Francesca Cesaroni B.Sc (Human), University of Macerata and COOSS Marche

After the University, I achieved the certificate to teach in public schools and followed a teaching career for three year. My interests have been increasingly addressing to the social services to persons, and in 1994 I have been employed in COOSS Marche, Research and Training Department, with special commitment in European Projects and in training initiatives.

Coo.S.S. Marche is a social non profit co-operative, providing social (care) and sanitary (health) services to the weakest segments of the population. Its central seat is in Ancona, a town located in the eastern-central part of Italy, in the Adriatic sea. It was born in 1979 and it has steadily grown up in the quantity and quality of the care services provided. It counts more than 1.500 members/employees and is widely spreading its geographical area of activity.

Coo.S.S. Marche care services are devoted to the following groups:

Elderly people, who are cared both at their private homes and within protected houses. Disabled people, who benefit of tailored rehabilitative, sanitary and educational services provided by qualified operators, in their private homes, in daily centres or in public schools. Immigrant people, who benefit of educational supports and of training activities to facilitate their labour insertion, and to promote the equal opportunities between women and men and between immigrants and local citizens. Mentally impaired people, who, after the closing of the psychiatric hospitals (required by law) need to be cared for within small family-like structures. Coo.S.S. Marche has been testing this formula, conforming to the national law, with three communities for psychiatric patients. Drug-addicted people, who can rely on tailored services of preventive information, education, psychological support, involvement in the working world and social reintegration Childhood, with kindergartens all over the regional territory. Coo.S.S. Marche has been experiencing new alternative services to children, to support the families needs for care and assistance, thus creating new work opportunities for unemployed people. Minors at risk of exclusion, delinquency and violence, who can benefit from educative services provided within first acceptance structures (especially for abandoned foreigner minors) and aggregation centres, where leisure and educative activities are carried out in the after school time by educators and psychologists.

Even if the social care services provision is the main area of activities, Coo.S.S. Marche is aware of the importance of the social research. For this reason, since 1994, Coo.S.S. Marche has activated Research and Training Department, with the aim to find, research and experiment innovative solutions to the emerging social needs of the population. The Research and Training Department employs graduated researchers, whose task is to study and to prevent the new social problems through the development and the realisation of local, national and European projects, to develop and experiment innovative solution in the social area. The Research and Training Department also develops training courses for the qualification of professional figures operating in the social sector. The Department has been accredited as Training Entity by the Regional Government in 2002.

COOSS interest into the BICOM project is due to the great number of immigrant people, especially women, regularly employed. The greatest part of them work as home carers for elderly people, but many of them are nurses or assistants working within hospitals. The possibility to enquiry on their working conditions, on the advantages/disadvantages their condition of bilingual workers implies, and the extent to which these informal competences are valorised and used within their working environment are the reasons for our interest in the project. We expect that the results of the BICOM project might give these people an added value to their professional role.

Cooperativa Sociale COO.S.S. Marche