The state and private institutions that provide social services will have to meet the quality standards based on accreditation that they will obtain free. The National Accreditation Council under the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family is responsible for the inspection and accreditation of the given institutions and for the withdrawal of their licenses when the social services provided do not meet the requirements, IPN reports.

Minister of Labor Valentina Buliga told a news conference that by accreditation they aim to ensure equality between the providers of social services. The standards that the providers must meet refer to the living conditions, quality of food, training of specialists, etc. They are different from service to service and will have to meet the physiological needs of beneficiaries.

“Almost all the districts of the country have reception centers for elderly people. The local authorities know the demographic forecast for the next few years and will know the trends so as to develop the existing services or to create new ones. We have institutions where the situation is very bad. Some of them will need more time to modernize,” said the minister.

In order to obtain accreditation, the institutions that provide social services must file an application to the National Accreditation Council. The first accreditation certificates will be issued within two months. The accreditation must be confirmed once in five years. The relevant institutions will have time to meet all the requirements imposed by the authorities. If they do not comply, some of the social services may disappear.

In Moldova there are about 400 providers of social services.