That the child perspective is something that is to be considered when making decision that affect the child is stipulated in the Social Services Act (2001:453). Since the United NationsConvention on the Rights of the Child (SFS 2018:1197) became law, the rights of the child have gained even more strength. However, research shows that children’s rights to participation when making such decisions are not always fulfilled, because the child is not viewed as an active actor. With this as a starting point the study’s purpose was formedwhich is to explore possibilities and limitations in social workers’ undertaking of considering the child perspective in their work with financial aid with a focus on the social workers’ perception of their room of action. Nine social workers within financial aid from five different municipalities were interviewed with a semi structured interview method. A thematic analysis was conducted on the collected material and three main themes were identified: “To consider the child perspective”, “Grant increased financial aid” and “The adult’s role in the child perspective”. The results showed both possibilities and limitations between the social workers’ undertaking of considering the child perspective, and that the social workers’ perception of their room of action affects the undertaking of the child perspective. / Att barnperspektivet ska beaktas vid beslut som berör barn fastställs i Socialtjänstlagen (SFS 2001:453). Sedan Lag om Förenta nationernas konvention om barnets rättigheter (SFS 2018:1197) blev lag 2020 har barnets rättigheter stärkts ytterligare. Dock visar forskning att barns rätt till delaktighet inte säkerställs, då barn inte ses som aktiva aktörer. Med detta som utgångspunkt skapades studiens syfte som är att undersökasocialsekreterarnas upplevelse av möjligheter och utmaningar i arbetet med barnperspektivet inom ekonomiskt bistånd utifrån deras upplevelse av handlingsutrymmet. Nio socialsekreterare inom ekonomiskt bistånd från fem olika kommuner intervjuades med hjälp av en semistrukturerad intervjumetod. En tematisk analys genomfördes av det insamlade materialet och tre huvudteman urskildes: ”Att handlägga barnperspektiv”, ”Bevilja utökat bistånd till barn” samt ”Den vuxnes roll i barnperspektivet”. Resultatet visade att det finns både utmaningar och möjligheter i socialsekreterarnas arbete med barnperspektivet och att socialsekreterarnas upplevelse av sitt handlingsutrymme påverkar arbetet med barnperspektivet.

At many traditional universities, the federal timelines for determining financial aid eligibility is based on releasing of the Free Application of Federal Student Aid each January, and the subsequent financial aid processing cycle July 1- June 30th. These federally established dates can conflict with traditional August class starts and creates a backlog and delayed processing of information that, in turn, hinders students from receiving timely information in order to make informed decisions based on financial aid awards. The purpose of this case study of a traditional university in Georgia was to apply net price theory and rational choice theory to evaluate the impact of timeline conflicts and how students make decisions about which institution to attend. Data consisted of internal documents, including the results of a prior survey of 425 freshmen, and 13 alumni focus group and survey participants. All data were inductively coded and analyzed using a constant comparative method to reveal key themes. Key findings indicated decision making by prospective students largely focused on accurate and timely communication and cost of attendance. One discrepant area was the decision maker's ability to differentiate between cost of attendance and net price which impacted some student decisions to enroll. The findings are consistent with both net price and rational choice theory. Recommendations to university leaders include encouraging early communication to prospective students and retraining efforts for financial aid staff in order to meet regulatory demands and timelines, increase student enrollment, and reduce anxieties for potential students and families associated with the financial aid process. These outcomes enhance social change by potentially opening doors to higher education for new generations of students.

