The position of social workers in Israel! Or העמדה של העובדים הסוציאליים בישראל‎

Why the Israel? I have recently read a very interesting article, entitled "The Miracle Called Israel". I was startled by development and progress of this country, by informations that it "was born" just over 60 years ago, and its "re-bitrh" after 2.000 years ago and many others very astonishing facts. Since this small country is world leader in medicine, technology, agriculture, military etc. i was curious about how this young country copes with some social issues... 

It can be noticed that there are two leading issues.

• First, the social workers have been on strike for two months and, surprisingly, not to increase their pay, which is one of the lowest in Israel, but to improve the service that they give to the public. The biggest problem is the deficit of social workers. There are 7.000 social workers in Israel to serve 7 million citizens ( based on data from 2009 ). Each social worker has some 300 to 400 cases at any given time (as the case with us, and a few days ago text about this was published   in "Vecernje novosti"). Social workers do not have time to listen, with each client getting on average about five minutes a week. Those caseloads result in damage every day, and even death. That is why the social workers are asking for a 1.000 new positions. Reason for this is that for a long time Ministry of Social Affairs was not a desirable ministry, hence there was no minister at its helm. There is also concern that the finance minister's plan to lower taxes will make it even more difficult to find financing for hundreds of social-work positions. And to conclude: A significant increase in the number of social workers is not a luxury, but a fundamental need, perhaps even an existential one.   
•  The second issue concerns the division between private and public sector. According to informations from the Social Workers Union, in 2011, there are roughly 15.000 active social workers in Israel, with 10.000 of them working in the public sector and a further 5.000 in the private sector. In the private sector, they earn even less. The pay scale has not been adjusted for more than 17 years, and roughly one in three social workers receives income support after being paid minimum wage. The struggle is directed against having the first and second class of social workers.

   As reported Israel National News, in March this year, social workers achieved an agreement, as a result of the repeated strike, and instead of a 40.5 hour work week, the work week would be 39 hours long. The pay hike would be cut correspondingly, to 22.5% instead of 25%. 

So, if you want to visit the only Jewish country on the world, watch out because you may stay there forever if they find out that you are a social worker! :)))

You never know! :)

                                                                                                                                                                   

Mariah Carey acts a "dowdy" social worker! .....Grrrrrr....!

There are few TV programs and series that show social workers at all! What is not so rare is way on which social workers are presented. I'm tired of showing social workers as dirty, petty and not attractive. Of course, in all films, soc. workers are badly dressed, ugly with the least possibility to be beautiful, cared, some of the best-dressed people you know. If they are not pretty as Mariah Carey in the movie, then they are certainly stubborn, old women covered with a million paper.

An example of this is surprisingly great transformation of beautiful singer and actress to so invisible social worker. So sorry! :P

 Notorious for her dedication to glamour, she has refused to travel without an army of beauticians and agreed to act in Precious. So it is somewhat unusual to see Mariah Carey, one of the world's most glamorous woman with a reputation as a diva, looking more dowdy than diva-like in shots from her gritty new movie" Precious", in which she plays a social worker. 

The film, originally called Push, is based on the novel Push by American author Sapphire and is set in New York in 1987. It tells the story of overweight, illiterate New York teen Claireece 'Precious' Jones (Gabby Sidibe) who falls pregnant with her second child aged 16. 

 "Carey, 40, who had to put weight on for the role, looks almost unrecognisable, sporting an unflattering blouse and jacket with scruffy brown hair".

Many social workers were criticizing Carey's appearance in the movie, because of the usual way of their presentation. 

 Let's drop prejudices and stereotypes of social workers. Here's how they look like!:)))

I love YOU girls! (Pictures of many other pretty colleagues were not available)

  

Milana Počuča 

Slađana Đorđević

Svetlana Miletić

moja malenkost, Jovana Jelenić

.

Koleginice i "par" kolega :))

Maraja Keri u ulozi "zapuštene" socijalne radnice! ....Grrrrrrrr...!

Socijalni radnici se, uopšte, malo prikazuju u TV programima i serijama što se ne može reći za način na koji su predstavljeni. Dosta je više prikazivanja socijalnih radnika kao zapuštene, neuredne i neatraktivne osobe! Naravno, u svim filmovima su predstavljene kao ružne, bez ukusa i stila za oblačenje i sa najmanje mogućnosti da budu lepe, negovane ili najbolje stilizovane osobe koje poznajete. Ako nisu lepe kao Maraja Keri u filmu, onda su sigurno zadrte starice zatrpane sa milion papira.  

Kao primer navodimo iznenađujuće veliku transformaciju prelepe pevačice i glumice u neprimetnu socijalnu radnicu. Poznata po glamuroznom životu, odbila je pratnju armije kozmetičara i prihvatila ulogu u filmu "Dragoceno". Ono što je neobično je to da, Maraju Keri, jednu od najglamuroznijih žena na svetu, sa reputacijom dive, vidimo više kao zapuštenu nego kao divu, na snimcima iz njenog novog filma, u kome glumi socijalnu radnicu.

