Course description

The discipline “Development and provision of social services in the community” is a normative discipline from the specialty 231 Social work for the educational program “Social pedagogy”, which is taught in the _5th semester for full-time students (_6th semester for part-time students) in the amount of ___3___ credits (according to the ECTS European Credit Transfer System).

The purpose of the normative educational discipline “Development and provision of social services in the community” is to form students’ theoretical and practical knowledge about the system of providing social services in the conditions of the decentralization process in Ukraine, its regulatory and legal basis and implementation mechanisms, understanding the list and typology of basic and specific social services, the structure of social services in the community, understanding of tools for assessing the ability of communities to provide social services, knowledge of methods for assessing community needs for social services and ways of their implementation, monitoring and evaluating the quality of implemented social services. As a result of studying the discipline, students should understand the role of state structures and local self-government bodies in the implementation and development of social services, as well as its main mechanisms – social order, social partnership, and the empowerment of self-organization groups through social dialogue.

Course tasks:

• to form a theoretical and practical understanding of a comprehensive analysis of reforming the system of providing social services and the peculiarities of the social policy of Ukraine;
  to equip with practical skills of analysis of normative and legal changes in the legislation regarding the provision of social services in conditions of decentralization on the example of a united territorial community;
• to form theoretical knowledge regarding the list and typology of social services provided in the community and the definition of the elements of the structure of the social service, which provides social service, social protection and provides services to the residents of the community;
• equip with knowledge about ways to assess the ability of communities to provide social services, methods of collecting information about the needs of the community of social services in social services, models of their implementation, tools for evaluating and monitoring the quality of social services provision;
• teach how to identify subjects and consumers of social services and ways of their implementation through the potential of the community (social ordering, social entrepreneurship, social dialogue), equipping community self-organization groups to provide and develop social services in the community.

Scope of the course:

90 hours of classroom lessons. Auditory work (64 hours): 32 hours of lectures, 32 hours of practical classes and 26 hours of independent work (for full-time students).

90 hours. Auditory work: 8 hours of lectures, 10 hours of practical classes and 72 hours of independent work (for correspondence students).

Acquired competencies and program learning outcomes:

Integral competence:

IC The ability to solve complex specialized tasks and practical problems of professional activity, the learning process, which involves conducting research and applying certain theories, methods of social work, social-psychological rehabilitation, and scientific-research, scientific-pedagogical activity is characterized by the complexity and uncertainty of conditions and requirements .

General competences:

GC 1. Ability to abstract thinking, analysis and synthesis.

GC 6. The ability to show initiative and entrepreneurship.

GC 7. Ability to adapt and act in a new situation.

GC 8. The ability to generate new ideas (creativity).

GC 9. Skills of interpersonal interaction.

GC 10. Ability to work in a team.

Professional competences:

PC1. Ability to understand and use modern theories, methodologies and methods of social and other sciences, including methods of mathematical statistics and quantitative sociological methods, in relation to tasks of fundamental and applied research in the field of social work.

PC2. The ability to identify socially significant problems and factors for achieving social well-being of various population groups.

PC3. Ability to professionally diagnose, forecast, project and model social situations.

PC4. Ability to implement methods and technologies of innovative practice and management in the system of social work.

PC5. The ability to communicate with representatives of other professional groups of various levels (experts from other industries/types of economic activity), to establish interaction between state, public and commercial organizations on the basis of social partnership.

PC6. The ability to evaluate the process and result of professional activity and the quality of social services.

PC8. Ability for joint activity and group motivation, facilitation of group decision-making processes.

PC9. Ability to demonstrate knowledge and own conclusions to specialists and non-specialists.

PC10. The ability to show initiative and entrepreneurship to solve social problems through the implementation of social innovations

PC 18. The ability to understand and define the strategic goals of social development at the level of the community, the region, develop a strategic plan for the development of the community and promote the activation and consolidation of the efforts of community members to implement it.

Program learning outcomes:

PLO 1. Solve complex tasks and problems that require updating and integration of knowledge in conditions of incomplete/insufficient information and conflicting requirements.

PLO10. Analyze the social and individual context of the problems of the person, family, social group, community, formulate the purpose and tasks of social work, plan interventions in difficult and unpredictable circumstances in accordance with the values of social work.

PLO11. Organize the joint activities of specialists from various fields and non-professionals, prepare them to perform tasks of social work, initiate team formation and coordinate team work.

PLO17. Independently build and maintain purposeful, professional relationships with a wide range of people, representatives of various communities and organizations, argue, convince, conduct constructive negotiations, productive conversations, discussions, be tolerant of alternative opinions.

PLO18. Demonstrate a positive attitude towards one’s profession and comply with the ethical principles and standards of social work with one’s behavior.

PLO19. To carry out social and psychological rehabilitation practices for vulnerable groups of clients, to organize the provision of complex assistance, support, and integration into society.

PLO20. Determine the strategic goals of the social development of the community, the region, develop a community development plan and apply methods and techniques of activation and consolidation of community members for its implementation.

Keywords: Social services, social service, social work in the community, case management, evaluation and monitoring of the quality of social services, social manager, social service

To study the course, students need basic knowledge of the disciplines “Introduction to the specialty”, “Theories of social work”, “Deontology of social work”, “Fundamentals of social and legal protection of the individual”, “Technologies of social work in Ukraine and the world”.

Educational methods: explanatory and illustrative, research, searching (heuristic), problem presentation of educational material, interactive and methods of stimulating learning (conversation, brainstorming, discussion, work in pairs/groups, etc.), visual (presentations, demonstration of video materials), projective ( creation of projects), work with educational and methodical literature.

Academic Integrity: The independent work assignments for each topic completed by graduate students are expected to be their original thinking. Failure to cite used sources, fabrication of sources, plagiarism, interference with the work of other applicants are, but are not limited to, examples of possible academic dishonesty. The discovery of signs of academic dishonesty in the applicant’s written work is a reason for the teacher not to credit it, regardless of the scale of plagiarism or deception. Any form of breach of academic integrity will not be tolerated.

Attending classes is an important component of learning. In any case, students of higher education are obliged to comply with all the deadlines set for the implementation of the planned types of educational work.

Literature. All literature that students cannot find on their own will be provided by the teacher for educational purposes only, without the right to transfer it to third parties. Students are also encouraged to use other literature and sources that are not among the recommended ones.

Scoring policy. The assimilation of theoretical material from the academic discipline by students of higher education is checked through an oral survey, preparation of questions for seminar classes, current programmed control of knowledge, assessment of the ability to analyze problem situations by solving practical tasks. At the same time, the following must be taken into account: attendance at classes and activity of the student of higher education during practical/seminar classes; using a mobile phone, tablet or other devices during class for non-educational purposes; plagiarism and plagiarism; untimely performance of the assigned task. The final semester grade is defined as the sum of points from all planned types of academic work and assessment.