General hospice
| General hospice | |
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| legal form | Social Welfare Office Republic and Canton of Geneva |
| founding | 1535 |
| Seat | Geneva ( ⊙ ) |
| sales | 410 million francs (2016) |
| Employees | 1150 (2016) |
| Website | www.hospicegeneral.ch |
The " Hospice général " (formerly "Hôpital général") is a Geneva institution. It was founded in 1535 and aims to help people in need. In its current function as the social welfare office of the Canton of Geneva, the institution is responsible for the dignity of the weakest members of society and supports those in need of help with active measures so that they can return to an independent existence as quickly and permanently as possible.
History and development: from Hôpital général to Hospice général
During the Ancien Regime (1536–1798)
On November 14th, 1535, by a solemn resolution of the General Council (assembly of the citizens of Geneva) the seven charitable institutions of Geneva are merged into a single institution, the Hôpital général. The purpose of the new structure is to provide material or financial support "for both unfortunate orphans - and foundlings , widows, old people, poor girls, as well as all other people, strangers and private individuals, regardless of which nation - who seek refuge in the aforementioned Hôpital général" . In 1536, after the Sisters of the Poor Clares moved to Annecy , the former monastery at the Bourg-de-Four was confiscated and the Hôpital général was established there.
The prerequisites for public welfare at the time were a morally pious life and the observance of religious duties. Vagrants are excluded from her because of their immoral lifestyle. The countless beggars attracted by the Geneva fairs are considered undesirable and are only granted the “Passade” (bread and wine donation for travelers). Contemporary documents seem to prove that the large number of those seeking help repeatedly pushed the Hôpital général to its limits and that every citizen, so to speak, had begged the Bourg-de-Four for some food or clothing at some point in their life. The institution was also a poor home ; the inhabitants were subject to strict discipline and order.
This kind of educational repression, combined with charity, intensified with the internment of beggars common in 17th century Europe. In 1631 the “Discipline” was created, an educational institution for unruly young girls, prostitutes and young criminals. The pupils have to work hard so that the Hôpital général can pay part of the maintenance costs. Later, the “Discipline” takes on a certain number of “ anti-social , crazy, idle and difficult to educate children”. The number of beggars who are punished less severely decreases accordingly gradually (beginning of the 18th century). With regard to the poor, the welfare institution showed a very progressive attitude in the course of the 18th century in that it mainly gave them financial aid (40% of institutional expenditure) and thus supported them “at home”. The hospice général regulates the influx of beggars into the city itself by spending 2% of its annual budget on hiring so-called “chasse-gueux” (a kind of city guards) to chase the needy strangers out of the city.
At that time, the aid received was rarely paid back. But the communities of origin pay an amount for their citizens in need. Otherwise, so the admonition, they have to take in those in need themselves! Welfare recipients in the ancien regime (around 10% of the electorate) are prohibited from exercising political rights and once a year they have to make a public procession to show their gratitude for the help received. Ultimately, the public welfare of the time did not treat those seeking help equally. A rich citizen who has lost his possessions receives more because his loss and, consequently, his suffering is considered greater than that of an impoverished common man.
Restoration (1815–1830) and state
Up until 1682, the Hôpital général received mainly citizens and members of the bourgeoisie . Thereafter, however, the right to poor relief was extended to all those born in Geneva, including their descendants, and to soldiers wounded in the service of the republic. After the annexation of Geneva by France, the old citizens fear a fragmentation of the property of the Hôpital général; under their pressure, a non-profit organization to manage institutional assets is formed. As a result, benefits are only granted to Geneva residents - a form of discrimination that is expected to continue into the middle of the 20th century.
The constitution of 1847, initiated by the heated radical James Fazy , postulates for the first time: " Welfare is a task of public administration". The beneficiaries get their political rights back, which increases the number of voters by leaps and bounds. The Christian-religious poor relief is gradually giving way to a legally anchored welfare system. The change from Hôpital général to Hospice général takes place through the constitutional law of September 27, 1868. From now on all Genevans are equal in social welfare.
The law on public health care enacted in 1901 clarifies the situation with regard to poor people in need of care and assigns the Hospice général social care for “locals, the elderly, orphans and the disabled”. This separation of duties also marks the end of the integrating activity of the institution, which has performed medical and social functions since its inception.
In 1981 the cantonal law on social assistance came into force, which defines the principles and organization of this social benefit - it is now also available to non-Geneva residents - and defines the competencies of the hospice général. It will subsequently be revised several times in order to adapt services to changing social and economic conditions. Since 2005, the received social assistance no longer has to be reimbursed.
