Professional judgement in social work is an important part to help people that have a disability. Individuals with a disability is an exposed group in the Swedish society which makes them a relevant group in social work. To examine how persons with disability get help from social services in Sweden we have used a qualitative study with interviews. The reason that we used interviews was get a deeper understanding about the professional judgement by administrators that work with individuals that have a disability. We have been analyzing the data by categorizing different themes from the interviews. The most important results from this study are that professionals that work with disabled individuals find Swedish law and previous cases as the most important factors in the processing for disabled individuals in social work. Furthermore, the interweaves found the colleges and the boss as important to discuss and get input on their descission.

Syftet med arbetsstudien är att utforska och få en bredare syn på hur barns perspektiv beaktas och värderas, samt hur barns delaktighet hanteras av en LSS-handläggare utifrån ens upplevelser och erfarenheter. Det empiriska materialet har erhållits genom en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer där urvalet består av sex LSS-biståndshandläggare från tre olika kommuner i Sverige. Resultaten visar att dessa deltagande LSS-biståndshandläggarna är medvetna om sina skyldigheter att använda barnperspektiv i sina arbeten. Men att tolkningen och definitionen av barnperspektiven varierar mellan samtliga deltagare. Resultaten visade även att implementeringen av barnkonventionen har trappats upp hos kommun A, medan hos andra kommuner har man inte framkommit lika långt. Resultaten visar också att det finns ett antal olika tillvägagångssätt för en biståndshandläggare inom LSS att genom sitt arbete kunna befrämja barns delaktighet genom exempelvis miljö, dokumentation, möten och kommunikation. Dessutom visar studien att det finns ett visst antal utmaningar som har påverkat barns delaktighet och hindrat barnen till att komma till tals. Dessa resultat kategoriseras under rubriken Brist på kunskap och kommunikationshjälpmedel gällande dialog och samtal med barn med funktionsnedsättning. Resultaten visar även att det finns ett enormt intresse och en stor vilja hos studiedeltagarna att avlägsna en del av dessa hinder. Nuläget kräver därför nya arbetsmetoder och specialiserade utbildningar som kan möjliggöra för LSS-handläggarna att vidareutveckla arbetet med barnperspektiven för att ännu bättre kunna implementera barnkonventionen. / The aim of the work study is to investigate and gain a wider view of how children's perspectives are considered and appreciated and how children's participation is handled by the LSS administrator based on their own experiences and encounters. The empirical material was obtained by a qualitative method with partially structured interviews in which the sample consisted of six LSS development aid officials from three different municipalities in Sweden. The results showed that LSS development aid workers participating in the program are aware of their responsibilities to use the child's perspective in their work. But that the interpretation and definition of a child's perspective differs among all participants. The results also showed that the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child was accelerated in municipality A, while in other municipalities it has not progressed as far. The results also show that there are several different approaches for a development assistance officer within LSS to be able to promote children's participation through, for example, the environment, documentation, meetings, and communication. In addition, the study shows that there are a few challenges that have affected children's participation and prevented children from speaking out. These results are categorized under the heading Lack of knowledge and communication aids regarding dialogue and conversations with children with disabilities. The results also show that there is an enormous interest and a great willingness among the study participants to remove some of these obstacles. The current situation therefore requires new working methods and specialized training that can enable the LSS administrators to further develop the work with the child perspective to be able to implement the children's convention even better.

About 29 000 different services was given by the Swedish welfare state to children with disabilities within the ages 0-22 years before October first in the year 2008. Studies about children with disabilities and their experiences of their situation have rarely been done and it is therefore difficult to know how they think and feel about their lives. Both Swedish law and the UN:s convention about children’s rights states that children have the right to tell their opinion in matters that are of their concern. Thus, we don´t know much about if and how the Swedish welfare state maintain this right towards children with disabilities. This is aimed to reveal if and how the Swedish welfare state, trough it´s municipality servants, give children with disabilities an opportunity to speak their mind trough the perspective of the municipality servant. This study is even aimed to reveal which difficulties, if any, the servants experience in their investigations of children with disabilities. The empirical material was analyzed trough a perspective of children as actors and trough the theoretical ideas; power-of-modeling and the organizations many hands. A qualitative method was chosen to collect the empirical data for this study because this method is the best method in order to get the deep information that was needed in order to achieve a deeper understanding for the problem. The result is that children with disabilities don´t get the opportunity to speak their mind in their own cases because of many aspects such as; communication problems, the limitations within the law called LSS, the organizations limitations of the servants and the children’s own parents.

