Submitted by CRIN on
The Child Protection Hub in South East Europe with its partners in 8 countries have conducted the mapping of social service Workforce as related to child protection in the region.
This report provides a summary and regional overview of the social service workforce—with a focus on those engaged in the child protection system— in southeast Europe today. Focusing on eight countries— Albania (Dhembo, 20015), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria (Mihaylov, 2015), Croatia (Rajter, 2015), Kosovo (Fazliu, 2015), Moldova (Rogers, 2015), Romania (Rădulescu, 2015), and Serbia (Zegarac, 2015)—phase 1 of the study consisted of a literature review of relevant documents (e.g., curriculum, research documents, policy documents, practice guidance) related to the education and training of the social service workforce, and those working in child protection in particular. The primary focus of Phase 2 of the study was country-level fieldwork to gather data on the social service workforce in southeast Europe.
This report represents part of a global research movement to map the social service workforce in diverse regions. Mapping within multiple countries helps to capture unique elements specific to certain countries, while also identifying common challenges and trends across regions. There have been previous efforts to better understand the social service workforce as one component of a larger child protection systems mapping (Goldman, Guggenheim, Landers, McCreery, & Tobis, 2010). More recent studies have focused more broadly on the social service workforce, such as one that examined the social service workforce in 14 countries in West and Central Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Ghana, Liberia, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia) (Canavera, Akesson, & Landis, 2014). Another recent study reviewed the state of the social service workforce in 15 countries in three continents: Africa (Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia), Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Vietnam), and Europe (Georgia, Moldova) (Global Social Service Workforce, 2015). The following report is the first research that maps the social service workforce in the southeast Europe region, representing the first step among future efforts to strengthen the social service workforce.