Cette thèse cherche à évaluer le rôle des politiques d’information dans la réduction des inégalités de capital humain.Dans le premier chapitre, co-écrit avec Bruno Crépon, nous étudions l’impact d’une expérimentation visant à augmenter le recours aux soins des jeunes chômeurs en France. Les jeunes en situation de précarité ont plus de risque de sous-investir dans leur santé, ce qui peut avoir des conséquences économiques et sociales à court et long terme. Dans cette étude, nous examinons deux barrières possibles : le coût des soins, et la mauvaise perception des besoins. A l’aide d’une expérience randomisée, nous trouvons qu’informer individuellement ces jeunes sur leurs besoins ainsi que sur le système d’assurance santé permet d’augmenter leurs investissements, en doublant notamment la probabilité de consulter un psychologue. Nos résultats suggèrent également qu’une telle intervention permet de favoriser les entrées en formation. Afin de distinguer les barrières relevant du coût des soins des barrières relevant d’une mauvaise perception des besoins, nous testons aussi une intervention dans laquelle les jeunes reçoivent uniquement l’information sur le système d’assurance santé. A la différence de l’intervention combinée, cette intervention ne permet pas d’augmenter le recours aux soins, ce qui souligne le rôle crucial des perceptions subjectives dans les décisions de santé.Dans le second chapitre, issu d’un travail avec Marc Gurgand, Nina Guyon et Marion Monnet, nous évaluons une politique consistant à orienter des enfants vivant en zones urbaines sensibles (ZUS) en France vers des structures répondant à leurs difficultés. Dans les ZUS, certains enfants ont tendance à cumuler difficultés scolaires, problèmes de santé, de socialisation, et parfois problèmes familiaux. La politique étudiée consiste à mettre en place des interventions individualisées et multidimensionnelles pour les enfants, impliquant leurs parents et leur enseignant. Ces interventions consistent par exemple à inscrire l’enfant dans un club de sport, à réaliser un bilan de santé, à offrir aux parents une assistance administrative, et reposent sur les ressources disponibles au niveau de la commune. Afin d’identifier un effet causal, nous mettons en place des méthodes d’appariement que nous combinons avec un estimateur en différence-de-différences. Nous trouvons que le dispositif n’a d’effet ni sur le comportement des enfants, ni sur leurs compétences cognitives, et un effet négatif sur la socialisation et la motivation scolaire. Il réduit en revanche l’absentéisme. Une comparaison avec d’autres dispositifs suggère qu’il est nécessaire d’intervenir dès le plus jeune âge et de manière plus intensive pour améliorer la situation de ces enfants défavorisés.Dans le troisième chapitre, j’examine dans quelle mesure les politiques d’information destinées à guider les lycéens dans la transition vers le supérieur permettent d’augmenter le recours aux bourses parmi les étudiants défavorisés au Canada. Les doutes de plus en plus nombreux quant à la capacité des politiques d’aides financières à réduire les inégalités d’accès à l’enseignement supérieur conduisent à s’interroger sur leurs conditions d’efficacité. Cette étude vise à mieux comprendre les barrières informationnelles auxquelles les étudiants sont confrontés. Sur la base d’une expérience contrôlée, je modélise la demande de bourse comme étant fonction de l’utilité perçue de l’université, qui elle-même dépend du niveau d’information des jeunes. J’utilise ensuite le modèle pour simuler différentes politiques d’information souvent mises en œuvre, mais rarement évaluées. Informer les jeunes sur le système d’aides financières s’avère particulièrement efficace. Rencontrer un conseiller scolaire ou faire un test de compétences et d’orientation permet également d’augmenter le recours aux aides. Les simulations suggèrent que de tels dispositifs pourraient égaliser la demande entre étudiants favorisés et défavorisés. / This dissertation attempts to assess the role information policies may play in the reduction of human capital inequalities.In the first chapter, which is a joint work with Bruno Crépon, we study the impact of an experiment aimed at increasing the use of healthcare services among unemployed youth in France. Economically disadvantaged youth are particularly at risk of under-investing in their health, which can have short and long term negative consequences on a variety of socioeconomic outcomes. In this study, we investigate two possible factors of under-investment: cost of healthcare, and misperception of health needs. Relying on a randomized experiment, we find that providing them with personalized information on their health needs as well as on public health insurance raises their health investments, in particular it doubles the proportion of people consulting a psychologist. Our results suggest that such policies also have a potential for increasing participation to training programs. To distinguish between financial constraints and misperception of health needs, we also test a program providing information on public health insurance only. In contrast, this limited program does not induce any health investments, which highlights the crucial role of subjective perceptions of needs in health decisions among disadvantaged youth.In the second chapter, which is based on a joint work with Marc Gurgand, Nina Guyon