Demand for supervision services of social workers in child care homes

Darbe pateikiama supervizijos kaip paslaugos teikimo būtinumą socialiniams darbuotojams dirbantiems vaikų globos namuose, apie perdegimo sindromo raišką socialiniame darbe kurį darbuotojai atlieka vaikų globos namuose.Constant process of change, increase in work volume and the uncertainty of the role working in child care homes requires some special time and place for awareness of and reflection on professional activities and relationships. For this, supervision service is offered. The paper analyzes the attitude of social workers in child care homes on the need for supervision service. The aim of the survey - to reveal child care homes social workers’ opinion on the necessity to participate in supervision. The survey methods applied: theoretical (analysis, comparison and generalization of scientific literature); empirical (questionnaires); statistical (statistical survey data analysis using statistical analysis software package SPSS 10). The quantitative survey was carried out consenting to ethical principles in March - July 2011. The population of the survey is comprised of 101 child care professionals working in child care homes in different regions of Lithuania, who aim to gain social worker’s qualification in re-qualification studies. Respondents’ work experience in social worker’s position in child care homes is no less than three years. The survey revealed that almost half of the respondents experienced job burnout syndrome, but only a third of them had supervision – according to the child care homes social workers, supervision service would be instrumental in addressing workplace conflicts, distinguishing professional role, facing crises because of unfulfilled need to share thoughts; compatibility of personal and professional identity; the burdens of working in a leading position. Social workers who had supervision experience noted that supervision service helps in creating a new work culture, evaluating professional activities from a broader perspective and encourages to look for possible methods of operation, appropriate measures and other effective solutions. The survey revealed that though supervision is necessary for social workers working in child care homes, for majority of them “this service is much too expensive”. Child care institutions should ensure the availability of social work supervision for all practitioners in the field. This would help to ensure the quality of the work as well as the emotional stability and job satisfaction of the employees.Švietimo akademijaVytauto Didžiojo universiteta