INTRESS is a non-profit organization dedicated to the enhancement of social welfare. It was founded in Barcelona in 1984, operates now in all Spain and has permanent branches in Barcelona, Madrid, Palma de Mallorca and Santiago de Compostela.
The aim of INTRESS is to provide services with a high degree of technical and human quality both with regard to its organization and the care of users. In order to reach these objectives, a constant effort is undertaken to adapt the operations to the different cultural realities existing in Spain.
The President, the Board and the General Assembly govern INTRESS and are the decision-making bodies concerning the objectives and priorities of the institution.
An interdisciplinary team of professionals is responsible for the planning and execution of projects and the organization of services.
A yearly audit ensures the economical transparency of the operations of INTRESS.
The main activities of INTRESS are:
Training and retraining of professionals.
Courses, seminars and conferences organized by INTRESS have encouraged the training and retraining of professionals that are engaged in social welfare activities providing a space for dialogue and debate.
Organization and management of social welfare services in several fields.
Applied research in the areas of INTRESS expertise, aimed at studing in depth the social problems and emerging conflicts. Some of the surveys have been published by INTRESS.
Publications
Theoretical approaches to social work and social services as well as experiences and surveys have been published by INTRESS in its series of books.
Counseling professionals
and public/private institutions in the organization of programs related to the fields of INTRESS expertise.Management quality
Since 1998 a committee works on a management quality program. Following the initial work of this committee, a quality department was established that operates in two directions: a) within the organization with the aim of creating a management quality model in accordance to EFQM; b) providing outside training and creation of quality systems.
INTRESS services cover a wide range of fields mainly for: childhood and families, women, the elderly, the mentally sick, adoption and foster care, the disabled, home help, drug addiction and young people.