Practice And Predicament Of Community-based Urban Social Assistance

In the course of human society development, vulnerable groups have always exist because of poverty, disease, so the social assistance for them will coexist. The social assistance is also an important research topic in the social development. However, in different economic and social development conditions, the main body of social assistance and rescue mode have great differences. Since the founding of New China, the development of social assistance has experienced a process from the unit system to the community service. At present, the "community-based" social assistance is the developing trend of China’s social assistance system under the background of community construction. Many areas are exploring how to mobilize community resources and integrate the social assistance into community development.Difference is the basic characteristic of humans. So the relief content and methods requirements of different groups are not identical. People in poor physical condition want to get more medical assistance; the elderly want to gain spiritual comfort rather than just material assistance, and so on. Therefore, what kind of social assistance to be provided need to be chosen on the basis of characteristics of vulnerable groups and the feasibility of rescue, etc. Implementing social assistance in community level can provide assistance for the poor population with different needs.This paper analyzes the institutional innovation of the A District Civil Affairs Bureau in social assistance——carrying out the "community service" project in communities. Based on the development of community, we must pay attention to material and spiritual needs of community groups simultaneously. The "community service" is that poor groups in communities provide various kinds of community service, and get an allowance of subsidized nature at the same time. The A District has made achievements in security and development, and has formed a series of social assistance forms in the individual development as well as the community development levels. First, it satisfies people’s basic living needs, and improves the life quality of finically underprivileged families; second, it makes community poor groups get rid of being marginalized, and actively participates in public life; last, it also activates the community autonomy to some extent, and promotes the development of community. However, such a system, which fits to the developmental social assistance concept, has mired in the predicament of deviating from the original policy and low efficiency in its concrete practice process. The research shows that the formulation and implementation of policies, funding problems as well as the understanding of policy system are the main reasons for these difficulties. Based on the case analysis, this thesis further explores the causes of the practical difficulties in the community-based urban social assistance, which is significant to improve the degree of community-based social assistance, give full play to the development potential of disadvantaged groups. It also has important referential meaning to perfect China’s social assistance system.