Income and Financing
The sources of income of the Hôpital général have been diverse from the beginning: First of all, there are the former properties of the small medieval hospitals and the church taxes from the surrounding rural communities, as well as numerous properties inside and outside the city walls of Geneva, in order to guarantee it relative autonomy to carry out its tasks . Indeed, the institution soon developed into a large landowner. It even has farms and wineries (Plainpalais, La Cluse, Malagnou and Bossey, sous le Salève), from which it obtains food for the poor at the Bourg-de-Four, and several hectares of woodland that provide its firewood.
The Hôpital général also receives the fees that were levied on the acquisition of residential and civil rights as well as the income from the tax for popular pleasures, above all the street theater (poor tax). Donations, inheritances and sacrificial stocks make up a good third of the income. Another privilege that secures important income for the institution is the monopoly on lending mourning clothes and other funeral items. The income from the lottery games, which take place several times a year and were organized in the 18th century by a society founded for this purpose, is certainly more astonishing. In these raffles, which enjoyed great popularity, no less than 15,000 tickets for a total of three hundred thousand Geneva pounds were offered for sale.
Investments of all kinds are a widely used means from the reform era to the end of the 19th century. Life annuities for wealthy widows were common. According to official records, however, these mostly turned out to be unprofitable. Finally, the government also grants the Hôpital général grazing rights over the wide glacis that surround the city. It leases the two Glacis Rive and Neuve to a butcher as pasture for his sheep, and later also the area around the fortress of Saint-Gervais.
The ice cellar
For a century and a half, the institution enjoyed another unusual asset: the monopoly on the sale of ice cream. The ice was obtained by means of artificially created wells, which had the shape of an inverted truncated cone. Each of these cellars held between 200 and 300 tons of ice. The wells were covered with straw, which had to be changed regularly. They were replenished in winter and the ice could, if stored in this way, be preserved throughout the summer - a welcome refreshment on hot days. Not everyone could afford the cool good, however, because the maintenance costs for the wells were considerable. Nevertheless, the ice cellars represented a profitable source of income for the Hôpital général.
Development of sources of income
Both the income of the Hôpital général (and later of the Hospice général) and the percentage of the individual sources of income fluctuated greatly over the centuries. Real estate, for example, represented barely 3% of income in the ancien regime, but from the constitution of 1847 onwards it developed into a significant source of income, with a share of as much as 52% of total income around 1900 before falling again. Today their share is 8%.
The missions of the hospice général
New function
In 1981, the Geneva government gave the Hospice général sole responsibility for public social welfare, thereby assigning it a central place in the social disposition. In the last three decades, this decision has led to profound, spectacular changes both in terms of internal organization and scale. The number of employees in the “Action sociale” department grows from 36 employees in 1981 to 553 employees in 2011 (the total number of employees rises to 1040). At the same time, the budget will increase from 12 million to 343 million in 2011 and is now largely covered by a cantonal subsidy of CHF 300 million. The effects are also tangible in the area of requirements: the sharp increase in requests for assistance, the support of the displaced unemployed , the simplification and harmonization of benefit rates , the restructuring of the "Centers d'action sociale et de santé", the implementation of the Home Care Act, the merger of the Forces of cantonal asylum policy, the revisions of social legislation, as well as the legitimate demand of the political authorities to examine the use of subsidies more intensively - all of this required numerous reforms; The computerization of administrative processes over the past decade required additional changes . A fundamental change also took place in the management of the institution: The Hospice général is now a dynamically managed institution in which terms such as master plan, management, work processes, institutional project and performance mandate are part of the everyday life of the employees, even if the support of those in need remains the top priority. On October 14, 2012, the Geneva electorate approved a new constitution which specifically confirmed the role of the hospice général.
tasks
The activities of the Hospice général are part of the cantonal and federal structure of social security. The aim is social cohesion and the return of the aid recipient to an independent existence. The core tasks of the institution include:
- social care and financial support for people and families with insufficient resources;
- Reception and accommodation of asylum seekers, including financial support, as well as social intervention;
- Support and accommodation for young adults in need;
- Operation of a leisure center and two holiday homes for senior citizens;
- social prevention and orientation for all population groups.
structure
The Social Action area offers social and financial support to people who are in a difficult situation or who lack the necessary means to meet their indispensable needs, as well as to people whose right to subscribe to unemployment insurance has been exhausted. Another service is “Point jeunes”, a contact and advice center for young adults between the ages of 18 and 25.
On behalf of the federal government, the Migrants Aid Department ensures financial support for asylum seekers and temporarily admitted persons assigned to the Canton of Geneva. Furthermore, it offers these people integration measures to promote their autonomy. It grants emergency aid to migrants whose asylum application has been rejected or who have received a decision not to join, as well as foreigners without a residence permit.
Senior activities include the senior leisure center (Center d'animation pour retraités, CAD) and two holiday homes (Chalet Florimont, Nouvelle-Roseraie).
The finance department creates the budget, designs management tools (accounting and activity cockpit, indicators, etc.) and ensures their implementation. It also continuously monitors the institutional activities and ensures that the budget is adhered to.