<p>About 29 000 different services was given by the Swedish welfare state to children with disabilities within the ages 0-22 years before October first in the year 2008. Studies about children with disabilities and their experiences of their situation have rarely been done and it is therefore difficult to know how they think and feel about their lives. Both Swedish law and the UN:s convention about children’s rights states that children have the right to tell their opinion in matters that are of their concern. Thus, we don´t know much about if and how the Swedish welfare state maintain this right towards children with disabilities. This is aimed to reveal if and how the Swedish welfare state, trough it´s municipality servants, give children with disabilities an opportunity to speak their mind trough the perspective of the municipality servant. This study is even aimed to reveal which difficulties, if any, the servants experience in their investigations of children with disabilities. The empirical material was analyzed trough a <em>perspective of children as actors and trough the theoretical ideas; <em>power-of-modeling and <em>the organizations many hands. A qualitative method was chosen to collect the empirical data for this study because this method is the best method in order to get the deep information that was needed in order to achieve a deeper understanding for the problem. The result is that children with disabilities don´t get the opportunity to speak their mind in their own cases because of many aspects such as; communication problems, the limitations within the law called LSS, the organizations limitations of the servants and the children’s own parents. </em></em></em></p>

Studien syftar till att undersöka erfarenheter som handläggare av personlig assistans har av att arbeta i en kontext som är föränderlig till följd av rättspraxis och Försäkringskassans tolkning och tillämpning av den. Studien syftar även till att undersöka de konsekvenser som detta medför för LSS-handläggarna i deras yrkesutövning och vilka konsekvenser som de anser att det fått för brukarna. För att uppnå syftet har semistrukturerade intervjuer använts som datainsamlingsmetod. Den teoretiska ansatsen har bestått av Michael Lipskys teori om gräsrotsbyråkrater och handlingsutrymme och Andrew Jametons koncept om etisk stress.  En bearbetning av empirin har genomförts i enlighet med tematisk analys. Olika krav och svårigheter har uppstått för LSS-handläggarna i deras yrkesutövning, såsom konflikt mellan deras professionella värderingar och den institutionella kontexten och att kunna bemöta brukare i oro och kris. Handläggarna är genomgående kritiska till Försäkringskassans restriktiva och detaljstyrda tolkning och tillämpning av den rättspraxis som ska vara styrande för dem båda. Vissa grupper av brukare har som konsekvens av förändrad rättspraxis och Försäkringskassans tolkning och tillämpning av den i stort sett uteslutits från rätten till personlig assistans. I diskussionen förs resonemang om LSS-handläggarnas yrkeskompetens, deras handlingsutrymme och etisk stress samt detaljstyrningens påverkan och konsekvenser för brukarna. / The purpose of the following study is to investigate the experiences that social workers have of working in a context that is changing with precedents and the Swedish social insurance agency's, Försäkringskassan’s, interpretation and application of them. The purpose is further to explore the consequences this has for LSS-administrators in their work and for their clients. In order to achieve this aim semi structured interviews has been used as a data collection method. The theoretical approach consists of Michael Lipsky's theory of grassroots bureaucrats and discretion as well as Andrew Jameton's concept of moral distress. The data has been processed in accordance of thematic analysis. Difficulties has emerged for LSS-administrators in their work, such as conflict between their professional values and the institutional context and meeting most anxious clients in crisis. The LSS-administrators are critical of Försäkringskassan’s restrictive and detailed interpretation and application of precedents. Some groups of clients have as a consequence of changed jurisprudence and Försäkringskassan’s interpretation and application of it more or less been excluded from the right to personal assistance.   We discuss the LSS-administrators professional competence, their discretion and ethical stress as well as the consequences detailed interpretation has for the clients.

