Developing a new approach to personalised services for vulnerable groups in Lithuania

Over the last 25 years, Lithuania has experienced strong economic performance and introduced bold reforms, substantially raising the well-being of its citizens. However, despite the rapid growth, 21.4% of the Lithuanian population lived at-risk-of poverty in 2020, compared to an average of 16.3% in EU countries.  In addition, the risk of poverty is not evenly distributed across the population, with some social groups more vulnerable to socio-economic challenges and risks.

To address the complex and different needs of vulnerable groups, tailored and comprehensive support services are needed to help them integrate into social life and the labour market, and improve their well-being prospects.

Within this context, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) provided technical support to Lithuania’s Ministry of Social Security and Labour to develop a new approach to personalised services for vulnerable groups. The project focused on three vulnerable groups in particular: ex-prisoners, people with disabilities and young people leaving care.

See report OECD (2023), Personalised Public Services for People in Vulnerable Situations in Lithuania - Towards a More Integrated Approach , including:

• Proposal for a more integrated approach of service delivery for vulnerable groups: Implementing a case management model 
• Guidance for Developing a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for a New Case Management Model

This type of support could be relevant for other countries wishing to improve their services for vulnerable groups. Particular areas that may be of interest to other countries include: (i) improving cross-sector coordination and collaboration; (ii) involving users in policy elaboration and implementation; (iii) improving data exchange between institutions; (iii) enhancing NGO involvement in service provision; and iv) design and implementation of Monitoring and Evaluation frameworks .