Alfred Grixti, the CEO of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, said that today's society scenario is far different to the one after the Second World War, when the Welfare State traditionally handed out cheques to those who needed support. Nowadays it is more than that.
He said that it's not just about handing out cheques as a means of support any longer but the issue is more complex and it involves giving a great deal of psychological support and shelter to those who require it, bringing about the need for more resources and funds to sustain such initiatives.
"There is no fixed template in today's society to the many problems which exist due to the amount of complexities which keep emerging," the CEO said, meaning that as opposed to the past, tailor-made attention has to be given to those who require the foundation's services.
As a result of this, the FSWS' consolidated budget for this year alone is €21,626,000, quite a significant sum but which is distributed to the many services and entities which fall under the FSWS.
These include Appoġġ, Sedqa, Sapport (which receives the most significant sum, that of €10,100,000), the foundation itself, Independent Community Living for Persons With a Disability, Youth Outreach, Be Smart Online, Access, the Out of Home Care Programme, among others.
The funds granted to the social services are significant but according to Mr Grixti, "social work comes at a hefty price". He added that it is either that or the State will have to pay more in benefits in future if such people are not given adequate support now.
Explaining further, he said that the total number of full time employees working for the support agencies which fall under the remit of the FSWS is 760. This amount excludes the 150 contracted individuals who are paid on a case by case basis. The number of volunteers engaged with the FSWS is 150. These mostly work on the 179 national helpline and the Home Start project, which is a service whereby persons who have raised their children well help, on a one-to-one basis, parents having difficulties to raise their own. The target group is parents who have children under the age of five, as this is the most critical age for the children's development.
The Home Start programme is almost totally funded by corporate sponsors. HSBC has been supporting Home Start since its inception and this year, two new corporate sponsors also stepped in to assist by giving significant donations. "I don't have enough words to thank HSBC, who have been supporting Home Start for quite some time now and I would really like to thank Shireburn and UniBet, who have also extended their generosity to FSWS on this project as of this year," a grateful Mr Grixti said.
594 cases of domestic violence in 2013
Mr Grixti also gave a run-down of the total number of domestic violence cases dealt with last year. There were 594 cases, 66 of the victims (exclusively women and their children) being taken in by Għabex, the Aġenzija Appoġġ emergency shelter. He pointed out that 94 men (perpetrators of domestic violence) received support to overcome their violent behaviour after they expressed their wish to do so.
During last year alone, Appoġġ dealt with 10,024 individual cases, ranging from child protection to domestic violence, among other issues. The child protection services dealt with 1,119 cases, with the majority being cases of child neglect. Mr Grixti highlighted that an average of 40 children out of every 1,000 dealt with in child protection cases end up under a care order. "The small number of cases involving children who end up under a care order is a positive sign," he said.
Appoġġ has social workers posted at the State's hospitals, including Boffa and Mater Dei, on a 24/7 basis. In 2013, they assisted 2,438 patients and their families during "very delicate times".
Mr Grixti explained that these cases mainly comprise of individuals and their relatives who need support during a very delicate and difficult time after learning they have a serious illness.
Shaken baby still under hospital observation
In this context, Mr Grixti said that recently, he had to sign an authorisation form on behalf of the government, which gave the green light to the hospital to operate a baby after she was hurled into a cot by her mother's partner. The baby had suffered multiple fractures to her skull.
"Since the baby was taken away from their custody so that the authorities establish what happened, the mother did not have the legal authority to sign the form for her daughter's operation. The custody of the baby and the responsibility for her is now, legally, vested in the minister for social welfare.
"Matters were complicated even further after the minister was attending a conference abroad and therefore, I had to inform the acting minister in writing on what the medical situation was and await his authorisation, again in writing, so that I could sign the form authorising the operation," Mr Grixti said.
Asked about the baby's current health condition, he said that she is still under hospital observation.
Mr Grixti said that a Mater Dei
consultant is in constant contact with the FSWS social workers at the hospital to deal with cases similar to the above mentioned one, and others which may crop up from time to time.
Abandoned young girl's mother
He also referred to a separate case, this time involving a 16-year-old girl, who has a one-and-a-halfyear-old baby being supported by the FSWS, including giving her a place to stay since the mother's parents did not accept the situation and have abandoned their daughter.
He said that this case alone is costing the foundation at least 3,000 euros a week, which go towards shelter and other daily needs for the two of them.
Appogg, Sedqa are 20 years old this year
The two agencies are 20 years old this year. What started as the Social Welfare Development Programme back in 1994 is today a cluster of agencies who work hand in hand to provide social support to those in need, be it alcoholics, victims of domestic violence, gamblers, neglected children and many more issues.
Mr Grixti was appointed as CEO of the foundation in April but comes from a teaching and management background. He worked as a teacher for 28 years after having graduated in 1986. He also worked as a head of school.
"Although I do not have a social work background, I saw it all unfold while I served as head of school," he said, referring to the number of social cases he had to deal with in the schools he led.
Sedqa, the anti-substance misuse and anti addictions agency, last year treated 366 cases of gambling and alcohol abuse, while the substance misuse outpatients unit (known as Detox) had 1,139 individual cases to deal with. Thirty six patients received rehabilitation while 56 patients entered the assessment and stabilisation programme, which caters for individuals who are clean from substance misuse but have the occasional relapse and need to drop in and stabilise their situation before going back into society again.
Mr Grixti said that both Caritas (which offers counselling among other services and which is supported by the Church) and the FSWS meet frequently to ensure that there is no overlapping between the two.
Case of German social worker who abducted children while in the hands of Appogg
An inquiry conducted by Judge Emeritus Philip Sciberras, following the 'snatching' of two children from the hands of Appoġġ by a German social worker, did not have light words for the social welfare agency, although he made it clear that it was not a matter of negligence from the agency's side.
Mr Grixti explained that the inquiry by the retired judge, "was not a walk in the park" for the agency, as retired judge Sciberras took the case very seriously.
However, according to Mr Grixti, the incident would not have taken place had there been stringent checks conducted at the Malta airport.
The case goes back to June this year, when an emergency temporary order was issued by the Maltese courts on three German children after one of them, aged four, was found roaming around a field in Marsalforn, Gozo.
The police had been alerted that a child was roaming in a field by himself and when they went to the house the child was living at and investigated further, they found that the children were reported missing back in Germany.
Until now, the children have not yet been returned by the German authorities and therefore, the Maltese courts have instructed the FSWS to proceed by asking the German courts to revoke a care order they were under as a means to repatriate them.
Legal battle between Malta and Germany expected
Mr Grixti said that this will lead to a legal battle between the Maltese and German authorities, since from the looks of things, the German social welfare agency does not seem like it is going to give the children up any time soon.
Mr Grixti that the German social worker's email sent to him was arrogant to say the least. The email, seen by this newsroom, stated that 'we have custody of the child and there is no need to inform you ( Appoġġ) that we (the German social welfare agency) are taking them (the children) away to Germany'.
"I replied to the German social worker, by the name of Eva Marie Friedrich, and told her that she deceived our social workers," Mr Grixti said.
"Had the airport security made stringent checks, Ms Friedrich would have never left our islands with the children," he lamented.
While absolving the Maltese social workers of any negligence, the retired judge concluded that airport authorities, including airlines and ground handlers, as well as shipping agents and Transport Malta, should be notified of any care order so they could withhold embarkation documents in future to avoid a repeat of what happened.
He also recommended that a plan be drafted to strengthen the agency's resources and finances, so that it could be in a better position to carry its many tasks in future.