Motel life has existed in the United States for over 100 years. However, it was not until the HEARTH Act in 2009 changed the federal definition of homelessness that those who live in motels more or less permanently were considered homeless persons. This project utilizes qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 18 families with children who are living in motels to explore their experiences with motel life and social service providers, their housing identity, and identity management strategies. Findings show that most of the motel residents did not identify with the conventional definition or image of homelessness and instead negotiated the term to fit their situation. Although they did not initially self-identify as homeless, when discussing policy recommendations all participants adopted a homeless social-identity (i.e., they identified as members of the homeless social category). As members of the homeless community, the participants agreed that homeless families in the area needed more attention and assistance. Participants were aware that outsiders would view them as homeless and during their interviews several identity management strategies were used. Motel residents described a hierarchy of homelessness and placed themselves at the top of it, perceiving themselves to be better people than even other motel residents. The identity management strategies employed by the participants were meant to show how they were good people who were just stuck in a motel because of circumstances outside of their control and how they were deserving of assistance to help their families move out of the motel and obtain adequate, permanent housing.

The aim of the thesis was "To assess the current state of awareness of the personnel of the social services providers in the field of extraordinary events, to assess the effectiveness of the implemented training program". Based on the stated objective, then, to verify 2 established hypotheses. Hypothesis No. 1, ´Awareness of social service provider staff on the recommended behaviour manners during extraordinary events does not reach 80% of correct response success´ , and Hypothesis No. 2, ´Social service provider staff education leads to an improvement in the current situation of behaviour manners during extraordinary events´. To fulfill this aim, a research survey was created, which I personally carried out in 4 social service providers, fulfilling the following criteria: the social service provider had to provide a ´stay´ form, handicapped individuals had to stay there´, and the place had to be located in the region of South Bohemia. The results were being evaluated via graphics processed in Microsoft Excel Word 2007 programme. To evaluate Hypothesis No. 2 I created an educative material in an e-learning form, containing 5 thematic areas: protection of population, fire, floods, chemical substances, and radio-active substances. I introduced this educative material to the social service provider staff, and subsequently I carried out a second round of interview survey. In the results of this work I was comparing the staff´s responses before the implemented educative programme, and after. The results of my research work have proven that the less staff takes part in education on protection of population, the less individuals are introduced to the recommended manners of behaviour during extraordinary events. The educative programme has brought valuable information for the social service provider staff. An improvement was missing in certain responses, but in my opinion, this is due to an extremely expert or thematic area of questions. The educative programme has brought valuable information for the social service provider staff. A significant improvement was noticed in the second round of questionnaire survey after implementing the educative programme. An improvement was missing in certain responses, but in my opinion, this is due to an extremely expert or thematic area of questions.

The services for handicapped people and their transformation after 2007 The present graduation thesis deals with screening the situation in the area of social services for persons with different handicap, especially regarding the transformation of social services after 2007. In the theoretical part, I am describing particularly the characteristics of the previous and the current systems of social services. When characterising the previous system of social services, I concentrate on the legislation, governing this system. Further I am presenting the characteristics and status of the consulting services, and socially activating service, as in the further chapters I am dealing with the latter when presenting the services of the KONÍČEK, o. s. association. When presenting the new system of social services, I am describing in particular the basic principles of this system, changes it brings to the users, legislation and quality standards of the social services. A big chapter is devoted to the Social Services Act. Further chapters describe the financing of social services, education of workers in social services, and work of volunteers in social services. The practical part presents my hypothesis and the aims of the present work. Further chapters present the target group and describe the data collection. Data was collected in the form a guided interview, the questions were answered by the representatives of the given non-profit organization. This chapter includes also a presentation of the activities of the KONÍČEK, o. s. association before 2007, when the services were not registered. Further I am presenting the activities of the association in 2008, when the association was already a registered provider of social services. I am presenting, in the Discussion chapter, the screening of the transformation of social services after 2007, the obtained data, and I am offering their comparison with the outputs found out in the KONÍČEK, o. s. association, or with literature data.

