Alternatives to Public Procurement in Social Care

Since its adoption in 2006, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities together with the recent European Pillar of Social Rights, call for a paradigm shift in the way in which care and support services are provided, a shift towards homecare and community. Analysing investment levels are important but also funding models become a key issue to ensure the transition towards quality, person-centred, inclusive and community-based services. Funding models are not neutral instruments, on the contrary, they affect the way social care and support services are developed. They bear on the ability of social service providers to develop better quality, more community-based services. It is therefore important to analyse the prevailing funding models that exist in the EU, their strengths and weaknesses, and to identify the challenges for social service providers to reach their goals of better service provision.