support, housing, home help, and other social emergencies.
Visitors to the social centre in the old town ‘must respect’ new hygiene rules such as wearing a face mask, maintaining social distancing and using hand sanitiser.
The department has changed working hours to enable appointments to be made across the day in response to a
“unprecedented situation’.
In a meeting between social workers and charities supporting the community, the appeals for aid were described as ‘a flood’ of calls for assistance - usually there would be between 250-300 cases submitted to the department in an entire year.
The ‘solidarity table’ in Jávea was told there was a budget of €2.8 million to cover social needs in the town.
And the local authority thanked charities and associations committed to helping people in ‘precarious situations’ because of the health emergency - the meeting was called to discuss a ‘global vision’ of the crisis in Jávea and how the community was coping to manage social problems.
Mayor Jose Chulvi said associations had put themselves at the ‘forefront’ of the crisis and carried out ‘important work’ with different departments of the town hall to meet the demands of problems and care caused by the coronavirus.