Originalni naziv filma je Napad, zasnovan na romanu Napad, američkog autora Safir i radnja se odvija u Njujorku, 1987. godine. U filmu se govori o  nepismenoj tinejdžerki sa poremećajem u ishrani, Claireece 'Precious' Jones, u filmu Gabby Sidibe, koja je sa 16 godina ostala trudna sa drugim detetom. 

 "Četrdesetogodišnja Keri, koja je za ovu ulogu morala da se ugoji, izgleda tako da ju je veoma teško prepoznati, noseći jednostavnu bluzu i jaknu, ofarbana u braon, sa nesređenom frizurom".

Mnogi socijalni radnici su kritikovali njeno pojavljivanje u filmu, zbog već ustaljenog načina na koji se predstavljaju socijalni radnici. 

Hajde da razbijemo predrasude i stereotipe u vezi sa socijalnim radnicima!

Evo kako one izgledaju! Devojke - volim vas!(Slike mnogih drugih prelepih koleginica nisu mi bile dostupne) 

                                              

                                                                                                                   J.J.  

Novi Zakon o socijalnoj zaštiti!!!

 31.03.2011. godine Narodna skupština Republike Srbije usvojila je Zakon o socijalnoj zaštiti i obezbeđivanju socijalne sigurnosti građana, koji će omogućiti novčanu pomoć za veći broj socijalno ugroženih građana, a najugroženijima i veće iznose socijalnih davanja.

•  Broj korisnika socijalne pomoći, kako je ranije najavio resorni ministar Rasim Ljajić, biće povećan za najmanje 80.000 korisnika, a zbog povećanih iznosa i broja korisnika izdvajanja iz budžeta biće veća za oko 70 odsto.
• Zakon o socijalnoj zaštiti uvodi nove grupe korisnika koje su u praksi socijalne zaštite do sada bile nedovoljno prepoznate, kao što su žrtve nasilja u porodici, zlostavljanja, zanemarivanja i samozanemarivanja, trgovine ljudima.
•  Takođe, predviđa i povećanje broja korisnika socijalne pomoći, veće novčane iznose za najsiromašnije, višečlana domaćinstva i razvoj usluga socijalne zaštite na lokalnom nivou.
• Predviđeno je i da ustanove socijalne zaštite mogu otvoriti i privatna lica, ali uz prethodno licenciranje i redovnu kontrolu kvaliteta usluga.
• Zakon predviđa i dalji razvoj i podsticaj hraniteljstva, kako bi što veći broj dece bez roditeljskog staranja napustio institucije. 

        Tekst predloga Zakona o socijalnoj zaštiti možete pogledati OVDE

J.J. 

Social Work: Low pay, high Stress!!!

...  High stress and a meager paycheck are just another day at the office...

A CNNMoney.com headline depicts social work and several related careers as “stressful jobs that pay badly.” 

I would like to call your attention to an article on CNNMoney.com highlighting the top 15 “stressful jobs that pay badly.” The number 1 job listed — social work. This article highlights one of the key problems in recruiting and retaining qualified individuals who will “step in when others step aside.” 

Social workers step in when everyone else steps aside to help people and families in vulnerable situations. They provide patients with education and counseling. Unfortunately, social workers are not deemed worthy of high pay. (Source: PayScale.com)

But that's not all! News Article ( CBS News), puts social work on top 10 depressing jobs list! It's probably not a huge surprise to find social workers near the top of this list. Because social workers work with people who are so needy, it can be hard to not sacrifice too much to the job, and it happens to burn out pretty quickly.

Maybe people are missing the point about social work. Nobody ever said that they were trying to get rich from being a social worker, but we do deserve to have a decent pay to live our lives. We are professionals. Yes, the history behind social work is charity organizations and helping the poor, but Social Work as a career has developed beyond this. 

Some days it seems too much to bear. If I’m going to be stressed- I’m going to get paid! And if I need to remind, i will!Do not let social work profession loses many very good social workers due to the state of the profession!

Being a social worker is a hard and difficult job but can also be the most fabulous job in the world. There are many good times in social work as well as bad and even sad. There are so many difficult decisions to make every day you are at work - everything is a dilemma.

My message to social workers is:
We are here as advocates, protectors, defenders. . . .we are given the honorable and arduous task of straightening the way. Let’s use our GREAT SKILLS to advocate for OURSELVES!!!
If you can’t fight for your self, then you DON'T have what it takes to be a Great Social Worker. 

Are you brave enough to defend our MIGHTY AND UNIQUE PROFESSION!!!!!

J.J.