A (des)estruturação da vigilância socioassistencial: contradições entre teoria e prática nos municípios sergipanos

Abstract

Social Assistance Surveillance was conceived in the LOAS (National Social Assistance Act) as one of the objectives of Social Assistance and constitutes a function of Social Assistance Policy. Based on the Basic Operational Standard (NOB/SUAS 2012), it was determined that its actions should collect, systematize, and analyze territorialized information regarding vulnerabilities and risks related to the provision of social assistance services, programs, and benefits. The research presented here aims to analyze the functioning of Social Assistance Surveillance in the municipalities of the state of Sergipe, with an emphasis on the impacts resulting from informality in its operations. The research objective is linked to the experience and professional performance of social workers, since Social Assistance Surveillance is inseparable from planning. The research uses the historical-dialectical materialist method as its framework, as it aims to analyze the object in its historical, social, political, and economic determinants, considering the dynamic movement of reality and its inherent contradictions. The results reveal high turnover among SUAS workers, exacerbated by the lack of stable employment relationships and low pay. This hinders the consolidation of Social Assistance Surveillance, representing a structural obstacle to its effective implementation. This factor can be observed in the administrations’ responses to the SUAS Census, especially in the changes that were noticed during the first year of new terms. The political and administrative changes resulting from the start of new municipal terms directly imply the discontinuity of teams and technical processes, in addition to the loss of institutional memory. The research results are expected to contribute to the strengthening of Social Assistance Policy in the state of Sergipe and to the production of knowledge in the area of public policy regarding the difficulties in formalizing and operationalizing Social Assistance Surveillance in various municipal contexts.