Centro de referência de assistência social de Selbach/RS : limites, desafios e possibilidades de participação cidadã

Abstract

This work analyses how social participation of users of Social Welfare Policy occurs on a public unit, the CRAS – Reference Center for Social Assistance – in the municipality of Selbach/RS. The analysis is focused on a sampling and is done on two focus groups with five and seven participants respectively, with a previously prepared script applied. The research investigates the participation of the users in some activities of particular interest emerged from their needs, and not in moments of evaluation and implementation of the social welfare policy. The participants are mostly low-income families in a situation of social vulnerability, whose inequality influences on the political participation in democratic institutions. The work identifies alternatives for encouraging participation and involvement in that policy.