The paper reviews the current National Policy of Social Welfare in Brazil and the work developed with families within the Brazilian social protection approach. It describes the Unified System of Social Welfare and explores the relationship of the Basic Social Protection to the Bolsa Família Program, the Brazilian program of conditional cash transfer to vulnerable families. It discusses the principles of the methodology for working with vulnerable families in the Unified System of Social Welfare and analyzes examples of social interventions. It argues that the work developed with families must be based on participatory and dialogical approaches, including follow-up methods, group dynamics, action-research, and other interventions. The paper concludes with questions regarding the use of a socio-educational methodology as a component of policies for vulnerability reduction, social development and the promotion of citizenship.
methodological approach for social action; psychosocial action; family life education; public policies; families