The purpose of the thesis is to investigate how social workers work regarding the disabled child's participation during the investigation process within the LSS unit. The writers use a qualitative approach with the help of semi-structured interviews, interviewing five social workers who work with children with disabilities in different communities in Västra Götaland County. The results have been analyzed with the help of thematic analysis where three themes have emerged, these three themes have been analyzed in the results with the help of Sheirs (2001) participation model. The results show that children with disabilities have difficulty speaking and that the social workers try to make children with disabilities involved in the decision-making process by using methods and tools that are available in the workplace. The availability of methods and tools depended on which municipality the social workers worked in. The child's disabilities and abilities are described by the LSS administrators in different levels that limit but also to be able to participate in the decision-making process. Another factor that has emerged in the results is depending on what effort is involved in influencing to a large extent how involved children with disabilities can be. In summary, it happens that aids and knowledge of alternative means of communication need to be developed so that children have a greater chance of participating in the decision-making process. / Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur LSS-handläggare arbetar gällande barnets delaktighet under utredningsprocessen inom LSS-enheten. Skribenterna använder sig av en kvalitativ ansats där de med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer intervjuat fem LSS-handläggare som arbetar med barn med funktionsnedsättning i olika kommuner i Västra Götalands län. Empirin har analyserats med hjälp av tematisk analys där tre teman har framkommit. Dessa tre teman har analyserats med hjälp av Sheirs (2001) delaktighetsmodell. Empirin visar att barn med funktionsnedsättning har svårt att komma till tals och att LSS-handläggarna försöker göra barn med funktionsnedsättning delaktiga i utredningsprocessen genom att använda sig av metoder och verktyg som finns tillgängliga i verksamheten.  Tillgängligheten av metoder och verktyg berodde på vilken kommun verksamheten befann sig i. Empirin visade att bristen på hjälpmedel begränsade LSS-handläggarna i att göra barn med funktionsnedsättning delaktiga, därför blev föräldrarna en viktig faktor när det gällde barn som hade svårt att komma till tals eller uttrycka sina åsikter. Barnets funktionsnedsättning och förmåga beskrivs av LSS-handläggarna i olika nivåer som begränsar men även möjliggör barnen att vara delaktiga i utredningsprocessen. En annan faktor som framkommit i empirin är att beroende på vilken insats det handlar om så påverkar det i stor del hur delaktiga barn med funktionsnedsättning kan vara. Sammanfattningsvis så framkommer det att hjälpmedel samt kunskap om alternativa kommunikationsmedel behöver utvecklas så att barn har större chans att bli delaktiga under utredningsprocessen.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka LSS-handläggares upplevelser och erfarenheter av utredning och bedömning av rätten till personlig assistans för vuxna med funktionsnedsättning i Sverige. Genomförandet av studien är en semistrukturerad intervjumetod tillsammans med två vinjetter. Studiens resultat baseras på semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex kommunala LSS-handläggare. I studien är de teoretiska utgångspunkterna från ett organisationsteoretiskt perspektiv där vi analyserat vårt material utifrån begreppen handlingsutrymme och gräsrotsbyråkrati.   Resultatet av vår studie visar att LSS-handläggare upplever sitt handlingsutrymme vid bedömning och utredning av rätten till personlig assistans i Sverige som skiftande. Beroende på vilken situation handläggarna är i så har de i vissa situationer möjlighet att vidga sitt handlingsutrymme medan de i andra situationer upplever handlingsutrymmet som begränsat. De situationer där handläggarna har möjlighet att vidga sitt handlingsutrymme är exempelvis i bedömningar där det uppstår ett gränsfall om den enskilde har rätt till personlig assistans. Handläggarna påpekar att de i sådana situationer kan skapa möjligheter i beslutet till både bifall och avslag. Någonting som också påverkar att handlingsutrymmet kan vidgas är handläggarnas tillgång till bra handledning på arbetsplatsen. Det som stramar åt LSS-handläggarnas handlingsutrymme vid bedömning och utredning av personlig assistans är exempelvis att LSS-lagstiftningen ofta upplevs som fyrkantig. Tillgång till praxis påverkar även vidden av handlingsutrymmet då handläggarna inte anser att de kan ta rättssäkra beslut när praxis är otillräckliga. LSS-handläggarnas upplevda dilemman skapas när handlingsutrymmet upplevs som litet och de hamnar i situationer som försvårar deras beslut. / The purpose of this study is to examine LSS-officers' experiences of investigation and assessment of the right to personal assistance for adults with disabilities in Sweden. The implementation of the study is a semi-structured interview along with two vignettes. The results of the study are based on semi-structured interviews with six municipal LSS-officers. The theoretical framework of the study is from an organizational theory perspective where we analyzed our material using the concepts of discretion and street-level bureaucracy. The results of our study show that LSS-officers experience their discretion in the assessment and investigation of the right to personal assistance in Sweden as variable. Depending on the situation, LSS-officers have the opportunity to expand their discretion in some cases, while in other cases they find their discretion limited. Situations where the LSS-officers can expand their discretion arise, for example, in assessments where there is uncertainty about whether the individual has the right to personal assistance. In such cases, LSS-officers note that they can create possibilities in the decision for both approval and rejection. Access to good mentoring at the workplace also affects the ability to expand their discretion. Factors that limit LSS-officers discretion in the assessment and investigation of personal assistance include the perception that the LSS-law is often rigid. Access to case law also affects the extent of discretion, as LSS-officers do not believe they can make legally correct decisions when case law is insufficient. The dilemmas faced by LSS-officers arise when they perceive their discretion as limited and encounter situations that complicate their decision-making.

