On April 30, the seventh edition of the “Deinstitutionalization Forum: socialization, empowerment, personalization” was held at the Presidential Palace, dedicated to social service centers as a community-based model for assistance activities at the local level. The event was attended by Prof. Gertruda Uścińska, Rector of the Nicolaus Copernicus Superior School. 

President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda addressed a letter to the participants and organizers of the Forum: “With great appreciation I refer to the work of all individuals and organizations engaged in the development of social services in Poland. I would also like to thank you for reflecting on the centers of these services as a community model of assistance activities at the local level. I trust that this will be an opportunity to discuss past experiences and important challenges for the future.” 

The conference, organized by the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland on the initiative of the Social Affairs Council of the National Development Council, was attended by Minister Małgorzata Paprocka, Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, and Advisors to the President: Prof. Marek Rymsza, Paulina Malinowska-Kowalczyk and Agnieszka Lenartowicz-Łysik. Participants of the Forum also included representatives of social service centers and regional social policy centers, local government officials and social policy experts. 

The Deinstitutionalization Forum was an opportunity to summarize five years of the Law on the implementation of social services by a social service center. The future of social service centers was also discussed. 

During the Forum, recommendations developed by the Council for Social Affairs on the process of deinstitutionalization of assistance activities –  “Ten for deinstitutionalization” – were presented. The document summarizes the output of the series of meetings held in 2021-2025 within the framework of the Deinstitutionalization Forum.