Social work challenges and strategy of child care institutions during the times of reconstruction

Relevance of the topic. In 2015 more than 2 million children in the world were in institutional care. 1.2 million of them are children who live in institutions operating in the states of former Soviet Union (Huseynli, 2018). However, it is difficult to provide accurate statistics on the number of children living in care institutions due to different definitions, calculation methods and sources. According to L. Ismayilova et al. (2014), the number of such children in the world can reach as many as 8 million. In 2019 the number of children in institutional in the United States was higher than 250000, in Australia – approximately 48,000, and more than 75000 in the United Kingdom (Brown et al., 2019). In Lithuania, hundreds of children lose parental care every year (Burvyte, Kocai, 2017). According to the “Action Plan of Transition from Institutional Care to Family and Community Services for Disabled and Children Without Parental Care in 2014–2020” (Perėjimo nuo institucinės globos prie šeimoje ir bendruomenėje teikiamų paslaugų neįgaliesiems ir likusiems be tėvų globos vaikams 2014–2020 m. veiksmų planas, 2014), a transformation of the childcare system is being implemented. This transition is treated as a very important direction of social policy. Such a transformation is leading to a declining number of children living in child care institutions. For example, in 2018 2.1 thousand children under the age of 18 were living in institutions. This is 17.9% less than in 2017. Since 2018 some children are being transferred from child care institutions to community care homes. In 2018 282 children were living in community care homes (37% more than in 2017) (Official Statistics Portal, 2019). As the relocation of children to community care homes intensifies, some social workers are also transferred to work in this new type of orphanage. The role of social workers during the transformation of the child care system is especially important in assessing the needs, interests, situation, circumstances of the family and the child, planning and implementing prevention strategies and measures (Kiaunyte, Lygnugariene, 2019). Under the circumstances of intensive changes of the child care system the changes are experienced not only in the child care infrastructure. Principles of child care, functions, roles, competencies of social workers, relations with children fluctuate as well (Raudeliunaite, Urbikaite, 2011). All these changes are undoubtedly raising challenges for social workers. In order to overcome them, there exists a demand for timely, targeted and purposeful strategic decisions at the institutional level. This is confirmed by V. Vaicekauskiene (2009, p. 67), who points out that social and societal changes in modern society also lead to changes in the management of modern childcare institutions. The nature of management becomes strategic, which effectively anticipates and implements the organization’s purpose, goals and objectives. The challenges faced by social workers in the context of changes of the childcare system have attracted the attention of researchers. R. Geniene and E. Šumskiene (2016) examined the transformation of institutional care in Lithuania applying the theory of institutionalism. The problems of deinstitutionalization were researched by V. Gvaldaite and S. Simkonyte (2016). V. Gudzinskiene et al (2017) paid attention to the activities of a social worker in community care homes. Strategic issues of management of child care institutions were examined in V. Vaicekauskiene’s (2009) survey. The development and implementation of the strategy in child care homes has been studied only in the context of other research objects, such as principles of childcare organization (Vitkauskas, 2010), adaptation of child care homes (Gudonis et al., 2008). Challenges of social work, changes in childcare system, strategic planning in childcare institutions have attracted the attention of Lithuanian and foreign researchers, however, these aspects are usually analysed insufficiently, although their close relation is confirmed. Assuming that the change in the child care system poses challenges to social work, and the latter must be assessed in the preparation and implementation of strategic decisions in the child care institutions, the following research questions are raised: 1. How is the child care system changing in the world and in Lithuania? 2. What challenges do these changes pose for social work? 3. What strategic solutions are needed to overcome these challenges? Object of research: challenges of social work in child care institutions in the context of strategic decisions. The aim of the research: based on the results of theoretical and empirical research, to develop directions for overcoming the challenges of social work in child care institutions through the application of strategic decisions. Research tasks: 1. To examine the changing situation in the child care system and the potential challenges for social work. 2. In reference to foreign and Lithuanian researchers, to conceptualize the strategy, its preparation and implementation, as well as the peculiarities of strategic decisions in child care institutions. 3. To reveal the specifics and problems of the preparation and implementation of strategic decisions through interviews with the staff working in child care institutions in order to overcome the challenges of social work. 4. To prepare directions for overcoming the challenges of social work in child care institutions by application of strategic decisions. Research methodology and methods. In the ontological point of view, the provision of systems and theories of social action was chosen for the research. This provision is based on the assumption that stimulates to analyse changes in a systematic manner and to strategize the overcoming of challenges in reference to the functioning of the whole system. Systems theory allows to envisage the systemic structure of the network of child care institutions, the challenges of social work in this environment, the implemented strategic decisions. Such an approach is appropriate because the system is considered as a more valuable resource than the individual elements (Healy, 2014; Payne, 2016). In the epistemological point of view, the research is constructed according to the theory of social action (Kindon et al., 2010), and is treated as a process during which theory is developed while practical activities are examined. Looking from methodological point of view, the methods of comparative and systematic analysis and generalization of scientific literature were chosen for the theoretical analysis. The interview method was chosen for the collection of empirical data. The content analysis method was used to analyse the data collected by the interview method and to conclude the findings. Participants of the study: employees of child care institutions holding managerial positions and having an established professional identity