“This means that from the start of confinement, during the first wave, we were on the list of services that had to remain accessible, in the same way as firefighters, police, etc.” Public social action centers were to remain open and organize physical hotlines. “It is also an obligation provided for in the organic law of the CPAS”, specifies the director general of the Federation of Walloon CPAS. In some places, however, citizens found a wooden door. “In the villages, indeed, we concentrated the meetings and we reduced the physical presence to two days, which is the minimum planned., concedes Alain Vaessen. But in the big cities, it was open all the time. “
A paradox. If the CPAS, as an institution, is considered an essential service, there is nevertheless a paradox, he notes. “We did not manage to erect the function of social worker as a critical function: we were therefore subject to the rule of mandatory telework.” There was therefore “reasonable accommodation” to organize hotlines, but it was indeed necessary to redirect a whole series of requests and inquiries by telephone. “WhatsApp has made its big appearance in social work.” Ways have been found, but it has not been done without difficulties. Because all these new practices are not provided for in the organic law, nor in the circulars on the right to social integration, nor in social regulations. “We tried to have as little impact as possible on the beneficiaries. But what comes back to us is that it was not easy: neither for the people, nor for the social workers.. ” Home visits have been suspended for a while. “The advantage was that people no longer had inspections and checks at home. The disadvantage was that by not going there, a whole series of situations of human distress did not occur. have no longer been identified. “
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