Human Resources has the task of promoting employee skills and motivation. It contributes to the design and optimization of the organization, defines, in accordance with applicable regulations, institutional practices of employee management and ensures their implementation.
The central services comprise the IT services, the legal service, the audits department and the studies and statistics department. These are cross-departmental services that support all institutional functions.
Finally, the Real Estate Service and Communication, whose task is to create and disseminate internal and external information and communications, are attached to the General Management.
The social action
The Hospice général helps all residents of the canton of Geneva whose existence - temporarily or longer - is threatened. It provides social and financial support to adults between 18 and 65 years of age, but also looks after older people with additional services in need. It supports the beneficiaries, regardless of age, so that they can regain their independence.
The autonomy of the recipients is promoted through various active measures, including:
- the individual social assistance contract (Contrat d'aide sociale individuelle, CASI), which defines an integration project;
- unpaid part-time positions in charitable organizations. Such work phases make it possible to stay in contact with the world of work and serve as reference evidence in the résumé.
The people cared for by the social action need above all support with work and housing problems, difficulties in dealing with administrative matters, debt repayments or health restrictions. In addition to personal help, the Hospice général offers them specific accompanying measures (e.g. the workshops “budget management” and “reimbursement of medical expenses”) or services for certain population groups (e.g. “point jeunes” for 18 to 25 year olds ).
The individual social welfare contract: an instrument of personal responsibility
The employees of the Hospice général have various instruments at their disposal in their care work. One of them, the “Contrat d'aide sociale individuel” (CASI), symbolizes the philosophy of the institution. Each recipient of financial assistance must, together with his or her social advisor, fill out such an individual social assistance contract, which sets out the personal and professional goals to be achieved for sustainable independence. The document is of fundamental importance as it allows the work performance to be made visible and the participation of the person concerned to be increased.
Migrant Aid
Geneva has been receiving victims of persecution, civil war and other political and social turmoil since the 16th century. This is a fluctuating, unknown population whose history and face are constantly changing, shaped by the respective tragic events of this world.
On behalf of the canton of Geneva, the “Aide aux migrants” agency fulfills the federal mandate to accept 5.6% of refugees seeking asylum in Switzerland. Your work respects the personality and upholds the dignity of each of these people. In this colorfully mixed world, in which different languages, cultures and colors collide, Migrantenhilfe takes on the challenge of introducing this diverse population group to local customs, the language and the local social organization.
The social counselors look after the migrants and promote their social and financial autonomy. The refugees are given the opportunity to receive training, which creates a useful basis both for returning to their country of origin and for working in Switzerland. Asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected receive emergency assistance until they return.
Senior activities
The leisure center for seniors
For centuries, the Hospice général has accompanied elderly people without families in order to enable them to have a dignified old age. Today's social security system ensures retired people relative financial independence thanks to their pensions and additional benefits. The commitment of the Hospice général therefore essentially focuses on social integration. The senior citizens 'center (Center d'animation pour retraités, CAD) works at the community level by exercising an animation function primarily through the senior citizens' associations. It advises the clubs, helps them e.g. B. diversify leisure activities, etc.
The holiday home
In addition to the CAD, the Hospice général operates a holiday home for seniors (La Nouvelle Roseraie). Located in a wonderful location, it invites you to exercise and relax in the great outdoors and offer quality services at low prices.
Management bodies of the Hospice général
The Hospice général is an independent institution under the supervision of the Canton of Geneva and has legal personality.
Board of Directors
The law on the Hospice général of March 17, 2006 defines the statutes, tasks and organization of the institution. It is under the direct responsibility of a board of directors that represents the political forces. The members of the Board of Directors are: Mr Pierre Martin-Achard (President), Mrs Sophie Florinetti and Mr Christian Bavarel (representatives designated by the Grand Council), Mr Bernard Girod, Mr Christian Pascal Huber and Mr Eric Bertinat (representatives designated by the State Council), Ms. Fabienne Fischer and Mr. Thierry Apotheloz (representative of the Geneva municipalities), Ms. Anne Vifian (employee representative) and Ms. Nadine Mudry (representative of the Department of Labor, Social Affairs and Health; with a consultative vote).
The Executive
Christophe Girod, General Manager; Renée Zellweger Monin, General Secretary, Yasmine Praz Dessimoz, Director Social Action; Ariane Daniel Merkelbach, Director Migrant Aid; Anaïs Stauffer Spuhler, Director Human Resources; Rémy Mathieu, Finance Director; Roland Vezza, Head of IT; Laurence Friederich, Director of Real Estate Services; Anne Nouspikel, Head of Communication.
literature
- Une autre Genève , coordinated by Yves Bieri, Henri Roth and Véronique Zbinden, Editions Slatkine, Geneva, 2009
- Sauver l'âme, nourrir le corps , Bernard Lescaze, Hospice général, Geneva, 1985