The role of supporting parents in vulnerable situations

Ranjivim skupinama roditelja, odnosno roditeljima koji podižu djecu u otežanim okolnostima potrebno je pružiti podršku i osigurati programe sukladno njihovim potrebama. U tom smjeru, na europskoj i nacionalnim razinama, posljednjih godina postignut je napredak donošenjem javnopolitičkih dokumenata usmjerenih na poboljšanje položaja roditelja, djece te obitelji općenito, a raste i broj istraživanja usluga za ove populacije. Ovaj rad prikazuje rezultate kvalitativnog istraživanja provedenog metodom fokusnih grupa sa stručnim djelatnicima dvaju centara za socijalnu skrb iz različitih regija RH (Slavonija i Istra) te s predstavnicima udruga koje pružaju usluge djeci, roditeljima i obiteljima. Cilj istraživanja bio je dobiti uvid u to koje usluge podrške Centri za socijalnu skrb te udruge nude roditeljima koji se nalaze u ranjivim situacijama te kako definiraju njihove nepokrivene potrebe kao i usporediti pružanje usluga između gradova. Uz to, cilj istraživanja bio je i steći uvid u kvalitetu suradnje između centara za socijalnu skrb i udruga te njihove preporuke za razvoj usluga. Rezultati su pokazali da, prema percepciji predstavnika udruga, ali i stručnjaka iz CZSS, ranjive skupine roditelja još uvijek nisu u velikoj mjeri zadovoljene u svojim potrebama te da postoje prepreke koje daju prostor za nedovoljan angažman institucija i premalu suradnju između institucija i udruga.It is necessary to provide support and ensure programs for vulnerable groups of parents, respectively parents who raise their children in difficult circumstances, in accordance with their needs. At the European and at the national level progress has been made in recent years by adopting public policy documents focused on improving the situation of parents, children and families in general, and there is a growing number of research services for this population. This paper presents results of a quantitative research conducted by focus groups with the representatives of two Social Welfare Centers from different Croatian regions (Slavonija and Istra) and with the representatives of organizations that provide services to children, parents and families. The aim of this research was to gain insight into what services SWCs and organizations provide for the parents in vulnerable situations, how they define theirs unsatisfied needs and to compare the provisioning of the services between different cities. In addition, the goal of this research was to gain insight into the quality of cooperation between the SWCs and other organizations as well as their recommendations for the development of the services. The results showed that, according to the perception of representatives of organizations, as well as experts from SWCs, vulnerable groups of parents are still not largely satisfied in their needs and that there are obstacles that give space for insufficient engagement of the institutions and too little cooperation between the institutions and organizations