Suchergebnisse

Act no. 142/2015 highlights the importance of children out-of-home being placed in a family context. However, foster care continues to be an almost absent component in the Portuguese childcare system. In 2017, it corresponded to just 3% of out-of-home care. This research aims to contribute to the understanding of the reasons for becoming a foster family. It adopted a qualitative approach, using carers' narrative interviews and practitioners semi-structured interviews, inspired by grounded theory. Foster family motivation is rooted in altruism, affection for children and sensitivity to maltreatment. These factors, as well as personal life course and contact with out-of-home care, induce a predisposition to become a foster family. The quality of the support services and the care professionals' performance also reveal key elements.

Foster care is an almost absent component in the child care system and scientific research conducted in Portugal foster comprises 3.2%1 of out-of-home care in Portugal. This research aims to contribute to a deeper visibility of the care phenomena, giving specific attention to the foster families themselves. This research adopted a qualitative analytical approach, inspired by Grounded Theory. Foster families' motivation is rooted in altruism, affection for children, and sensitivity to maltreatment. Personal and professional biography or past contact with out-of-home care can also induce predisposition to become a carer. The experience of being a carer2 is one of traversing through a life of many challenges and rewards. Considering the recognition from the stakeholders, it is a rewarding task. The quality of the service provided and the performance of the care professionals are both key elements to foster care.

Este artigo pretende discutir como a política social activa deu origem a um "serviço social activo" e que tipo de questões se levantam à profissão, tendo em conta a orientação subjacente à definição de Serviço Social da Fias. Uma das mais relevantes discussões neste domínio prende-se com a noção de empowerment segundo uma concepção que não se confina ao nível individual, mas se alarga ao nível comunitário e colectivo. A análise ensaiada baseia-se em dados recolhidos em estudos empíricos realizados em Portugal no âmbito do serviço social e da política social.

Foster families provide at-risk children with a family environment. In Portugal, however, there appears to be a major lack of political investment in foster care programmes, with only around 191 children currently placed with a foster family. To increase these numbers, we need to listen and give a voice to the social workers who provide support to foster carers. This empirical study uses a qualitative methodology based on interviews with practitioners working in the only two organisations offering a foster care programme. The qualitative analysis is inspired by categorical analysis. The findings suggest an urgent need for policy action to train workers throughout the child protection system so as to guarantee service quality standards. Moreover, this should be combined with a mass information campaign aimed at the general public. This would provide a real social image of foster families, as well as improving their recruitment and retention.

A necessidade de se promover o desenvolvimento sustentável com intenção de preservar ecossistemas através de políticas públicas das mais variadas, fez com que o comércio de células fotovoltaicas passasse a ser o grande foco de exploração econômica, patrocinando a narrativa de energia limpa, barata e sustentável. Todavia, a política regulatória da ANEEL sobre produtores individuais de células fotovoltaicas, prejudica o segmento econômico, motivo pelo qual representantes do setor de energia solar defendem a incorporação dos benefícios da modalidade na análise regulatória na atualização do modelo normativo no País, atualmente prejudicando a competitividade e o desenvolvimento econômico e sustentável no Brasil.

AbstractThe Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI) was created in Portugal by a centre‐left Socialist Party government in 1996, as the most important constitutive part of a 'new generation of active social policies,' which completed the existence in Portugal of a universal system of guaranteed income. Its transformation into a Social Integration Income (SII) in 2003 and its retrenchment in the period of the Great Recession and troika austerity (2011–2015) has reduced the scope of this policy measure as a universal safety net policy. This article examines the context and the major drivers for the creation and for the policy changes that occurred in the GMI/SII. Looking at the political debates and the changes in this policy measure along this period, we argue that the major reforms introduced since its creation reflect ideological cleavages within the political arena. Considering the very low share in total government current expenditure of GMI/SII, this can explain the social policy selective retreat associated to the changes introduced in this policy measure by the centre‐right coalition in government, in the latest period of cost containment of social policy in Portugal, leading to a great decrease in the number of beneficiaries and to an increase of its inadequacy.

This book explores the role and impact of the settlement house movement in the global development of social welfare and the social work profession. It traces the transnational history of settlement houses and examines the interconnections between the settlement house movement, other social and professional movements and social research. Looking at how the settlement house movement developed across different national, cultural and social boundaries, this book show that by understanding its impact, we can better understand the wider global development of social policy, social research and the social work profession

Bringing together international case studies, this book offers theoretical and empirical insights into the interaction between social work and social policy. Moving beyond existing studies on policy practice, the book employs the policy cycle as a core analytical frame and focuses on the influence of social work(ers) in the problem definition, agenda setting, policy formulation and implementation of social policy. Twenty-three contributors offer examples of policy making from seven different countries and demonstrate how social work practitioners can become political actors, while also encouraging policy makers to become aware of the potential of social work for the social policy-making process

Based on data from 12 diverse societies, this is the first cross-national comparative study on academic engagement in social policy formulation. The chapters present survey data on the policy involvement of social work academics in different countries and an analysis of this data by country experts. The findings relate to the levels and types of policy engagement of the social work academics, their perceptions regarding this type of activity and the factors associated with this. This unique perspective on the academia-society nexus is essential reading for academics and students interested in the ongoing debate on the role of academia in policy, particularly those policies dealing with issues of social justice and social change

Research into minimum income standards and reference budgets around the world is compared in this illuminating collection from leading academics in the field. From countries with long established research traditions to places where it is relatively new, contributors set out the different aims and objectives of investigations into the minimum needs and requirements of populations, and the historical contexts, theoretical frameworks and methodological issues that lie behind each approach. For policymakers, practitioners and social policy and poverty academics, this essential review of learnings to date and future prospects for research is all the more relevant in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, testing health and social protection systems around the globe