Contracting Out of Social Services

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hillel Schmid ◽  
Yeheskel “Zeke” Hasenfeld
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Contracting Out ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Dual Loyalty ◽  
The Social ◽  
The One

Contracting out of social services is defined as the purchase of services by government agencies from for-profit and nonprofit organizations. It has a long history beginning with the English Poor Law of 1723 and becoming a major policy during Reagan's administration. Both the advantages and shortcomings of contracting out are described and analyzed. The effects on providers' accountability to government and clients and the implications for social work practice and ethics are discussed. Special emphasis is given to the social workers' dilemma facing a dual loyalty to contractor–employer on the one hand and to clients on the other.

Post COVID-19 youth work: A contribution to the Swedish social pedagogical debate

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-120
Author(s):  
Irena Dychawy Rosner
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Youth Work ◽  
Pedagogical Expertise ◽  
Youth Education ◽  
Social Pedagogy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Work Practitioners

The coronavirus pandemic affects the whole world. This situation is a very challenging time for all humanity and social services no less. The present article explores how care and different forms of support can or should be offered to young people in the post-COVID-19 youth work. The objective of this paper is to reflect on how social work practitioners can adapt their daily clinical practice by focusing their interventions on the social pedagogical dimensions of social work. The article presents a generalised discussion of practice logics in social work and social pedagogy. Because of the meanings derived from knowledge on the importance of relationships between the helper and the help receiver, social practices in the post-COVID-19 world need to consider social pedagogical expertise in social work practice and the development of preventive assistance for young populations. This effort has been prepared as a part of the project “Social Professionals for Youth Education in the context of European Solidarity".

When Douby looked for a home: ‘standing by’ within the establishment

Radical Hope ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 203-210
Author(s):  
Michal Krumer-Nevo
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Ethical Principle ◽  
Service Users ◽  
The Social ◽  
Local Social Services

This is the first chapter of Part Four of the book, which is titled “Solidarity”. Solidarity is an ethical principle that dictates the positioning of the social worker vis-à-vis service users. The chapter tells the story of a woman who was evicted from the apartment that she had occupied for 12 years and the struggle of her social worker to change the eviction order. The chapter addresses the tension between practice based on solidarity and mainstream social work practice in local social services.

Beta Testing in Social Work

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-168
Author(s):  
Dorian E. Traube ◽  
Stephanie Begun ◽  
Robin Petering ◽  
Marilyn L. Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Consumer Markets ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Beta Testing

The field of social work does not currently have a widely adopted method for expediting innovations into micro- or macropractice. Although it is common in fields such as engineering and business to have formal processes for accelerating scientific advances into consumer markets, few comparable mechanisms exist in the social sciences or social services. Given that beta testing is successfully used to scale innovation in business and engineering, why is there no method for beta testing in social work? Could this be the reason that innovations in social work practice remain decades behind scientific research findings? This article explores reasons for the scarcity of options for scaling innovation in the field of social work and proposes a method for shortening development cycles for social work innovations to ensure that advances reach consumers—and ultimately improve their lives—more quickly.

Consumer Opinion and Social Policy: A Research Review

1976 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Research Review ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
The Social

ABSTRACTDevelopments in the realms of social work practice, writing and research have provided fuel for the claim that the opinion of the consumer should exercise a formative influence in the development of policies impinging on the social services. However, it is difficult to decide when the opinion of the consumer has been understood. Also, even when the views of consumers are known, the question of how these views are utilized in the formulation of policies remains problematic. Furthermore, weaknesses in the research strategies of recent studies limit the applicability of policy recommendations which occur in this literature.

scholarly journals Social work in the public services in Brazil - disclosing ruling relations in a local context

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-146
Author(s):  
Trond Heitmann
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Local Context ◽  
The Public ◽  
Professional Careers ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship

This article about social workers in the public social services in Brazil explores professional social work practice through the subjective standpoint of the social workers. Inspired by institutional ethnography, this approach explicates how understandings of social work are interpreted and implemented in various contexts. The findings show that the formalization of the relationship with the employer through contracts of employment implicate that the disciplinary normative definitions of social work succumb to institutional regulations, which are not necessarily discipline specific. In addition, the temporary character of the contracts of employment makes the social workers align their practice to institutional frameworks and demands, as they are personally interested in renewal of the contracts and the maintenance of their professional careers. With this approach, disciplinary, political, ideological, legal and moral definitions of social work are not viewed as the essences of social work, but rather as contextual processes that are locally activated in different contexts. At the same time, it underscores social work as a political profession which should naturally include interventions on political, juridical, economic and organizational levels. Consequently, professional social work is not one thing, nor only one profession, but rather professional practices adapted to a variation of contexts. This perspective is significant to help detect areas of intervention for social change.

Social Work with the Older People of Tomorrow: Restoring the Person-in-Situation

2005 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Silverstone
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Older Persons ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Generic Models ◽  
The Social ◽  
Practice Models ◽  
Building Practice

The author proposes that, in practice with older adults, the social work profession revisit its traditional allegiance to the person-in-situation paradigm and redress an imbalance that has obscured older clients as persons in their own right. The case is made that older adults and their subjective reality must be restored as a focus of social work practice if the profession is to play a significant and much-needed role in community-based services to a growing future population of older persons living in their own homes and directing their lives but in need of support. Building on the practice wisdom of the past and current generic models of social work practice in North America, guidelines are presented as a starting place for building practice models applicable to older clients. The broader context of community health and social services programs is examined from the perspective of the obstacles to and potential opportunities for increasing professional social work services to older persons and their families.