<p>Interrogating the concept of power is ethical social work practice. This research aims to investigate the manner in which visible minority women social service providers perceive the concept of power as non-managerial employees in the women’s shelter system. Therefore, the necessity to delineate the ongoing challenges and contradictions that shape the work experiences of visible minority women social service providers contributes and furthers our understanding of social justice, critical social work practice, and strategies to enhance workplace equity. In addressing the phenomenon of power from the viewpoint of those affected, this ultimately helps to broaden the understanding how as social workers it remains pivotal to raise awareness about the ongoing power imbalances in social services settings. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with visible minority women employed in the women’s shelter system in southern, Ontario were conducted and complement the author’s own personal reflections as a visible minority woman previously employed in the Violence Against Women’s shelter system. This research suggests that due to ongoing power differentials, neoliberal restructuring and discriminatory incidents, continued attention is required in order to address social inequality and enhance workplace equity.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

The American social welfare system is a mixed system consisting of loosely coupled government programs, private nonprofit and for-profit organizations, grassroots and religious entities. Although religious entities historically played a key role in the development of the social welfare system, the faith-based initiative of President George W. Bush targeted religious service providers to receive government funding and take on a larger role in service delivery to at-risk populations based on the belief that these providers were substantially different from traditional providers. Using a cross-sectional research design and a survey instrument created for the study, data was collected from 121 nonprofit service providers in the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area of Virginia. Nonprofit organizations were selected from three online databases using identified criteria and sent paper surveys and/or emails inviting them to complete a web-based survey. The study identified similarities and differences between characteristics of faith-based service providers and traditional providers and used a conceptual model composed of Resource Dependence Theory and Neo-Institutional Theory to suggest dynamics impacting similarities and differences between providers. Data analysis included univariate and multivariate analysis of organization characteristics. Univariate findings identified that faith-based organizations in the study were older, served more people in 2006, generally provided services via volunteers, received more funding from congregations and other religious entities and did not favor membership in professional organizations. Other than these notable differences, faith-based providers were fairly similar to their traditional counterparts. A multivariate analysis used a two-group discriminant function (DFA) procedure to determine which variables best discriminated between provider groups. Two variables, funding from congregations/other religious entities and funding from government grants/contracts, were found to be the most important discriminating variables. Study findings were consistent with prior research comparing the provider groups. Although some differences do exist, overall similarities tended to outweigh differences suggesting that the claim of substantially differences between providers did not fit the geographic area studied. For those concerned with community service delivery, the implication is that recent economic developments suggest that attention should be placed on collaboration and service delivery capacity-building rather than on the differences between service providers.

The world has experienced multiple disasters in recent years that have highlighted the importance of effective disaster preparedness and response initiatives. One prominent example is the January 12, 2010, 7.0 magnitude earthquake that shook Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The massive disaster made it difficult for local Haitian community officials to respond immediately, leaving the country reliant on foreign aid and international and non-governmental relief organizations. Within days, hundreds of organizations and volunteers mobilized to send physicians and medical specialists, nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists and social workers to the affected area. However, the political and financial instability of Haiti, in conjunction with limited resources and severe destruction from the earthquake, made it difficult to coordinate response efforts between hundreds of responding organizations. The literature indicates that when health professionals are disorganized and unprepared, they are at risk physically, emotionally and mentally which could hinder their effectiveness as first responders. While these risks have been made known, there is little literature that explores the effectiveness of the supports, as perceived by Canadian health and social service providers in Haiti. In order to address this gap, this qualitative study explores various supports that were available to health and social service providers in Haiti by focusing on their lived experiences pre-deployment, on-site and post-deployment. These findings provide evidence to inform policy development regarding future disaster relief and the supports available to health and social service workers assisting with international disaster response.

