Financial Capability and Asset Building With a Racial- and Gender-Equity Lens: Advances From the Field

This essay explores the enormous potential of social service organizations to contribute to people’s financial well-being. It is informed by the work of four pioneering organizations that use a racial- and gender-equity lens to advance financial well-being. It explores five strategies: (a) embedding financial development into social services; (b) focusing on youth transitioning to adulthood; (c) partnering with asset coalitions to expand financial opportunities; (d) partnering with financial institutions; and (e) developing fintech with equity. These approaches hold promise to help address the racial wealth gap and improve financial security.

Domestic sexual child abuse: Social and social-cultural aspects

The ratification of the Lanzarote Convention by Russia in 2013 entails several issues that cannot be resolved without the help of social-humanitarian sciences. Information from sociology, psychology, and jurisprudence has been used to create a concept for the empirical study of the domestic violence against children - to improve the implementation of the Convention in Russia. The concept considers two aspects of the problem - social and social-cultural. The article presents the Russian experience of how the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse are implemented. The authors analyze statistical data on the number of families in which a sexually abused child is brought up; the number of abortions and childbirths by minors; the number of minors in educational colonies; the work of the childrens helpline; the number of mediation services; the number of social service organizations for families and children; the number of professionals working with children in programs aimed at preventing and protecting children from sexual exploitation and abuse; the number of organizations providing psychological-pedagogical and medical-social assistance; the number of specialized multifunctional centers providing assistance to families and child victims of sexual abuse; the number of specialized green rooms for investigating crimes related to minors; the number of specialists accompanying minors who have come into conflict with the law at all stages of the investigation and court proceedings; the number of professionals trained under the Child Sexual Violence Protection Program and now assisting families and child victims of violence. The article will be useful for readers who study the implementation of the Lanzarote Convention and the issues of child sexual abuse and domestic violence.

Delivery of Home and Community Based Services During a Pandemic: Unexpected Consequences

The COVID-19 pandemic required AAAs to pause essential services, serving as a catalyst for innovation. We examined such innovations as part of an explanatory mixed-methods, positive deviance study of AAA partnerships with health and social service organizations. We identified 8 AAAs with many partners serving areas with lower levels of health care use, and 3 AAAs with few partners serving areas with higher levels of health care use. We interviewed AAA and partners, (total = 123). Using the constant comparative method, we identified recurrent themes: 1) AAAs adapted to increased demand for services by developing new ways to deliver services, 2) the pandemic raised awareness of unmet needs such as social connection, 3) changes in delivery of services included embracing technology, and 4) AAAs and their partners identified resources to rapidly pivot services. AAAs and partners demonstrated resiliency to not only to sustain programs, but to innovate throughout the pandemic.

8050 議題之考量—由社會轉變及傳統家庭結構分析—

<p>日本因進入快速老化的社會，故浮現年長者須面對的社會問題，同時，因社會及經濟系統的去穩定作用，例如嚴厲失業環境或學校或工作場合與他人的增強競爭，開始有人因沒有對社會生活的適應能力而窩居家中、隔絕於社會，這些人被稱為繭居族。當他們退出社會且窩在家中愈久，年紀漸增也失去獲得自撐所需要的技能，因而造成 80 餘歲的父母要用其退休金去支撐其 50 餘歲的孩子，此稱為 8050 議題。</p> <p>社福組織及研究者主要論辯點在於快速轉變的社會如何形成繭居族以及其行為如何影響 8050 議題，然而，因該論點聚焦於社會快速轉變，而缺乏傳統家庭結構與價值如何影響 8050 議題的可能性，日本的家庭似乎仍保留傳統習俗，而這些習俗仍影響著家庭的思維與行為。</p> <p>基於以上背景，本論文將結合快速社會轉變及傳統家庭結構與價值兩個面向之概念，以釐清 8050 議題之機轉。</p> <p>&nbsp;</p><p>Since Japan has entered into super aging society, there have appeared social problems with which elderly people have faced. Simultaneously, because of destabilization of society and economic system such as tough employment environments or intensifying competition with others in schools or working places, there were people who isolated from society and kept staying home for long time due to maladaptive response to social life. These people are called as hikikomori. As they withdrew from society and stayed their houses longer and longer, they got aged and lost the opportunity to acquire skills necessary for their self-support. As a consequence, parents in their 80s who are receiving pensions need to support their children in their 50s. This issue is called as the 8050 issue. Social service organizations and researchers mainly argue how drastic social transformation produce hikikomori and how their behaviours influence toughness of the 8050 issue. However, because of the focus on the influence by drastic social transformation, their arguments would lack the prospects about how traditional family structure and value influence the 8050 issue. Japanese family seems to remain traditional custom and such custom still affects family’s thoughts and behaviours. Due to these backgrounds, this paper will clarify the mechanism of 8050 issue with combining both of theories of drastic social transformation and concepts about traditional family structure and value.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Social Workers on Improving Medical and Social Assistance in Social Service Organizations

