Master Thesis 2013 David Pospíšil Abstract: The subject of this master thesis is to analyze the current state of the mid- term planning of social services at regional level. This master thesis also describes the historical context of community planning, social services and their financing system. In this thesis there are applied methods as problem and objectives tree and multi-criteria evaluation of mid-term plans of social services development at the regional level, analysis and study of current legal standards related to this issue and questionnaire survey with representatives of the regions and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. This thesis deals with the mid-term planning of social services in relation to the present legal anchor in Czech legislation. Mid-term planning of social services is based on the principle of subsidiarity. The whole process should be as open to the public and especially other immediate stakeholders as to providers or users of social services. The planning process is not entirely new tool for decision-making and the development of strategies. It appears there are many activities and areas that are not well interconnected. For example, the process of financing social services, which is conducted partly at the regional and partly on the state level. Within the planning...

The thesis "Financing of Social Care services for the Elderly in the Czech Republic - Current Problems and Challenges" deals with analysis of system of social care services for the elderly in view of the fact that the current financing form is subject to criticism for its inefficiency. The aim of this thesis is to critically reflect changes in the provision and financing of social care services for the elderly in the Czech Republic after 2007 in the context of current challenges related to long-term social care and health care. The thesis in its introduction first deals with the formulation of the research problem, deals with particular targets, research questions and the methods of data collection, which are the methods of analysis and public policy making and qualitative research methods. It also discusses the theoretical background of social services and their financing. The next chapter of the thesis deals with the system development of social services and changes in the provision and financing of social care services, which occurred in connection with the adoption of Act No. 108/2006 Coll., On social services. The following chapter deals with analysis of the financing form of social care services in terms of financial resources and problems of financing these services through the care...

The thesis deals with the problem of unavailability of social services for seniors in the former administrative district Břeclav in the South Moravia Region with regard to demographic trends and social changes taking place in the Czech Republic. The thesis is divided into two main parts, theoretic and empirical. The theoretic part defines research problem, which is the unavailability of social services for seniors, deals with terms of age, population ageing and social services. Then the author analyzes theoretical concepts and value frameworks - quality of life, quality of social services and the concept of welfare mix. The theoretical part concludes an analysis of current trends in the Czech Republic, which have a significant influence on the development of social services for seniors. In the empirical part of the thesis, the author focuses on the assessment of the availability and quality of social services for seniors in the former administrative district Břeclav. The social services for seniors are evaluated in terms of territorial, capacity and financial availability. Quality of social services for seniors are evaluated on the basis of a survey of satisfaction among clients of residential social facilities. The added value of this thesis is the creation of a detailed review of all social...

7 ABSTRACT RÁŽA, Filip. The Concept of Employee Appraisal System in the Organization. Prague, Faculty of Humanities, Charles Univesity, 2014. 130 pp. Master Degree Thesis. This thesis deals with the employee appraisal system in an organization providing social services. The topic is dealt with case study of specific organization with a focus on professional development. Using literature initially creating the theoretical framework of the topic of employee evaluation. Using methods of qualitative research strategy analyze their own data acquired for setting up the evaluation system in the organization. The outcome of this work is employee appraisal system in organization Civic Association Light Kadan. This system reflects the requirements of the organization's management and employees' needs and expectations from the employee appraisal system of the organization. The main aim of the proposed system is to support the professional development of employees and thus improve the quality of services provided by the organization. Key words: Employee Appraisal System, Professional Development of Employees, Social Services

The aim of this study is to identify factors influencing senior decisions to use activation programs. The theoretical part summarizes the basic concepts of age and aging studies, social services for the elderly, the system context and current trends in care for the elderly, the importance of activation of seniors, motivation, specific forms of activation programs and their creation process. The empirical part analyzes of the data obtained using qualitative research. The results of this study showed that the seniors want to do more themselves, feel good, keep fit, to enhance their knowledge and skills, to experience the feeling of being useful and understanding, the need of joy and, not least, be among people, interact with them and learn about them. The results thus confirmed the importance of activation programs for seniors that promote both physical and mental health.

Sweden is often seen as a pioneer when it comes to children’s rights. Despite this, there is a lack of children's participation in issues that affects them. The aim of this study is to explore how social workers in the Swedish social services enable children’s participation in assessments and which factors that can affect this. The study has used a qualitative method with semi-structured interviews with six social workers. The interviews have been analyzed by using Shier’s pathways to participation model and Lipsky ́s theory of street level bureaucrats. The result shows that social workers enable children's participation by using different methods and tools, the two most common being BBIC and Signs of Safety. Factors that can affect the work with children’s participation are implementation of different methods into the organisation which have a positive effect and a lack of time due to a high workload which have a negative effect. The conclusion of this study is that the social workers have a lot of methods and tools to enable children’s participation but that factors like lack of time due to a high workload makes it impossible for the social workers to enable children’s participation in the way that they should.

The aim of this study is to analyze and try to find out why the legislation of coordinatedindividual plan does not appear to be implemented as intended. This is studied with a focus onthe social services part of the coordination and with a focus on the parts of the social servicethat relate to addiction. This has been done by interviewing ten social workers from tendifferent municipalities. The theoretical framework consists of implementation theories.By using a qualitative content analysis on the material, eight different categories have beenidentified that also constitute the empirical part of the study. It shows that there is a differencebetween what and how much education the social workers have received and that it alsodiffers around the perception around whether they have sufficient knowledge. Most peopleexpress that the work with coordinated individual plan affects the workload but that it issomething that is prioritized either way and can make the work more efficient in the longerrun. All social workers are positively attuned to coordinated individual plans, but they stillfeel that improvements can be made. To explain the results of the study, it is discussed basedon different implementation theories.

