The Town of Neuchâtel aims to reduce disparities between different social groups that make up its urban community. Through the services it provides, it seeks to improve the living conditions of its citizens.

The Health and Social Services Department groups together the Social Security Service, (Aide sociale,) the AVS /AI Agency, (l’Agence AVS / AI –responsible for pension and disability benefit), the Family Planning Service, the Regional Social Help Desk (Guichet social regional) and the Speech Therapy Centre (Centre d’orthophonie), all of which are at Neuchatel citizens’ disposal, providing services of counselling, advising, informing and assisting people who are in difficulty, confronted with problems that they are unable to solve alone. Social workers are responsible for studying each individual case linked to financial difficulty and providing a solution whereby everyone can live acceptably with the help of the appropriate assistance if need be. In addition, this department offers a service that aims to achieve the social and professional reintegration of its clients.

The Speech Therapy Centre has been part of the Health and Social Services Department since 2006, following the reorganization of the departments of Social Services and State Education, which are now the Departments of Health, Social Affairs and Youth and Integration.

The Youth and Integration Service is divided into several areas as listed below:

Finance and Administration: department account management and all other matters relating to finance (payments, invoicing, training expenses, etc.),
Childcare Services: the coordination of childcare facilities for ages 0 to 12 years, including pre-school establishments (communal crèches) and child day-care (children attending school),
Professional integration measures: the coordination of different options of integration (SEMO, BâtiPlus and InfoPlus) as well as of foreign workforce,
Social Integration: the organisation, amongst other functions, of welcoming new arrivals,
Youth Action: in essence, the Youth Council and Parliament

Internet sites:

Health and Social Services Department
(Services de la santé et des affaires sociales)