The phenomenon of female homelessness from the perspective of a social worker

The topic of this thesis is The Phenomenon of Female Homelessness as Seen by Health and Social Workers. Although the terms a homeless person and homelessness are terminologically unclear and there is no clear definition of this concept, the phenomenon of homelessness is known in our society. But it is not about homeless people as such, the Social Services Act defines homeless people as people without any housing available. Despite the fact that there is more information on male homelessness, the issues of female homelessness are coming to the fore. Female homelessness is an issue that is very closely linked to the loss of housing. However, the issue is not only about a loss of housing but also about the issue of domestic violence, maintaining dignity and, finally, it is also about the interest of children and their safety. Homelessness of families, whether it is a single mother with children or a father with children as well as a complete family, also begins to appear. With the increasing number of women threatened in this way, an increasing number of organizations providing social services for homeless women is beginning to appear. These services are provided as outpatient services, field services and residential services. Homeless people, and therefore homeless women, are provided with social services in asylum homes, hostels, drop-in day centres, crisis centres, halfway houses engaged in the prevention of homelessness of girls who leave institutional care, and social activation services for families with children that are threatened by this phenomenon. However, it includes not only these services, but a major role is played by social counselling that is provided to women in professional counselling centres. The issue of social services is dealt with by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic, but also by regions, municipalities and, ultimately, non-profit organizations. Qualitative research was chosen for the practical part of the thesis using the interview method with a manual. Case reports were processed based on the interviews conducted. The research was conducted at an asylum home for women and mothers with children (Azylový dům pro ženy a matky s dětmi in Tábor) and a crisis centre for mother and child (Krizové centrum pro matku a dítě in Kostelec). Ten respondents participated in the interviews. In addition, interviews were conducted with workers of social services in the South Bohemia region. The workers in each of the facilities were selected according to their posts; they were mainly social workers or manager of the facilities. Six respondents out of seven interviewed respondents from the asylum home for women and mothers with children participated in the research. The remaining four respondents were from the crisis centre for mother and child. The respondents were selected using purposive selection. After contacting the managers or social workers from the social service facilities for homeless women in the South Bohemia region, I was provided with, in addition to three facilities, necessary information about the capacity of the facilities and whether the service is adequate or not. The objective was to map the number of organizations that provide social services to homeless women in the South Bohemia region and find out the most common reasons that lead to the emergence of female homelessness. To achieve the set objectives the following research questions were formulated: Is the amount of social services for homeless women in the South Bohemia region sufficient? What are the most common reasons that lead to the emergence of female homelessness