Revista Katálysis (Apr 2007)

The Family Grant Program: new institutionalism in Brazilian social policy

  • Mônica de Castro Maia Senna,
  • Luciene Burlandy Campos de Alcântara,
  • Giselle Lavinas Monnerat,
  • Vanessa Schottz Rodrigues,
  • Rosana Magalhães

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1414-49802007000100010
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 86 – 94

Abstract

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The Family Grant Program was established by the Brazilian federal government in October 2003 to fight poverty and hunger and promote innovations in government social intervention. This article analyzes the program's design and tries to identify possible inflections contained within it, based on the following focus: conditions of access, conditionalities, decentralization, intersectoral factors and social control. The study analyzed official documents and legislation, and indicates the limits and potential for their operationalization. The changes planned are highlighted by the complex effort to expand the decision-making arena, in order to incorporate different government levels and spheres as well as civil society. Limitations were noted that were created by the restrictive mechanisms for the focalization of clientele and by the lack of definition of factors related to social control and shared management. The question of conditionalities is a central problem that deserves greater study.

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