The world has experienced multiple disasters in recent years that have highlighted the importance of effective disaster preparedness and response initiatives. One prominent example is the January 12, 2010, 7.0 magnitude earthquake that shook Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The massive disaster made it difficult for local Haitian community officials to respond immediately, leaving the country reliant on foreign aid and international and non-governmental relief organizations. Within days, hundreds of organizations and volunteers mobilized to send physicians and medical specialists, nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists and social workers to the affected area. However, the political and financial instability of Haiti, in conjunction with limited resources and severe destruction from the earthquake, made it difficult to coordinate response efforts between hundreds of responding organizations. The literature indicates that when health professionals are disorganized and unprepared, they are at risk physically, emotionally and mentally which could hinder their effectiveness as first responders. While these risks have been made known, there is little literature that explores the effectiveness of the supports, as perceived by Canadian health and social service providers in Haiti. In order to address this gap, this qualitative study explores various supports that were available to health and social service providers in Haiti by focusing on their lived experiences pre-deployment, on-site and post-deployment. These findings provide evidence to inform policy development regarding future disaster relief and the supports available to health and social service workers assisting with international disaster response.

In my thesis I deal with the specifics of social work with clients with hearing defects. The purpose of my work was to find out what experiences the students of Czech schools have with people with hearing impairments and how they orient themselves in this issue. This thesis is divided into two main parts: Theoretical and Practical. The theoretical part of my work is divided into twelve chapters, which are focused on surdopaedia, hearing impairment, diagnostics, hearing screening, education and last but not least communication, compensatory aids and specifics of social work. In the practical part I used the questionnaire to find out basic information from students from the Hussite Theological Faculty. I was wondering if there are students at the faculty who are interested in this issue and whether they would like to work with people with hearing impairment in the future.

This master's thesis, named "Care and support of the elderly with multiple disabilities in retirement homes," focuses on the potential admission of these persons to retirement homes in the Czech Republic. The aim of this study is to find out whether and under what conditions seniors with multiple disabilities are admitted to the standard type of retirement homes. The empirical section deals with the legislative basis for retirement homes in the Czech Republic. Furthermore, it deals with sight, hearing, movement and cognitive functions in old age. For each of these monitored areas, this section contains descriptions of the greatest functional changes in the daily life of a senior citizen. The research section of this thesis is based on the testimonies of individual retirement homes. Sixteen randomly selected retirement homes were sent an application for the admission of a grandmother with diagnosed deafness and blindness. Based on their answers we can observe the attitudes of the individual facilities regarding this issue, and their conditions for admission. KEY WORDS Retirement homes, multiple disabilities, seniors, registry of social service providers, old age

Funding of Relief Services for Handicapped Children in the Liberec Region The theoretical part, divided into eight chapters, defines the following concepts: family of a handicapped child and society, relief services, domestic public sources to fund relief services, care subsidy, European sources to fund the relief service projects in 2007{--}2013, funding relief services by corporate sponsors, funding relief services through foundations and foundation funds, other sources to fund relief services. The objective of the thesis is to summarize the system, possibilities and forms of funding of relief services for handicapped children in the Liberec Region. Within my research, I applied the combination of semi-controlled interviews with the relief service providers and semi-controlled interviews with handicapped children{\crq}s parents. I also performed content analysis of documents. The semi-controlled interviews with the relief service providers showed that the current status of funding of the organizations providing relief services is not systematic. The results of the semi-controlled interviews with handicapped children{\crq}s parents indicate that the parents taking care of handicapped children in the Liberec Region barely use relief services. The interviewed parents do not distinguish between relief services and the other types of social services, do not know the organizations providing relief services in the Liberec Region and do not have even a vague idea of service costs. The research results lead to three hypotheses: the relief service providers in the Liberec Region must learn to utilize strategically both domestic and foreign financial resources. The relief service providers in the Liberec Region have the opportunity to start a long-term cooperation with corporate and individual sponsors. Handicapped children{\crq}s parents do not distinguish between relief services and the other types of social services. Keywords: relief services, social service providers, family, handicapped, handicapped child, Liberec Region, funding, financial resources.