The purpose of this study is to deepen the knowledge of guardians experiences of coordination between the various support measures for their children with intellectual disabilities in special schools. My research questions are to find out how the guardians describe the contact with LSS administrators, child and youth habilitation personnel and specialist teachers in schools for children with special needs as well as the experiences of the guardians based on their contacts with LSS administrators, child and youth habilitation personnel and specialist teachers in special schools. To find this out, a qualitative study is conducted in the form of interviews with guardians of children with intellectual disability. Informants in the study were nine guardians from three different municipalities. The results have been analyzed using Bronfenbrenners developing ecological model. The results show amongst other things that the guardians want more coordinated meetings to facilitate everyday life for the family. Another result was that the contact between the different instancesvary greatly both in quantity and quality and it is up to the guardians if contact occurs. It commonly emerged that the guardians experiences are that there is a good competence in general within different personnel groups. Another finding was that there are shortcomings regarding documentation and monitoring. Finally, it also emerged that it differs regarding how agencies act in preparing guardians for the future in different instances. One conclusion is that variation seems to be bound to whom the guardians have as an administrator and it becomes clear that the role of the special education teacher as a qualified conversation partner is important both in special schools but also in meeting with other professionals. It cannot be stressed enough how important the role is as a special education teacher and coordinator to simplify everyday life for parents or guardians. In addition, monitoring and evaluations fill an important function in professional practice as necessary for improving mutual understanding between home and special schools. / Syftet med denna studie är att fördjupa kunskapen om vårdnadshavares erfarenheter av samordning mellan olika stödinsatser för deras barn med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning i grundsärskolan. Mina forskningsfrågor utifrån syftet är att dels att ta reda på hur vårdnadshavarna beskriver kontakten med LSS-handläggare, barn-och ungdomshabiliteringens personal samt speciallärare i grundsärskolan, dels att ta reda på vilka erfarenheter av stöd vårdnadshavare har utifrån sina kontakter med LSS-handläggare, barn- och ungdomshabiliteringens personal samt speciallärare i särskolan.   För att ta reda på detta har en kvalitativ undersökning genomförts i form av intervjuer med vårdnadshavare till barn med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning. Antalet informanter i intervjun var nio stycken personer från tre olika kommuner. Resultatet har analyserats med hjälp av Bronfenbrenners utvecklingsekologiska modell. Resultatet visar bland annat att vårdnadshavare önskar mer samordnade möten för att underlätta vardagen för familjen. Ett annat resultat var att kontakten mellan olika instanser varierar mycket i både antal och kvalitetoch det är upp till vårdnadshavarna om kontakten sker. Gemensamt framkom det att vårdnadshavarnas upplevelser är att det finns en god kompetens över lag hos olika personalgrupper. Ytterligare ett resultat var att det finns brister gällande dokumentation och uppföljning. Till sist framkom det också att det är ojämnt hur myndigheteragerar föratt förbereda vårdnadshavare inför framtiden inom de olika instanserna. En slutsats är att det verkar vara mycket bundet till vem vårdnadshavarna har som handläggare om stödet fungerar och det blir tydligt att speciallärarens roll som kvalificerad samtalspartner är viktig både i grundsärskolan men även i mötet med andra yrkesgrupper. Det kan inte nog betonas hur viktig rollen är som speciallärare samt samordnare för att förenkla vardagen för vårdnadshavarna. Dessutom fyller uppföljningar och utvärderingar en viktig funktion i yrkespraktiken då detta krävs för att öka samförståndet mellan hemmet och grundsärskolan.

Previous research shows that people with severe disabilities often are neglected in the work of enhancing user participation. It is shown that even though professionals increase the possibility for user participation in their work, it is not necessary that the users receive it. This study aims to show how professionals working for people with disabilities applies user participation in their everyday work. We used a qualitative exploratory method and interviewed ten social workers within service administration and supportive housing, located at three different municipalities in the region of Stockholm. Using Shier’s participation model in combination with theory of recognition we got similar results as previous research. The social workers have a great intention in enhancing user’s participation in their work, though organizational structures stand in their way. That drives them to use what is known as “silent knowledge”, a combination of their personality, previous experience and their ingenuity.