and Marion Monnet, we evaluate a policy that consists in directing 2 to 16 year-old children living in deprived areas in France to the local resources they need. In deprived areas, some children tend to cumulate academic difficulties with health, social and sometimes family difficulties. In this paper, we evaluate a policy consisting in individualized and comprehensive programs that involve both the child, the parents and the teacher. Interventions range from sport activities or health diagnosis for the child to administrative assistance for the parents, and use existing local resources. Our identification strategy relies on propensity score matching combined with difference-in-differences estimation. We find no impact of the policy on children behavior and cognitive skills, and on their parents’ relation to school, and negative impacts on the relation to other children and on school motivation. By contrast, school attendance increases among treated children. Comparison with other comprehensive programs suggests that more intensive or earlier interventions might be required to significantly improve the situation of deprived children.In the third chapter, I assess the extent to which information policies aimed at guiding high school students in their transition to higher education can raise the take-up of grants among disadvantaged students in Canada. Growing concerns about the capacity of grant policies to reduce the socioeconomic gap in college enrollment call to investigate the conditions required for these policies to reach their target. This paper aims at better understanding the information barriers disadvantaged students may face. Based on a lab-in-the-field experiment, I model the demand for grants as a function of the perceived utility of university, which depends on the level of information on higher education and on the labor market students have. I use the model to simulate several information policies that are commonly implemented in high schools, but rarely studied. While receiving information on the financial aid system demonstrates to be particularly effective, meeting a school counsellor or taking a skills and interests test also significantly raises the take-up of grants among disadvantaged students. Simulations suggest these policies could close the take-up gap with their more advantaged counterparts.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka socialsekreterares upplevelser av hur digitaliseringen har förändrat arbetet inom ekonomiskt bistånd. I studien genomfördes fem kvalitativa intervjuer med socialsekreterare från samma kommun där verksamheten nyligen genomgått en digitaliseringsprocess. Intervjuerna analyserades genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultatet analyserades med hjälp av det strukturella perspektivet samt tidigare forskning som berör dokumentation, administrativt arbete samt digitalisering i socialt arbete och offentliga verksamheter. Resultatet visade att det administrativa arbetet minskat till följd av digitaliseringen samt att det är enkelt och tidseffektivt för socialsekreterare. Avsikten med digitaliseringen var att klientkontakten ska öka när de administrativa arbetsuppgifterna minskar. Detta har utifrån studiens resultat inte kunnat ske då rådande pandemi, Covid-19, fört med sig en rad restriktioner i syfte att minska smittspridningen. Pandemin har tvingat verksamheten att ändra sitt arbetssätt vilket resulterat i att nya digitala lösningar växt fram. Resultatet visade även att det finns en förhoppning hos socialsekreterarna att digitaliseringen ska förändra synen på den professionella rollen och göra arbetet inom ekonomiskt bistånd mer attraktivt. En slutsats av studien var att det finns tekniska förutsättningar inom socialtjänsten för att ytterligare anpassa arbetet efter klienters enskilda behov och de förändringar som sker i samhället. / The aim of this study was to explore social workers experiences of how digitalization has changed the work within financial aid. The study is based on five qualitative interviews with social workers from the same municipality, where the organization has recently undergone a digitalization process. The interviews were analyzed by qualitative content analysis. The results were analyzed with the help of the structural perspective and previous research concerning documentation, administrative work and digitization in social work and public organizations. The results showed that the administrative work has decreased as a result of digitalization and that it is simple and time-efficient for both social workers and clients. The purpose of the digitalization was that client contact would increase when the administrative tasks decrease. Based on the results of this study, this has not been possible as the current pandemic, Covid- 19, has brought with it a number of restrictions in order to reduce the spread of infection. The pandemic has forced the organization to change its way of working, which has led to the emergence of new digital solutions. The results also showed that there is hope among the social workers that digitalization will change the view of the professional role and make the work within financial aid more attractive. One conclusion of the study was that there are technical opportunities within the social services to further adapt the work to clients' individual needs and the changes that take place in society.

