Bolsa Familia´s design

1. Nuts and Bolts of scaling-up and fostering integrationInstitutional Design and inter-sectoral coordinationThe Inter-sectorial Coordination in Bolsa Familia ProgrammeJohannesburg, October 2010

2. Bolsa Familia´s design • The Bolsa Familia Programme is a conditional cash transfer policy, with direct benefit payments to the families. • Its institutional framework is directly influenced by: • the constitutional decentralization of the Brazilian State and the different roles of central and local governments; and • the inter-sectorial approach of the cash transfer policy. It means the BFP´s design emerged as: • vertically co-operative; and • horizontally coordinated.

3. Coordination Processes at Bolsa Familia • The coordination process needs to happen: • at the federal government level: it is mandatory according to BFP regulations. • The Ministries of Health and Education and the National Secretariat of Social Assistance are responsible for consolidating conditionalities compliance information and reporting them to the Ministry of Social Development; • There are coordination processes not related to the conditionalities; they derive from the use of the Single Registry by other policies; • is incentive-led at state and municipal levels (financial support). • Officials of the different sectors need to work together to offer solutions to vulnerable families at the local level

4. Coordination Processes at Bolsa Familia • Policy tools for the articulation of programmes: • The Single Registry (TSEE, concursos públicos, Luz para Todos); • Other policies´ IT systems alongside with the Single Registry (Presença, SISVAN); • the conditionalities themselves (conditionalities are not only a responsability of the beneficiary families) Institutional mechanisms for the coordination of programmes: • none (not the case anymore); • Regulations and agreements (change of database); • Working groups (in the last case)

5. Some challenges • Though mandatory in one case and fostered in other ones, coordination does not happen “naturally”. • The coordination needs to be build every single day, because: • Institutions and work processes do not operate on cooperative logic (other incentive structures influence them) • Routines of inter-sectoral coordination do not exist, or are built on an ad hoc basis; • Information systems most of times were designed and built to single policies • To the moment, coordination mostly occurs bilaterally

6. Some lessons • Coordination of policies enhance each other´s success possibilities; • Sometimes, the coordination process is not a choice, it derives from a policy institutional framework; • Unequivocal leadership decision is needed; • Clear definition of roles: what must each institution deliver? It that can be jointly built; • Each institution´s policy must be respected as autonomous; • Each institution must realize the advantages of the coordination process;

7. Some lessons • IT systems have to be able to change data; • Inter-institutional spaces need to have an agenda, otherwise are time-consuming and useless; • Coordination is not a matter for managers; many teams at the institution must be enrolled; • Each partner has to know the other´s attributions and process.

8. Acompanhamento da freqüência escolar – Crianças de 6 a 15 anos - Brasil - (% de acompanhamento)

9. Acompanhamento da saúde– Famílias Acompanhadas - Brasil - (% de acompanhamento)

10. Education IT Solution http://frequenciaescolarpbf.mec.gov.br

11. Health IT System http://bolsafamilia.datasus.gov.br

12. Single Registry: main features The Single Registry (Cadastro Único) is an IT system aimed at registering the characteristics of the Brazilian low-income families (individuals and households); It is used to gather and update information so that social policies can select beneficiaries and manage their benefits; The Single Registry provides the Bolsa Familia Programme with its essential information; on the other side, its operation reflects the institutional framework of the cash transfer policy;

13. Single Registry: data flow (until late 2010) • At the municipality, families with monthly per capita income up to ½ minimum wage (US$ 141.67) are registered; • Data enters through an off-line software; standard answers to the form and local duplicity and cross-reference checks are applied; • The data are sent, via internet, to CAIXA; national duplicity is checked; Number of Social Identification is (NSI) attributed by CAIXA; • A batch file returns to the municipality; warnings and data request must be observed.

14. Objectives of the Single Registry • To enable the unification of the social registries in the same levels and among the government levels (federal, state and municipal); • To enable and stimulate the convergence of efforts among the federation levels, aiming at the priority/focused attention to families in situation of greater social vulnerability; • To be used as a tool for planning, guiding the implementation of public policies directed to the low-income families; • To enable the acknowledgement of the various poverty and vulnerability dimensions, beyond the monetary income; • To help build a social protection system, which will be able to articulate the existing policies.

15. The database of the Single Registry • The Single Registry Database is composed of two sets of data: • 1 – Identification of the household and the family • Family address; • Household characteristics (infrastructure, access to public services and family composition); • Monthly expenses; • Link to social programs 2 – Identification of the family members • Personal data and civil documentation; • School attendance and qualification; • Situation in the labor market; • Income.

16. Some lessons • Role definition of the managing and operating institutions must be as clear as possible; • Clear definition of scope, concepts and variables and standardization of response options are also required; • The more policies using the system, the better; • Much of the success of the Single Registry derives of the institutional design of Bolsa Familia Programme; however, policy-makers now look for the registry because it has proven to be a effective tool in gathering and updating information, as well as to be functional; • Capacitation of the interviewers is a key point to the accuracy of data collection, and hence for its functionality;

17. Some challenges • Reaching the families to enroll them and to update their data; • Preventing the contamination of the registry operation by local political dynamics; clientelism is an actual threat; • Getting the relevant information for many policies (usability of the system); • Convince policy-makers not to build other registry systems, but to use yours (corporative reasons);

18. Obrigado! Thank You! bruno.camara@mds.gov.br www.mds.gov.br +55-61-3433-3618