The action was funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, and implemented by the OECD, in co‑operation with the Directorate‑General for Structural Reform Support of the European Commission.
The Programme of the 18th Government of the Republic of Lithuania features specific commitments to strengthening personalised social services tailored to the individual needs of people in vulnerable situations and encouraging the involvement of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in policy design and service delivery. Lithuania’s Ministry of Social Security and Labour (MSSL) requested the support of the Directorate General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) of the European Commission and the OECD for technical support to develop a new approach to personalised services for people in vulnerable situations in Lithuania as well as increase the involvement of NGOs in policy design and service delivery. This report brings together the information, analysis and good practices that were gathered and developed to inform the assessments and recommendations set out in the proposal in Chapter 1. The next stage of the project is to develop an implementation roadmap based on the recommendations in the proposal.
The report starts with a proposal to ensure that services for people with disabilities, young people leaving care and people leaving prison in Lithuania are well-integrated and tailored to meet their individual needs (Chapter 1). The proposal is based on an analysis of the overall governance structure of public service provision and NGOs’ involvement (Chapter 2), an assessment of current operating models and the IT infrastructure of Lithuania’s employment and social services (Chapter 3), and a comprehensive mapping of existing public services for people in vulnerable situations (Chapter 4). Chapter 5 is a descriptive analysis of how service users and those who work with them (NGOs, social workers, and municipality representatives) experience public services, based on workshop discussions held with service users and providers in three municipalities.
The report was jointly prepared by the Social Policy Division and the Skills and Employability Division in the OECD’s Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs (ELS), and the Governance Reviews and Partnerships Division with input from the Open and Innovative Government Division in the OECD’s Public Governance Directorate (GOV).
The project is funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, and implemented by the OECD, in co‑operation with the Directorate‑General for Structural Reform Support of the European Commission. The OECD Secretariat wishes to express its gratitude to Oana Dumitrescu from DG REFORM and Rasa Genienė, Tautvydas Vencius and Goda Žvaliauskė from the Lithuanian Ministry of Social Security and Labour, whose co‑operation has been instrumental for the project and the report.
The report has greatly benefited from the information, assessments and feedback received from many stakeholders in Lithuania, in particular representatives from the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Public Employment Service, Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania, Kaunas region, Švenčionys municipality and Marijampolė municipality, local offices of social services, employment services, health services and housing services, non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations and other advocate groups, as well as services users from the three target groups.
The report contributes to the OECD’s programme of work on matching social policy to emerging social needs across the life course (institutionalisation and deinstitutionalisation) that falls under the auspices of the OECD Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee and the Working Party on Social Policy. The report also contributes to the OECD’s programme of work on public sector effectiveness and public governance for inclusiveness. The analysis on public governance was carried out under the auspices of the OECD Public Governance Committee and it is informed by the work and legal standards of the OECD Public Governance Committee, the Committee of Senior Budget Officials, the Regulatory Policy Committee and their sub-bodies.
This document [COM/DELSA/ELSA/GOV/PGC(2023)1] was approved by the Public Governance Committee and the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee on 11 April 2023 and prepared for publication by the OECD Secretariat.