Abstract

The current testing phase of the Cas on the Municipality of Catania shows some contradictions, widely known in literature: first, the traceability of the recipients in the Inps archives allows social services to list new beneficiaries, but excludes many families in need that, in fact, are not visible by the national statistics. Secondly, this selective mechanism assigns great responsibility to local authorities, confirming the strategic importance of streetlevel bureaucracies and, finally, the evaluation process of measures against poverty requires the sharing of objectives and monitoring tools at all levels of administration, otherwise the service is perceived as imposed an its effectiveness is undermined.