Description
The Occasional Benefits consist of the states' and municipalities' own resources that allow the municipal management of SUAS [i] to offer, through its different social assistance facilities, goods, services or monetary benefit (in cash), according to available budget and specific diagnosis of each context. These benefits should be offered only on a temporary basis to prevent and address provisional situations of vulnerability arising from or aggravated by births, deaths, temporary vulnerabilities and disasters.
According to Federal Law No. 8.742/1993 (which provides for the organization of Social Assistance and other measures), the regulation, financing, management, and offer of occasional benefits are the responsibility of the municipalities and the Federal District, with co-financing and technical support from the state level. In this way, the sources of financing may include contributions from the states, however resources from the Federal Government cannot be used. The main role of the Federal Government is to develop general guidance and to advise states, municipalities and the Federal District on the regulation, management and provision of Occasional Benefits.
While the regulation of Occasional Benefits in each municipality is carried out by the local Government, the Municipal Council of Social Assistance deliberates criteria and deadlines for benefits.
[i] SUAS is the abbreviation in Portuguese for Unified Social Assistance System. According to the MDS: “The Unified Social Assistance System is a public system that organizes social assistance services in Brazil. With a participatory management model it coordinates the efforts and resources of the three levels of government, i.e., municipalities, states and the Federal Government, for the execution and financing of the Brazilian Social Assistance Policy (PNAS), directly involving national, state, municipal and Federal District regulatory structures and frameworks. SUAS has 12 nationally typified services, as listed below.
- Basic Social Protection
- PAIF – Protection and Integral Support Service to the Family
- SCFV – Service of Community Living and Strengthening of Bonds
- DPDI – Basic Social Protection Homecare Service for People with Disabilities and the Elderly
- Specialized Social Protection
- PAEFI – Protection and Specialized Care Service for Families and Individuals
- PCDIF – Specialized Social Protection Service for People with Disabilities, the Elderly and their Families
- MSE – Social Protection Service for Adolescents under Probation (LA) and Community Services Measures (PSC)
- SEAS – Specialized Care for Vulnerable Populations
- SEPS – Specialized Homelessness Services
- SAI – Institutional Shelter Services
- SAR – Communal Housing Services
- SFA – Foster Family Service
- SCE – Protection services in a declared public calamity and emergencies
These services are subdivided into those of Basic Social Protection (PSB, acronym in Portuguese) and Specialized Social Protection (PSE). The PSB is intended to support people whose social vulnerability exposes them to the risk of having their rights violated, but who are not yet subject to such rights violations. Vulnerabilities that expose people to the risk of having these rights violated include insufficient income, difficulty accessing essential public services (such as health and education), and situations that undermine community and family life (such as in the case of families with dysfunctional relationships or people without ties to their communities). Violations of rights, as already mentioned, are the object of the Specialized Social Protection (PSE) of SUAS, and refer to situations such as abandonment, physical and/or psychological abuse, sexual abuse, use of psychoactive substances, compliance with socio-educational measures, homelessness, child labor, among others.
National Secretariat for Social Assistance (SNAS) of the Ministry of Social Development and Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger – MDS (which during 2019-2022 was designated Ministry of Citizenship – MC), by means of an inter-federative SUAS management structure, offering guidance, but funding and management is entirely based on the resources of the states and municipalities.
As per the national guidelines, occasional benefits can be granted at any public-state facility designated as a reference within the Social Assistance policy: CRAS, Community Living Centers, CREAS, POP Centers, Day Centers and Shelter Units. This, however, needs to be regulated at the local level, with consideration to the specificity of target population, objectives and provisions of each social assistance facility.
The offer of variable benefits has been around for a long time and is even covered by LOAS (Law 8.742/93).
In practice, however, this modality only operates under the national guidance of SUAS as of 2007.
Currently in operation.
Benefits vary in each context and may include, for example, the provision of monetary benefits, goods and services.
Although the initiative varies in each context, there are national regulations prohibiting the requirement of conditionalities.