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Social Work: Relationship-based Practice Responses

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Frederick ◽  
Trevor Spratt ◽  
John Devaney
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Adverse Childhood ◽  
The Social ◽  
Fundamental Misunderstanding

Abstract Individuals with higher numbers of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been found to be overrepresented amongst users of social services. This poses challenges for service providers in seeking ways to incorporate knowledge about ACEs in the calibration of service provision, and for social workers as to how they might use such knowledge in their day-to-day practice. The key contribution of this article is as a position piece that aims to map out a possible response to the ACEs evidence from social work. Practice needs to be informed by an understanding of the causes and consequences of trauma in the lives of individuals and groups. Short-term interventions based on proximal causes have resulted in a fundamental misunderstanding as to the aetiology of the problems experienced and to the types of interventions required to facilitate their amelioration. ACEs research offers a new understanding of how connecting trajectories are formed and maintained in ways that integrate biological, psychological and sociological concepts. In this article, we have made selective use of key texts and studies in the social work literature to illustrate how relationship-based social work may be appropriated and repurposed to align with interventions to mitigate the effects of ACEs.

scholarly journals Innovative Social Work Practices for Vulnerable Groups of the Population in Ukraine

2020 ◽  
pp. 91-113
Author(s):  
Yu.V. HOREMYKINA
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
The Social

Th is article is devoted to the issues of formation and functioning of innovative social work practices in Ukraine. Its purpose is to highlight the best examples of innovative social work practices for vulnerable groups in the country and to analyze the possibilities for their further application. Th e relevance of the study, on the one hand, is conditioned by the humanization of approaches to building relationships between the individual and the social protection system, the appearance at the state level of the requirements for the quality of social services, which are refl ected in the activities of social services, creating certain new models of work with socially vulnerable groups of citizens, and on the other hand it is conditioned by the severity and unresolvedness of a number of social problems related to the social protection of vulnerable populations. Such general scientifi c methods as generalization and analogies logical analysis are used for realization of the purpose. Innovative prac- tices are practices in the fi eld of social work practices for vulnerable groups, which have emerged as new ways of meeting the urgent needs of social service clients and aiming to achieve the most eff ective result both in solving the problems of individuals in need and social problems in general. Th e author proposes the algorithm for the formation of innovative social work practice, which covers all stages from the identifi cation of the need for such practice to the beginning of the functioning of an innovative practice. It is found that case management and integrated social services are the most widespread among innovative practices in the fi eld of social work in Ukraine. Th e article analyzes the specifi cs of both innovative practices and identifies and justifies the ways of their further development. Both practices have proven their eff ectiveness and fl exibility in solving specifi c social problems, and therefore the possibilities of their application (including in the newly created territorial communities) are expected to be expand in the future. Combined, these practices are able to ensure the high effi ciency of the domestic social service delivery system.

scholarly journals From Needs to Relationships to Organisations: Transactional Complexity in Social Work in the Swedish Social Services

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (7) ◽  
pp. 2098-2115
Author(s):  
Evelyn Khoo ◽  
Lennart Nygren ◽  
Ahmet Gümüscü
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Family Needs ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
The Social ◽  
Interactive Relationship

Abstract This article explores how Swedish social workers in different sectors of the social services understand complexity in relation to the needs found in ‘family’ and in social work practice. This study is based on interviews with sixty social workers in five service sectors: child welfare, elderly care, disability care, substance abuse and social assistance. The social workers’ reports of understanding and dealing with families with complex needs reveal distinctions between deeply rooted and broadly based needs. Complex family needs are transformed into complex cases based on family composition, relationships between clients and social workers and organisational context. Complexity theory, and in particular the term transactional complexity, is applied to describe the interactive relationship in and between complex needs, relational complexity and organisational complexity. The boundaries between these three domains are not distinct, and the interconnectivity and complexities occurring in and between them contribute to the production of much of the ‘wickedness’ that exists in social work practice. Social workers may gain from this knowledge in order to unravel the often intangible complexity that commonly appears in social work with families.

Listening to the Voices of Individuals with Disabilities

1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen French Gilson ◽  
John C. Bricout ◽  
Frank R. Baskind
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Individuals With Disabilities ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
The Social

Social work literature, research, and practice on disabilities has lagged behind other topical areas dealing with oppressed groups. The social work literature remains “expert focused” and generally fragmented into discussions of specific disabilities or subpopulations. A viable general model that deals with the personal experience of disability is not available. This exploratory study presents a social work literature search and analysis as well as interviews with six individuals with disabilities about their experiences with social workers. Individuals with disabilities assert that they were treated as though they had categorically fewer aspirations, abilities, and perhaps even fundamental rights than did nondisabled people. This study provides a base for follow-up research on models of consumer-focused social work practice in the area of disability.

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