In the current policy, commissioning and delivery environments for services aimed at improving the lives of children and their families, increasing priority is placed on the ability to measure and demonstrate the effectiveness of social welfare intervention. This is particularly acute for voluntary sector services that increasingly provide services on behalf of local authorities and operate in a highly competitive environment in which the ability to demonstrate effectiveness and value for money can ultimately determine survival. However, social welfare intervention is delivered in the context of complex social systems in which a multiplicity of factors interplay between those individuals who are managing, providing and using social services. This complexity presents significant methodological challenges in terms of understanding the effect of intervention on individuals’ lives. Often the pressures to produce highly aggregated data about outcomes mean that the experience and the voice of those using services is overlooked and the connection between data and lived experience is lost. This thesis describes the evaluation of an approach to measuring outcomes known as Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS). This places the service user at the heart of measuring outcomes whilst collecting data that can be used to evaluate effectiveness within a service, or comparatively between services, or between service user groups. The approach was implemented with practitioners and young people within the context of a leaving care support service provided by a voluntary sector service. The GAS implementation was evaluated using a realist research strategy in order to understand the ways in which a complex policy and operating environment interplayed with the challenging contexts of transition for young people and their heterogeneous pathways in leaving care. For a variety of reasons, explained within this thesis, participation levels in the trial were low and therefore quantitative data regarding outcomes was too limited to be conclusive. Nevertheless the study represents a useful pilot of this approach and highlights the importance of context in determining results when introducing new approaches to outcomes measurement into practice environments. The findings that emerge from the evaluation betray a concerning picture of the pressures and constraints on practice experienced by a large leaving care service in the current climate of cuts to local authority funding and statutory services. As opposed to being an independent or somewhat removed undertaking, this study was concerned to frame ‘evaluation’ and ‘outcomes measurement’ as participatory and reflexive activities that should be embedded within service delivery. By so doing, it aimed to facilitate reciprocal or ‘bi-directional’ learning between providers and the users of services to underpin interventions, particularly with vulnerable populations of service users. Given that the support provided by leaving care services may represent the last intervention before young people disappear from the system’s view, this is particularly significant in supporting them to develop agency and self-determination to take them through the often compressed and accelerated journeys that characterise adolescence for this group.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka vilket stöd ensamkommande ungdomar upplever sig få från socialtjänsten och hur de anser att de inkluderas i arbetet som rör dem när de ankommer till Sverige. Sex stycken ungdomar intervjuades i vår studie, samtliga kom hit som ensamkommande ungdomar för minst tre år sedan. Intervjuerna utgick ifrån ungdomarnas egna upplevelser av socialtjänsten. Det inhämtade materialet kodades och delades in i fyra kategorier. Dessa var: Äntligen framme, Förtroendet för socialtjänsten, Lyssna och förklara samt Tack Sverige. Resultatet analyserades i sin tur utifrån Eides fasmodell. Resultatet och analysen visar att stödet upplevs olika beroende på relationen ungdomen har gentemot sin socialsekreterare. Det visar att ungdomarnas förtroende för socialsekreteraren är av vikt för att de ska ta tillsig stödet som erbjuds. Således visar resultatet att majoriteten av ungdomarna upplever att socialsekreterarna lyssnar på dem, men inte inkluderar dem i själva beslutsprocessen. Slutsatsen av studien är att den enskilde socialsekreteraren har en viktig roll då ungdomarna som haft en bra kontakt med sin socialsekreterare upplever stödet positivare än de som inte haft lika god kontakt. / The purpose of this paper is to examine what support unaccompanied young refugees feel they receive from the social services, and how they believe they are included in the work regarding them as they arrive in Sweden. Six youth were interviewed in our study, all came here unaccompanied at least three years ago. The interviews were based on their own experiences of the social services. The collected material was coded and divided into four categories. These were: Finally arrived, Trust in the social services, Listen and explain as well as Thank you Sweden. The results were analyzed according to Eides phase model. The results and analysis show that the support is experienced differently depending on the relationship the young person has with his or her social secretary. They show that the youths trusting in the social secretary are important for them to be able to accept the support offered. Therefore the results show that the majority of the youth feel that social workers listen to them, but do not include them in the decision process itself. The conclusion of the studies is that the individual social secretary plays an important part as the youth that has had a good connection with them experience the support more positive as opposed to those who hasn’t had an as good of a connection.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to analyze the social services financing from the region point of view. Considering to the wide topic the thesis is focused on allowance organizations which are mostly founded by the regions for this purpose. Allowance organization as a provider of social services, must be in accordance with the specific law because the social services comes under the public services as it is written in the thesis. This fact namely influences financing in this area thereby economy and allowance organization function. The whole system is difficult because of many things takes a part here the fact that allowance organizations are influence by its activities but also it is their legal form. In the theoretical part these facts are brought closer which leads to comprehensive and systematic understanding of the application part - which is understanding of the system where regions provides through its allowance organizations social services. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze providing of the social services on the real example and show the problems which providing of the social services brings. This thesis could work as a white-paper for improving and finding better ways namely of financing social services. The conclusion of this thesis is basically a summary of gained findings which are showing that there is a lot of to do and think about in area of social services.

