Discussion on The Theme of Supervision and Social Workers

There are many definition of explaining what supervision is but the core point remains the same. According the ASSP who define supervision like, a method of continuously developing the professional skills of a helping person with the help of a qualified supervisor. It creates an organized opportunity to reflect current work topics and is one of the most effective methods of professional growth.

Supervision is a tool for optimizing and verifying the accuracy of client-side procedures, helping to disseminate alternative procedures, and serving as effective prevention of burnout syndrome. It uses procedures where individuals, teams, groups, and organizations work to solve problems in professional situations“(ASSA). As well as in social work, supervision is generally understood as a counseling method used to ensure and enhance the quality of the professional activity or the competence of social workers (Oláh, Schavel et al., 2009, p. 127). She creates the preconditions and conditions for the professional development, education and professional growth of employees in helping professions, while at the same time serving as a means of self-proclaiming to improve the quality of work with people (Schavel, Tomka, 2010, p. 14).

1. • Who are supervisiors?

Supervision can be a higly recomended tool of professional growth of professionals in helping professions, it can be standards of quality of social services , even regulation of legislation but will never be put into real practice without people, organizations, institutions or groups who will be aware of its importance for itself and the professional activity it performs. Individuals who are working in supervision are usually called supervisors. Social services can include social counselors, social workers and other workers. If there are multiple individuals involved in the supervision, we are talking about the supervising group. The size of the group is dependent on the number of supervised supervisors (Mátel el. 2012). The supervisor should be a highly professional social worker who performs with a high degree of empathy, respect, truthfulness, flexibility, interest, bias and openness (Oláh, Schavel et al., 2009, p. 127). Supervisors do not provide direct services to the client, but indirectly affect services provided directly to the client (Schavel, 2010b, p.10).

1. • Professionalism of supervisor

The qualifications of the supervisor in Slovakia are regulated in Slovakia by Act No. 448/2008 Coll. Supervision is carried out by a natural person who has a university degree obtained in a bachelor study program or a master's degree program focusing on social work, social pedagogy, special pedagogy, medical pedagogy, psychology, or has a recognized certificate of such higher education issued by a foreign university and has completed professional accredited training of supervisor in the field of social work or consultancy work. (Section 84 (8)) Currently, The Association of Supervisors and Social Advisor and the Institute for Further Education of Social Workers at the College of Health and Social Work, Elizabeth in Bratislava is providing accredited education for supervisors in social work of 240 hours. (Schavel, 2010b, p. 93). The supervisor should be permanently educated, and his supreme competence should be his own super-supervision (Mátel et. 2012).

1. • Relationship frameworks of supervision

In the process of supervision, its participants find themselves in multiple relationship frames. The supervisor is in a mutual and dynamic relationship with the supervisor, respectively. individual supervisor members, supervisor (if not identical with the supervisor), profession and professional community (Mátel et. 2012) In addition, it is necessary to take into account the relationships between the members of the supervising group and, last but not least, the relations between supervised social workers and clients (Mátel, Roman, 2010). The importance of human relations is currently one of the key values of supervision in social work. The model of relationship-based supervision is close to the theory of social work based on relationships. Supervision, like counseling and therapy, is a process co-developed within a relationship (Hawkins, Shohet, 2004, p. 44)

1. • Legal support of supervision

Legislative regulation of supervision is currently regulated by Act No. 305/2005 Coll. on social protection of children and on social care, and on the amendment and amendment of certain laws as amended. According to him, he develops and implements a supervision program in order to increase the professionalism of work in facilities for the implementation of measures for the social protection of children and social care (children's home, children's home for unaccompanied minors, crisis center, resocialization center). The program of supervision includes the way of securing this program (see § 47, paragraph 7). Similarly, Act no. 448/2008 Coll. has brought important legislative support in Slovakia for supervision in social services facilities. According to him, the social service provider is obliged to develop and implement a supervision program in order to increase the professional level and quality of the provided social service (§ 9, paragraph 10).

1. • Institutions providing social services

With regard to the institutions and organizations providing social services mentioned in Act no. 448/2008 Coll. supervising is a statutory duty. With regard to the types of social services, there are listed shelter, shelter, half-way home, low-threshold day center, emergency housing facility, housing facility, seniors, nursing home, nursing service, monitoring and signaling of need for assistance, crisis assistance provided through telecommunication technologies, relief service, assistance in securing guardianship rights and obligations, provision of social services in the integration center (Mátel et. 2012)

1. • The Association of Supervisors and Social Advisor (ASSA)

There is the first organization in Slovakia, which has been implementing accredited education in the assisting professions since 2001. They also maintain a list of accredited supervisors. Based on years of experience, they design new vocational education in the social field, spreading our experience and knowledge. They offer accredited courses as well as other courses that support not only the professional but also the general public to expand their knowledge and skills. ASSA operates in the field of social protection and social care and specialized social counseling as an accredited entity. As part of the work with our client groups, they provide systematic and comprehensive services for families who find themselves in a socially colliding situation. Their clients are families with children with behavioral or behavioral problems, families in poor financial and social situations, and families with relationship problems. Another target group is family members with / after punishment, as well as individuals after being released from the ECtHR. They are the only organization in the Bratislava Region that provides comprehensive post-penitentiary care for citizens after serving their sentence and their families (ASSA).