The motivation for the thesis was to discover whether Finnish Red Cross Youth Shelters can be evaluated and developed from legal and moral standpoints, such as the Human Rights. A special focus is put on how the international law gets interpreted and practiced in a local (Youth Shelter) context. Findings from the collected data are based on the experiences of the Youth Shleter’s employees and volunteers through workshop discussions, surveys and interviews. This observational work done within the thesis is an initial mapping of how “things are at the moment”. Data is analysed with The New Legal Realism (NLR) theory, which main focus is to study law’s context-based interpretations and mobility ie. how international law creates meanings in a local setting. (Dagan & Kreitner, 2018; 534.) The value of the findings will increase through new ideas, support measures and a better identification of the needs of employees and volunteers arising from the findings. The observational work is inspired by the idea that if someone has an obligation to ensure rights, they are also entitled to get support with knowledge of how to implement them properly.

Des premiers jumelages à la coopération décentralisée, les collectivités territoriales françaises ont vu évoluer leur objet et leurs pratiques, mais l’accès aux services sociaux de base demeure l’une de leurs principales thématiques d’intervention dans les territoires partenaires d’Afrique subsaharienne. Le transfert de cette compétence à leurs communes partenaires du Sud dans le cadre de la mise en œuvre du processus de décentralisation, ont vu celles-ci faire face aux grandes attentes des habitants de leur territoire qui espèrent une amélioration de leurs conditions de vie. La coopération décentralisée a alors vu se reporter sur elle ces attentes et est de plus en plus perçue comme un atout majeur dans la lutte contre la pauvreté et la réduction des inégalités d’accès aux services sociaux de base dans les territoires partenaires du Sud.Afin d’évaluer l’impact de cette forme de partenariat sur la réduction des inégalités d’accès à l’éducation, à l’eau potable et à la santé, deux méthodes d’évaluation ont été combinées : la méthode quasi expérimentale (ou de la double différence) et l’appariement.La mise en œuvre de cette méthode à travers la comparaison et la mesure de la différence entre huit communes burkinabés et béninoises en coopération décentralisée avec des collectivités territoriales françaises, et huit communes appariées n’ayant jamais eu des partenariats de coopération décentralisée, nous a permis de mesurer un impact inégal et diversifié de la coopération décentralisée. Cette méthode d’évaluation innovante de la coopération décentralisée de par la spécificité de cette forme d’intervention qui en limite l’application, nous a également permis d’établir un lien entre l’impact de celle-ci et la diversité des pratiques et des acteurs impliqués. La coopération décentralisée est en pleine évolution et encore dans un processus de construction, mais elle peut cependant constituer une forme d’intervention efficace dans la lutte contre la pauvreté et la réduction des inégalités. / From the first twinning to decentralized cooperation, the French territorial communities have seen their object and their practices evolve, but access to the basic social services remains one of their main thematic of intervention in territories partners of sub-Saharan Africa. The transfer of this competence to their southern municipalities partners in the context of the implementation of the decentralization process, made them face the expectations of the inhabitants of their territory hopping for an improvement of their living conditions. Therefore, these expectations have been reported on the Decentralized cooperation and increasingly became a major asset in the fight against poverty and the reduction of inequalities in access to basic social services in territories partners in the South.To assess the impact of this form of partnership on the reduction of inequalities in access to education, clean water and health, two evaluation methods were combined: the quasi-experimental (or the double difference) method and matching. The implementation of this method through the comparison and measurement of the difference between eight Burkinabe and Beninese municipalities which are in decentralized cooperation with French territorial communities, and eight matched municipalities who have never been in decentralized cooperation partnerships, has helped us to measure an illegal an diversified impact of decentralized cooperation. This innovative method of evaluation due to the specificity of this kind of intervention that restricts the application, it allowed us to establish a link between the impact thereof and the diversity of practices and the actors involved. Decentralized cooperation is evolving and still in building process, but however, it may be a form of effective intervention in the fight against poverty and the reduction of inequalities.

In the United States, homelessness is often connected to traumatic events such as domestic violence, job loss, or post incarceration experiences, frequently resulting in substance use disorders, medical issues, and related mental illnesses. Although researchers have considered how homelessness and social service interventions affect sexual and gender minority youth, they have not adequately studied the causes and effects of homelessness among transgender women. The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to bridge this gap in knowledge by exploring the experiences of chronically homeless transgender women. The research question focused on the lived experiences of chronically homeless transgender women who try to obtain social services from outreach workers. A purposive sample of 8 chronically homeless transgender women from the southeastern United States completed individual face-to-face interviews. Using phenomenological strategies, the narratives were analyzed and interpreted into codes, categories, and themes. Four central themes were identified, including reasons for homelessness, the lived experience of chronic homelessness, experiences related to transgender identity, and involvement with social services. Participants faced barriers with social services agencies and outreach workers, including administrative demand for binary gender classification, blatant ignorance and discrimination, and a lack of trans-positive treatment facilities and shelters. The findings and recommendations from this study may advance positive social change by guiding the efforts of social service agencies and outreach workers to improve the quality of social services for transgender women.