The thesis deals with the scope of the local government bodies in the field of social services. The work focuses not only the legal regulations, but also their genesis and the methods of financing. For better understanding the providing of social services is described od the examples of town Sokolov and Karlovarsky's district. The main sources of information was the analysis of relevant literature, legal regulations, statistical yearbooks and free materials of the town Sokolov and Karlovarsky's district.

A report on a study project presented to the Department of Social Work, School of Human and Community Development, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Arts by course work and research report in Occupational Social Work. September 2016. / Social work in South Africa is challenged by high caseloads, dangerous working environments and poor remuneration (Social Work Indaba, 2015). These challenges combined with high voluntary staff turnover rates (40.4% in 2006) have negative consequences for the protection of South Africa`s vulnerable children (Earle-Malleson (2009). In this context, supervision is often proposed as a potential cure-all for the tensions in social work. This study utilises an instrumental case study design to describe and explore child protection social workers’ perceptions of supervision and retention. The key aim of the study is to interrogate the role of effective social work supervision on a social worker’s decision to leave the employment of a child protection organisation in Gauteng. Twelve participants were identified through a combination of purposive and snowball sampling. Utilising a semi structured interview schedule, face to face interviews were conducted with each participant. The data obtained from the interviews was transcribed and analysed thematically. The research findings yielded concerning results on the supervision the participants had received with only 25% of the participants indicating that they found their supervision supportive and educational. High levels of organisational disengagement were noted, which created an organisational climate of neglect. This contributed indirectly to ten participant’s decision to resign as a lack of supervision heightened their frustrations with the system and their increased perceptions of child protection work as monotonous. A lack of a supportive and educational focus also closed off opportunities for participants to grow as social workers and learn adaptive coping skills. This led to some participants feeling emotionally overwhelmed. Both of these factors were cited as reasons for exiting child protection organisations. These findings reaffirm the importance of supervision as a reflexive process and provide insight into the targeting of interventions aimed at retaining child protection social workers in South Africa. Keywords: Child protection; retention; effective supervision; job embeddedness; social worker; disengagement; voluntary staff turnover / GR2017

Social services for persons dependent on care in the light of the Czech legislation Abstract The diploma thesis deals with the issue of social services in the Czech Republic especially for persons with disabilities. The thesis focuses on current issues that arise due to partial amendments to the Social Services Act and the Act on the Provision of Benefits for Persons with Disabilities. In particular, the thesis is concerned with the topicality and sufficiency of social services and the benefits provided to disabled people. The thesis itself is divided into 10 chapters and further subchapters. Firstly, the topic is set in the historical context and the history of social services from their first occurrences to the present is approached. Further, the division of social security and the inclusion of social services into this system are described in more detail. As the thesis is primarily focused on people with disabilities, the following chapter defines disability and presents different views on it. Following issues include benefits for people with disabilities as well as other related non-financial benefits for them. Subsequently, the thesis discusses the issue of care allowance, concerns with its amendments and sufficiency. The core of the thesis concerns the social services themselves, their division,...