Each municipality is free to define its own target population. Until 2011, there was a requirement to limit the offer of benefits to ¼ of the minimum wage, but since then this requirement has ceased to apply, and all that remains is for municipal management to rely on the following instruments to prioritize the offer:
Principles of the National Social Assistance Policy - PNAS and Occasional Benefits;
Situations that require protection;
Social Security guaranteed by SUAS;
Social data and indicators of Social-assistance Surveillance and other databases;
General information about the families in the Single Registry (family income, place of residence, employability), etc.
The focus criteria also vary in each context, based on an analysis of the references that should guide the definition of the target groups in each context.
The CRAS Monthly Service Record (RMA) registered a total of 3,869,929 occasional benefits being offered between January and August 2022, an average of 483.74 benefits per month. Of this average number of monthly beneficiaries, 3% refer to people benefiting from assistance due to birth, 2% refer to people benefiting from funeral assistance, and another 95% in other forms.
Benefits can vary greatly according to decisions of the municipal council of social assistance of each municipality. The occasional benefits are intended to meet temporary needs, in situations of lack of social protection, considering experienced vulnerabilities related to births, deaths, emergencies, disasters and other vulnerabilities. The national technical standards and guidelines aim to reaffirm the proper field of action of Social Assistance, which is distinguished from offers of other public policies such as health, education, housing and transportation. At the same time, the National Secretariat of Social Assistance (SNAS) has no technical guidance prohibiting the granting of occasional benefits for a given purpose.
It varies according to each context, with benefits being delivered in social assistance facilities or at the beneficiary's home, and with monetary benefits being paid in cash at the social assistance units, delivered as checks, vouchers, transferred to the beneficiary's bank account, etc.
We could not find data on the total amount committed by Brazilian states and municipalities offering this benefit. As noted, this benefit cannot be financed by federal government transfers allocated to SUAS.
A quasi-experimental academic study points out that the implementation of SUAS generated expansion and improvement in the provision of services, as well as improvement of administrative capacity at the municipal level, even controlling for more specific political factors1.
IPEA's quantitative analysis evaluated that, by controlling territorial inequalities, the most efficient CRAS are, respectively, those in the North, Midwest, South, Southeast and Northeast regions2.
A mixed nationwide study commissioned by the Ministry of Citizenship also found that, despite criticism of salary levels, the CRAS social assistance teams do not face much turnover in their composition. The study also identified a positive perception of beneficiaries, with 81.4% highlighting queues of less than 15 minutes, and 70.9% classifying employees as attentive, dedicated and qualified. CRAS received a better evaluation than other public policies, and 90.1% of beneficiaries classified CRAS as being very important in their lives3.
However, we did not identify robust studies on the impacts of BE in a more specific way.
Specific arrangements vary according to each response, which follows the peculiarities of each municipality and given situation.
Specific arrangements vary according to each response, which follows the peculiarities of each municipality and given situation.
Specific arrangements vary according to each response, which follows the peculiarities of each municipality and given situation.
Specific arrangements vary according to each response, which follows the peculiarities of each municipality and given situation.
Cavalcante, Pedro, e Beatriz Bernarde Ribeiro. 2012. O Sistema Único de Assistência Social: resultados da implementação da política nos municípios brasileiros. Rev. Adm. Pública 46 (dezembro). https://www.scielo.br/j/rap/a/bwPZgHkvMbPcWCcYcgKHtPb/?lang=pt#.
Silva, Ângelo Henrique Lopes da, Melchior Sawaya Neto, e Fábio Henrique Granja e Barros. 2015. Avaliação de eficiência dos Centros de Rerferência de Assistência Social no Brasil. https://craspsicologia.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/ipea.pdf.
GoB, Min. Desenvolvimento Social. 2009. Sumário Executivo. Estudos quali-quantitativos sobre o Programa de Atenção Integral à Família. https://fpabramo.org.br/acervosocial/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2017/08/046.pdf.