FEAD 2018 Catalogue of case studies

For more information regarding the project, contact Andrea Otter, Head of the Department for Work, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection at the Ministry of Social Affairs: E-Mail: Andrea.otter@sozialministerium.at The school starter package helps to improve the living standards of students because they get all materials they need for school that their families couldn’t normally afford. Me and my family thank the Red Cross and the Ministry of Social Affairs for their support!” — School starter pack end recipient WHO? The Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection (the FEAD Managing Authority in Austria), is responsible for the overall management of the project and the coordination with the suppliers and experts from local school authorities. The Red Cross is the main partner organisation involved in the programme, and oversees the application process, and the distribution of the parcels. HOW? Ensuring parcels are packed with adequate content and promptly delivered to the partner organisation’s distribution centres requires good coordination . To that end, the Managing Authority cooperates closely with the nine federal states and the organisations responsible for implementing the Austrian minimum income scheme. The Managing Authority liaises with suppliers and experts from local school authorities to decide on the content of the parcels and set up a delivery plan. The suppliers are selected by the Managing Authority under a multi-annual framework contract, while the distribution and delivery plan is agreed with the Red Cross. Eligible end recipients are identified by their local authorities and are low-income families or single parent households that benefit from the means-tested minimum income scheme and who have one or more school-aged children. Families are subsequently able to select a parcel and submit the application form with an ID card at their local Red Cross office. The Red Cross relies on volunteers to make sure the applications are being processed correctly in the database and electronically order the parcels for delivery. Once recipients’ applications have been approved, they are delivered to the local distribution centre of the Red Cross for collection by the recipients. Distribution of the school starter parcels starts in July each year and ends in September. To ensure the content of the parcels meets the needs of the target groups, focus groups are organised to gauge the opinions of recipients. End recipients are furthermore given an evaluation questionnaire every year to assess what items were useful and what items might be lacking. 9 Diverse approaches to supporting Europe’s most deprived: FEAD case studies 2018