3.5 Social Services Sphere

SOCIAL ASSISTANCE

MUNICIPAL SOCIAL SERVICES CENTRES:

- They exist in every municipality, even though in some Autonomous Regions they are organized and managed by the Counties, Communities, County Councils or other municipality groups. This is the case of Aragón, Castilla la Mancha and Cataluña.

- They offer: information, guidance and help to solve the various needs you may have (help at home, assistance with minors, job search…)

- If faced with a personal, family or social difficulty, you should contact these centres for guidance and assistance on how to solve your problem

1. Services:
- They offer information about the resources available at your municipality or neighbourhood and the immigrant organizations you can contact.
- They analyse your social situation in order to start an intervention if necessary. 
- They carry out the prevention, follow up and intervention at the individual, family and group levels
- They manage your access to their own social and economic benefits, or those available through the Autonomous Region (minimum insertion wage, childcare allowance, grants for textbooks, etc) 
- They assist  cases of gender violence and domestic violence, initiating the intervention and protocol established by the Spanish law
- They encourage participation in community activities
- They follow up the  Programas de Integración(Integration Programs)
- They accompany and guide you in the work insertion process 
- They offer legal Consulting and assistance

2. Required: you must be registered at your municipality

3. Many municipalities have specific services and programs addressed to immigrants: 
- Immigration Offices 
- Intercultural Mediation Offices.

SPECIALIZED SOCIAL ASSISTANCE CENTRES

- They depend on the Sate or the Autonomous Regions

- Social services centres specialized in different groups: elderly people, youth, women, immigrants, people with disabilities, gender violence victims or minors.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS

- Unions, associations and NGOs that offer assistance to immigrants

- They offer:

• Information about resources available
• Legal guidance and consulting
• Job search guidance
• Guidance in cases of gender violence

Remember:

- The municipal social service centres offer social assistance based on your and your family’s situation and needs.

- They are a referent in your municipality and mediators in your integration in Spain.

- You can get information in your municipality about where and how to access the social service centres.

- In this guide, you can also find the specific resources, both public and private, that are available in your Autonomous Region, as well as the services they offer and how to contact them.