The purpose of this correlational study was to explore the relationship between the new statewide two-year financial aid program, Tennessee Promise, and college choice among high school seniors in four counties in upper Northeast Tennessee. Independent variables included GPA, concern about ability to pay for college, and plans to attend a two-year or four-year institution. The dependent variables were scored on three dimensions: cost factors, social factors, and academic factors relating to college choice. Additionally, respondents reported perceptions of Tennessee Promise related to college choice. A 22-item survey was administered to high school seniors from four counties in upper Northeast Tennessee in Spring 2017. There were 294 completed surveys, resulting in a 33% response rate. The financial nexus concept was used as the conceptual framework for the study to explore how perceived affordability influenced college choice. Descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, crosstabulations and one-sample chi-square tests were applied to determine whether a relationship exists between Tennessee Promise and college choice and choice of institution for students concerned with the cost of higher education. Tennessee Promise significantly impacted the decision to attend college and what type of institution to attend. Respondents’ level of concern about ability to pay was shown to have a significant relationship to the type of institution they planned to attend. Additionally, there was a significant relationship between level of concern about ability to pay and the choice to accept Tennessee Promise.

Financial aid contributes significantly to higher education participation in South Africa. However, while research focused on how financial aid improved access to University, little is known about its effect on ‘on-time' degree completion. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate to what extent financial aid affected the likelihood of on-time graduation as a function of selected student input and higher educational factors for students' success in studying towards a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). To better understand the above factors, the researcher conducted a quantitative study applying Event History Analysis (EHA) and the Input-Environment-Output (I-E-O) model (Astin, 1993). A logistic regression within a discrete-time model with a personperiod dataset was performed. Data from the 2013 to 2018 UCT student records formed the basis of this research with a sample size of N=842. Based on the literature review, the input variables were gender, race, age, school type, final grade 12 marks and students' performance in the National Benchmark Tests (NBT). The environmental variables were enrollment in the academic development and support programme ‘Step-Up' and financial aid. Contrary to expectation, the results for the environmental variables surprisingly revealed that receiving financial aid decreased the likelihood of on-time graduation. Receiving GAP Aid indicated no statistically significant association with on-time graduation. Furthermore, enrolment in Step Up significantly increased the likelihood of on-time graduation, all else being equal. The findings for the input variables indicated that females and younger students were more likely to graduate on time than males and older students. White students were more likely to graduate on time than Black, Coloured and Indian/Asian students, which shows that this issue remains a transformation issue for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Another unexpected result was that the type of school attended and participation in NSC English indicated no association with on-time graduation. Most notably, students with NSC Accounting had a more significantly positive likelihood of on-time graduation than students with NSC Mathematics only. The research findings contribute value to the discussions on accounting education research and how to improve on-time degree completion. Secondly, the results could benefit policy decisions for student admission to the BCom programme. While the research results will reflect the nature of this specific university, the findings may also be valuable to other public HEIs with similar admission standards and student bodies.

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which enrollment management models have been successfully implemented within the 28 Florida community colleges. The study also sought to determine when enrollment management structures began and whether expected benefits were achieved. Analysis of the data collected in this study indicated the following five major findings. First, enrollment management concepts and practices have been implemented at some level within the 23 Florida community colleges surveyed. This was evident by the use of the word "enrollment" in the organizational titles as well as in the titles of the individuals who were responsible for the models. Second, enrollment management models reported were determined to be relatively new in comparison to four-year institutions. The literature on enrollment management demonstrated that four-year colleges began enrollment management practices in the early-to-mid 1970s. Much of the existing literature on enrollment management has been based on the experiences at four-year institutions. Third, some enrollment management divisions appeared to have key enrollment offices displaced. The key enrollment offices selected in this study were supported throughout the literature. Those offices represented were as follows: Admissions, Records and Registration, Financial aid, Orientation, and Advising. Fourth, increasing enrollment was the strongest reason for implementing the enrollment structure and subsequently was the strongest benefit realized. The anticipated decline in high school graduates, and the expectation of subsequent declining college enrollments during the 1970s, provided the impetus for the adoption of models of enrollment management. The fifth finding was that moving key enrollment offices such as financial aid into the enrollment management organizations would be an improvement to existing models. As enrollment management concepts are implemented into practice, the realignment of related offices may be necessary to effectively accomplish goals.

