Socio-professional Reintegration Services in the Era of the Covid-19 Pandemic in the Małopolska Region

Abstract

Background: The research issues concern the most important aspects of socio-vocational reintegration and rehabilitation services (e.g. instruments of support, barriers of service delivery, effects of activities), cooperation in local communities and the scope of institutional support.
 Research objectives: The aim of this article is to present the most important implications of the coronavirus pandemic for socio-vocational reintegration services in reintegration units operating in the Małopolska Region.
 Research design and methods: The material constituting the basis for analysis is mainly the results of a survey conducted by the Regional Centre for Social Policy in Kraków in the framework of cyclical monitoring of the social economy sector in the Małopolska Region. 73 Reintegration Units participated in this part of the study out of 122 active ones in the Małopolska voivodeship in 2020.
 Results: The analysis makes it possible to conclude that the Covid-19 pandemic and related phenomena in the socio-economic sphere had a strong impact on the current functioning of reintegration units, reduced the scope of possible instruments for socio-occupational activation, which in turn had a negative impact on the results of support. The activities of the reintegration units, hampered by the pandemic, did not receive effective support from the public administration or local partners. The pandemic also limited the possibilities of cooperation between reintegration units in local communities.
 Conclusions: The long-term effects of which will probably be felt for an unspecified period of time, in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of socio-occupational reintegration services provided by reintegration units.