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur transpersoner upplever bemötande inom socialtjänsten. Enligt tidigare forskning har transpersoner olika upplevelser av bemötandet inom socialtjänsten. De har upplevt att de mötts med oförståelse och okunskap, blir felkönade och blir inte tilltalade vid sitt rätta namn. Positiva upplevelser handlade om respekt av transpersonernas könsidentitet och att de blev tilltalade med rätt pronomen. Det här är en kvalitativ studie som genomförts med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer per telefon med fyra personer. Studien har gjorts med induktiv metod och ett analytiskt ramverk som innehåller olika teorier och begrepp har valts utifrån datamaterialet. För att analysera studiens resultat har jag valt begreppet bemötande. Jag har även använt mig av socialkonstruktivistisk teori- Berger & Luckmanns sociologiska teori, begreppet heteronormativitet och teorin om den heterosexuella matrisen. Den heterosexuella matrisen handlar om förväntningar att alla är heterosexuella och övertygelsen om att det endast finns två separata kön som ställs i motsats till varandra. Studien har visat att transpersoner har olika upplevelser av bemötande inom socialtjänsten. Transpersoner har upplevt att de inte är tagna på allvar, bemöts med oförståelse och särbehandlas. Majoriteten av studiens respondenter har upplevt att de inte passar in i en given mall, det vill säga i heteronormen. Transpersoner har upplevt att sexuell läggning och könsidentitet ses av socialtjänstens handläggare som något socialt konstruerat och därför inte medfött, utan valt. Heteronormen och den homosexuella läggningen har lyfts av transpersoner som anledning till handläggarnas ovilja att hjälpa dem. Positiva upplevelser av bemötandet har handlat om att transpersoner har blivit bemötta lika oavsett könsidentitet, att handläggarna visat omtanke, respekt och erbjudit den hjälp som de behövde. Slutsatsen är att bemötandet kan upplevas olika beroende på vilken attityd handläggarna har samt hur transpersonerna själva definierar begreppet bemötande. Upplevelser av bemötandet inom socialtjänsten kan även variera från kommun till kommun. / The aim of the study was to examine how transgender people experience the treatment from social services. Previous research shows that experiences of treatment of transgender people by social services are various. Transgender people have experienced lack of understanding and knowledge, misgendering and being called by the false name. Good treatment that transgender people experienced included respect for transgender people’s gender identity and the use of right pronoun. This is a qualitative study based on semi- structured interviews and made through the phone with four persons. The study has been made with inductive method where an analytical framework with different theories and definitions was chosen taking into consideration the data. Treatment as definition was chosen to analyse the results of the study. I have even used the theory of social constructivism- Berger & Luckmann’s sociological theory as well as the definition heteronormativity and the theory on the heterosexual matrix. The theory on the heterosexual matrix is about expectations that everyone is heterosexual and belief that there are only two sexes that are opposites of each other.   The study has shown that transgender people’s experiences of treatment by social services are various. Transgender people have experienced lack of understanding. Furthermore, transgender people have experienced that they have not been taken seriously and have been discriminated. The majority of respondents has experienced that they do not fit the heteronorm. Transgender people have also experienced that sexual orientation and gender identity are seen by administrative officials as something social constructed, and therefore not innate, but chosen. The heteronorm and homosexuality have been lifted by transgender people as the reason why administrative officials did not want to help them. Good treatment transgender people have experienced was about equal treatment regardless of gender identity. Transgender people have experienced that administrative officials have shown that they respect and care about them as well as they have been offered help they needed. Conclusion of the study is that treatment experienced by transgender people depends on which attitude administrative officials have towards transgender people as well as on how transgender people define the concept treatment. Experiences of the treatment by social services can vary between different municipalities too.

