Welfare policies, positive comparison between the municipal administration and pensioners’ union representatives – On the agenda, the verification of the implementation status of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in summer 2023 and the comparison of the interventions carried out by the municipal administration in the past year, in favor of elderly people and families in conditions of social difficulty -economic: this is the theme of the meeting which, in recent days, brought together the welfare councilor Nicoletta Corvi and the representatives of the Pensioners’ Trade Unions, Pasquale Negro for Uil, Claudio Malacalza for Spi Cgil and Aldo Baldini for Fnp Cisl.
The result was a “snapshot” of the initiatives and projects carried out in response to situations of fragility and non-self-sufficiency, starting with the over 108 thousand hours of home care provided in 2023 for 672 users, partly through the “Neighborhood Service”. In this regard, the point was also made on the launch of activities relating to the Pnrr projects relating to protected resignations and the autonomy of people with disabilities and non-self-sufficient elderly people, between agreements and conventions whose completion, in 2023, has placed the foundations for implementing the necessary redevelopment and adaptation interventions in the structures involved this year. The meeting was also an opportunity to retrace the administrative procedures that allowed the Madonna della Bomba Foundation to authorize the opening of the new “Perusini” day center dedicated to dementia, accredited and fully operational from the end of January 2024 , which includes 10 positions under contract with the public system. Regarding the possible launch of further structures, the unions have hoped for the creation of a day center for the elderly in the Farnesiana district; a proposal whose feasibility the municipal administration will evaluate, which at the moment however appears viable above all in the name of an aggregative space, beyond hypotheses of longer-term socio-health accreditation.
In terms of financial contributions, the Municipality of Piacenza allocated 1 million and 20 thousand euros to supplement the fees for the stay of 146 non-self-sufficient elderly people in facilities residential, also maintaining the commitment linked to economic support initiatives for the elderly and citizens with disabilities, for a total of 101,688 euros.
Among the key themes shared by councilor Corvi with the confederal acronyms, attention to new poverty. From the confirmation of the allocation of 40,000 by the Municipality to the Emporio Solidale – to which was added, again in 2023, an extraordinary contribution of a further 40 thousand euros within the framework of “Insieme Piacenza” resources – to the participation of Palazzo Mercanti in the establishment of the Energy Fund, which made it possible to support domestic utility costs of almost 100 thousand euros: concrete help in paying 774 bills, 73% of which benefited citizens residing in Piacenza. The latter is an initiative which the Administration has supported not only by allocating the sum of 50 thousand euros, but also by making the skills of the Informasociale offices available for the collection of requests for contributions and the verification of requests.
In view of the next school holiday season, already the subject of the new conciliation notice financed by Emilia Romagna region, an assessment was drawn up of the 2023 edition – which made it possible to reduce the attendance fee of summer centers, in support of families, for 836 minors – and of the municipal project “Summer for all”, which last year made possible to accommodate 78 children with disabilities and 142 in conditions of socio-economic hardship. Overall, over 1000 children and young people attended the Centers and structures coordinated and financed by the Municipality, also through regional and national resources, including 14 minors with autism spectrum disorders (even in serious conditions), for whom it was It is possible, thanks to an experiment financed by the Autism Fund, to build a personalized project of summer activities with the social worker and the relevant neuropsychiatrist.
“We have expressed our appreciation – underline the representatives of Spi Cgil, Fnp Cisl and Uil – for the level of effective implementation of the commitments that the municipal administration has undertaken with the Memorandum of Understanding, as well as for the welfare policies undertaken”. “Dialogue and constant discussion with trade union organizations are fundamental – underlines councilor Corvi – because with them we share the commitment to protecting the rights of the most vulnerable people: elderly people, families who take care of non-self-sufficient people, citizens with disabilities, families in conditions of economic precariousness, to which the Municipality has the duty to provide concrete, effective and timely responses”.