The article deals with the issues arising in the process of performing their official duties by social workers. A representative survey of social workers on the most pressing issues of their provision of medical and social assistance and social and medical services in social service organizations of the population of Moscow was conducted. The problems of providing medical and social assistance to the population by social workers during the global pandemic COVID-19 are analyzed. This group of specialists carries out a significant amount of medical work that is not regulated by their official duties. The lack of necessary competencies does not allow social workers to provide medical and social assistance to consumers of social and medical services to a sufficient extent. It seems appropriate to transfer part of the functions of medical personnel to social workers. The data obtained in the study can be a methodological basis for improving medical and social assistance, increasing the availability of social and medical services provided in social service organizations.

"I Don't Know Where Else to Go": Pathways to Re-Exploitation After Female Sex Trafficking Survivors in Cambodia Return Homw

Little is known about the experiences of human trafficking survivors over the long term. Why do some survivors experience re-victimization while others do not? Drawing from longitudinal interviews with 64 female sex trafficking survivors in Cambodia, we use qualitative comparative analysis to compare which conditions in the lives of survivors are associated with re-exploitation and which are associated with not experiencing re-exploitation. We found there are multiple factors associated with re-exploitation tied to poverty, debt, low education, and social isolation from friends, family, and the community. Poverty is a necessary condition but is not sufficient for explaining re-exploitation on its own. Conditions contributing to the absence of re-exploitation include not having debt, not sending remittances to family, being married with children, and having social support from family, friends and/or the community. We discuss distinctions between social support for survivors (e.g., from social service organizations) and broader social protections (embedded in social and cultural institutions). Each is relevant for post-trafficking services and survivor reintegration in different ways.

Comparison of Reduced-Fare Programs for Low-Income Transit Riders

Means-based reduced-fare programs can help address transit rider fare equity. The objective of this study is to synthesize the current state of reduced-fare programs for low-income transit riders. The reduced-fare programs of the 50 largest transit agencies in the United States were examined and agencies with programs for low-income riders were compared based on three dimensions: eligibility and enrollment, fare media and discount pricing, and estimated transit expenditure by eligible riders. The results reveal that 17 of the 50 largest transit agencies have low-income reduced-fare programs. Of these, 14 agencies administer the programs themselves, while three use partnerships with social service organizations to administer them. Additionally, nine of the 14 agencies that administer their own programs provide a 50% discount on fares and require participants to have an income at or below 125% to 200% of the federal poverty level for eligibility. Using a method developed to evaluate the “fare burden” of transit riders with different income levels, it was determined that low-income reduced-fare program participants at the income eligibility threshold typically spend an estimated 2% to 6% of their annual income on transit, although very-low-income people may need to spend much higher shares of their incomes on transit fares. These results indicate that agencies may need to reevaluate the structure of their existing low-income reduced-fare programs and implement tiers of discounts to ensure that fare equity is being extended to all riders.

THE EXPRESSION OF MANAGERIAL LEADERSHIP IN SOCIAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS

The aim of social service organizations that provide modern social services is to give quality social services that would help a person (family) to become independent and able to integrate into society. Successful operation of organizations is ensured by the ability of managers to lead, motivate employees to achieve the set goals, and promote cooperation with stakeholders. Therefore, managerial leadership is especially important to influence the activities of the members of the organization, creating conditions for continuous improvement and cooperation. A leader must be able to bring employees into a team, evaluating achievements and facilitating social interaction between team members, and strive to continually improve employees’ ability to provide individual, customer-oriented services. The aim of the article is, based on theoretical analysis and empirical research, to highlight the peculiarities of managerial leadership in social service organizations and to define the influence of leadership in the process of providing social services to employees, service recipients, and stakeholders. The research revealed what the most important characteristics, personal qualities, and competencies of a leader in an organization are and what influence managerial leadership has when organizing and providing quality social services. The research identified the aspects of managerial leadership that would help ensure successful operation of organizations when providing effective support to those experiencing exclusion in the community.