I förskoleklassens, grundskolan och fritidshemmets gemensamma läroplan benämns inte den anmälningsplikt som råder (Skolverket, 2018). Detta trots att det specificeras i kap. 14 i Socialtjänstlagen (2001:453) att yrkespersoner inom skolverksamhet är skyldiga att anmäla vid misstanke att ett barn far illa. Skolverket (2019) benämner hur samverkan mellan skolan och socialtjänsten bör följas för de barn som inte har det bra hemma. Hur denna samverkan ska ske är däremot inget som understryks. Ytterligare kunskap behövs inom området i hur samverkan sker samt de rutiner som finns i förhållande kring anmälningsplikten. Studiens syfte är att få en större kännedom i hur samverkan mellan skolan och socialtjänsten ser ut. Målet är att uppmärksamma de rutiner pedagoger inom skolverksamheten har i samband med orosanmälan till socialtjänsten.   Uppsatsens resultat visar att pedagoger anser att brister finns i samverkan med socialtjänsten. Det synliggörs hur de yrkesverksamma finner samverkan med socialtjänsten som en envägskommunikation och att de känner bristfällighet i återkoppling. Resultatet visar även att mer än hälften av pedagogerna är osäkra kring vilka rutiner som finns gällande orosanmälan på den arbetsplats de har. Genom dessa resultat kan studien bidra med inspiration för förbättringsarbete kring samverkan mellan skolan och socialtjänsten.

Affirmer que la construction européenne fut, dès sa naissance, sourde aux préoccupations sociales serait injuste et faux. Le Traité de Rome instituant la Communauté économique européenne en 1957 avait pour objectif l’établissement d’un grand marché commun. Néanmoins, à côté de cet objectif purement économique, l’article 117 du traité appelait à « l’amélioration des conditions de vie et de travail de la main d’œuvre, permettant leur égalisation dans le progrès ». Dans les années 60, la construction européenne en matière sociale se limite à un ensemble de dispositions visant à garantir la libre circulation des travailleurs et l’égalité entre hommes et femmes. Cette orientation sociale n’est pas une finalité en soi, mais est considérée comme un préalable nécessaire à l’établissement et l’approfondissement du marché commun. Ainsi, malgré l’insertion d’objectifs à caractère social, la Communauté économique européenne a souffert, dès l’origine, de ce que certains ont qualifié d’« asymétrie constitutionnelle ». Cette asymétrie résulte d’un déséquilibre entre politiques de promotion du marché commun et politiques de promotion de la protection sociale, résultat de l’échec du président du conseil Guy Mollet, à l’occasion des négociations précédant le Traité de Rome, de faire de l’harmonisation des règles sociales un préalable à l’intégration des politiques économiques nationales. La pensée néolibérale dominante des années 80 a conforté cette approche résiduelle des considérations d’ordre social, faisant de l’Europe sociale « le parent pauvre de la construction européenne ». Du fonctionnement du marché unique est attendue la croissance économique et, par voie de conséquence, le progrès social. [...] / No English summary available.

This diploma thesis analyses the offer of activation programs of centres, clubs and centres for social services for seniors in the capital city of Prague. The diploma thesis focuses on issues of activation of seniors. The research of the diploma thesis also aims to find out what the benefits of various activation programs for the elderly, how the seniors are looking at specific activities and how important they are to them. The aim of this diploma thesis is to find out what activities the seniors are most searching for and whether the choice is related to the age, family status, original vocation and education. The diploma thesis is a case study of empirical character. From the methodological point of view, the thesis uses two basic methods: firstly, the collection and analysis of relevant data from professional literature, and secondly, a qualitative research conducted by semistructured interviews with a representative sample of respondents.