ASSA offers quality education with long-standing tradition. Our offer consists of courses accredited by the Ministry of Education of the SR as well as other courses reflecting current needs in the social or commercial field. As the first organization in Slovakia, they have been accredited by the Ministry of Education for the Supervision in Assisting Professions course, which they successfully offer and realize today. They have a tradition of pilot education topics (Volunteering, Penitentiary and Post-penitentiary Care, Family Work, Social Counseling ...), with which they have often identified educational trends in the social field. For individuals, they offer open courses, which they open continuously when collecting a sufficient number of applications (at least 15), for groups and organizations they can open the course immediately. In addition to a standard offer, they also provide training and courses that they can build for the "tailored" customer on the basis of an analysis of his needs. They have at our disposal material and technically fully equipped training facilities in Bratislava, and in case of the interest of many people, they are able to realize the courses in the whole SR and the Czech Republic.

Here are titles of courses we can take apart. Couses are charged by different prices and have different lenght of duration:

• • • supervision in helpful professions
    • supervisor power supply
    • intervision
    • creating and implementation of the supervisory plan (program) in organization
    • social work with a family who has a member of you / after the performance
    • social work with family
    • communication and conflict as an opportunity change
    • business teaching work with group (ASSA)

1. • Family counseling

Their counseling is designed for families who need help from an expert in managing their life situation. The families they work with most often address issues related to child upbringing, possible child abduction, truancy, poor prosperity, aggressiveness, dependency, rent, loss of employment, maintenance problems, poor financial situation, or managing other challenging circumstances. They offer their clients work with the entire family system as well as with individual members. The goal of cooperation is to help families with appropriate interventions to improve the life situation of the family and its members to the fullest extent possible. They work with family using different methods and techniques of social work. They work mostly in a field form that brings incomparable plenty of work-related benefits. They realize residential and community meetings of children families with whom we cooperate.

How they work with clients: Clients turn to them either on their own or on the initiative of self-government or government bodies or other non-governmental organizations. The client will contact the counselor coordinator who will agree with him on the next work plan and assign him the worker who will work with him / her. The process of work begins with social diagnostics, social intervention plans, and continues with the actual implementation of the plan and ends with catamania monitoring. Everything happens for the active participation of the client.

Realized projects

• • • Good Doors
    • Family counseling
    • Social Inclusion of Dysfunctional Families
    • Daphne project - Two Minds - Family mediation
    • Scrooge
    • Case management
    • Facilitating
    • Minimum standards of quality of social counseling
    • Financial Standards of Quality of Social Counseling
    • Final, stand out!
    • Rehabilitation of the family environment, helping children and families who find themselves in a difficult social situation.
    • Let´s walk together
    • Educational group program, social group program and educational and recreational group program aimed at the development of social skills and social habits for children for whom social protection and social care measures are implemented, in outpatient form, full-time form and residence form, with the participation of parents or persons , who personally take care of the child for children and their families (ASSA)

• Counseling for people after the penalty performance

The counseling has been fleshed out from the pilot project "Alcatraz", which was implemented in 2010-2012. This is a project focused mainly on post-penitentiary care for individuals and their families.

This counseling is designed:

1. 1. • to families whose member is currently serving a custodial sentence or other punishment
      • individuals who are in a sentence other than custodial sentence
      • individuals who are condemned or conditionally released
      • to the families whose member is after the execution of a custodial sentence or after another punishment
      • to individuals who are serving a custodial sentence or other punishment

Assistance is provided to clients of all ages, sexes, races ... but they have to be permanent or habitual residence under the Bratislava Self-governing Region (BSK).

What they offer their clients: comprehensive social counseling services, crisis intervention and case management. Whole team provides full post-penitentiary care in field or outpatient form.

The most common topics they are dealing with are: assistance with document handling, employment, housing, alternative life scenarios, relationship management, communication streamlining, alternative conflict resolution ...

How they work with clients: Clients turn to them either individually (response to a leaflet, information on the Internet ...) or on the initiative of experts from the state or self-government (social curators, mediation and probation officers, BSK staff, city districts of Bratislava. ..). The client will contact the coordinator for advice, which will give him the staff who will work with him / her.

The process of work starts with social diagnostics, social therapy plans, continues with the actual implementation of the plan, and ends with a catamane observation. Everything happens for the active participation of the client (ASSA).

1. • Assertiveness and conclusion

In general, under the legislation, every social worker should have the possibility of regular supervision, but this does not automatically mean that he actually does. In spite of the great difficulty of implementing it, if a social worker recognizes his key importance to himself and to the users of services, he should act sufficiently assertively to do so (Parrott, 2010, p.115). The same applies to providers of social services and employers' organizations. If these skilled workers are aware of the immense importance and importance of supervision for social workers and clients, along with ten arguments as they can not, they will look for one as much as possible. (Mátel, et. 2012)