Syftet med denna c-uppsats är att belysa den diskurs som finns kring ekonomiskt bistånd och individer som erhåller försörjningsstöd i Svenska tidningar. Vidare är det av intresse att undersöka vad diskursen kan få för konsekvenser för individerna i fråga. Metoden som användes för att besvara syftet är kritisk diskursanalys. Efter genomläsning av artiklarna kunde tre teman identifieras och analysen delades därmed upp enligt dessa teman; att Malmö är en generös stad som betalar ut höga bistånd, kopplingar till arbetslöshet och arbetsmarknadsprogram samt slutligen kopplingar till utrikesfödda. Temana analyserades enligt Faircloughs tredimensionella modell. Det som arbetet resulterade i är att bidragstagare stigmatiseras. Diskussionen kring vilka begränsningar och möjligheter bidragstagare har är bristande i svenska nyhetstidningar. Detta eftersom artiklarna använder statistik och rapporter för att snarare rikta kritik mot lokalpolitiken, biståndshandläggare eller individerna som erhåller försörjningsstöd. / The purpose of this paper is to examine the discourse in Swedish newspapers  around financial aid and financial aid recipients. Furthermore it is of interest to examine what consequences this discourse could mean for the individuals in question. The method used to answer the purpose of this paper is critical discourse analysis. After reading the newspaper articles three themes were identified. The analysis was split up into three themes which were that Malmö is a generous city, referencing the amount they pay out in financial aid, that the discourse revolved around unemployment and unemployment programs and mentions of foreign-born individuals. Each theme was analyzed with Fairclough’s three dimensional model. The results show that financial aid recipients are stigmatized. There is limited discussion in Swedish newspapers about the limitations and opportunities that financial aid seekers face. This is because the articles in the newspaper are using statistics and official reports to criticize politicians, socialworkes as well as the financial aid recipients.

No description available.

Socialsekreterare som arbetar med ekonomiskt bistånd har ett uttalat handlingsutrymme och en viss frihet i handläggningsprocessen. Trots detta så finns det även lagar, regler, organisatoriska riktlinjer samt individuella faktorer som påverkar detta handlingsutrymme. Därför kan handlingsutrymmet användas på olika sätt, vilket sker utifrån det faktum att socialsekreterarna har olika erfarenhet och tolkar ramar och riktlinjer på olika vis. Syftet med studien är att undersöka socialsekreterares upplevelse av vilka faktorer som påverkar deras handlingsutrymme vid handläggning av ekonomiskt bistånd. Sex kvalitativa intervjuer har gjorts med socialsekreterare från fyra olika kommuner. Studien påvisar att socialsekreterarna upplever sitt handlingsutrymme som stort, men inom strikta ramar. Studien påvisar även att socialsekreterarnas upplevda handlingsutrymme påverkas av deras erfarenhet samt upplevda yrkesroll, då mer erfarenhet bidrar till en större säkerhet i vad man kan göra för sina klienter.  Handlingsutrymmet påverkas också av organisatoriska riktlinjer och resurser. Resurser i form av tid är en övergripande stor faktor som påverkar handlingsutrymmet hos socialsekreterarna. / Social workers who work with financial aid have a pronounced discretion and a certain freedom in the handling process. Despite this, there are also laws, rules, organizational guidelines and individual factors that affect this discretion. Therefore, discretion can be used in different ways, which is based on the fact that the social workers have different experiences and interpret frameworks and guidelines in different ways. The purpose of the study is to investigate social workers' experience of which factors affect their discretion when handling financial assistance. Six qualitative interviews have been conducted with social workers from four different municipalities. The study shows that the social workers experience their discretion as large, but within strict limits. The study also shows that the social workers' perceived discretion is affected by their experience and perceived professional role, as more experience contributes to greater certainty in what they can do for their clients. The discretion is also affected by organizational guidelines and resources. Resources in the form of time are overall a major factor that affects the discretion of the social workers.