Dragana Zaharijevski, Danijela Gavrilović
STUDY OF THE NEEDS FOR KNOWLEDGE AND
PROFESSIONALS IN THE AREA OF SOCIAL
POLICY AND SOCIAL SERVICE PROVISION
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We conducted a research of social needs and labor market
needs for the following professions: social policy analyst,
social worker and social pedagogue
Identification of existing positions in which the experts of
these profiles, according to the current systematization and
in the presence of related professions, could work
Identification of duties performed in these institutions by
other professions due to the lack of qualified staff
Determining which jobs are not being performed, but for
which there is a need recognized by the institutions
themselves.
These data provide knowledge on the qualifications the
possession of which would help professionals take these
jobs
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The description of duties and responsibilities of a social policy analyst
Creation of an evidentiary base for the creation of social policy measures
Participation in the creation of social development strategies
Comparative analysis of measures for achieving social goals and recommendation of measures
Evaluation of social policy measures and their effects on citizen groups
Prediction of political, economic and social trends
Monitoring of current events and public policies relevant for social policy measures
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The description of duties and responsibilities in the area of social work
Assessment of the needs of users of social protection services
Development of individual support plans
Monitoring users in the state of social need
Provision of social protection services
Implementation of planned support measures
Monitoring the effects of implemented support measures
Advisory (counseling) work
Reaction to crisis situations
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The description of duties and responsibilities of a social pedagogue
Assessment of the needs for resocialization
Creation of resocialization plans
Advisory (counseling) work with individuals and groups included into the resocialization process
Implementation of resocialization measures
Monitoring the users that are included in the resocialization process
Monitoring and evaluation of the effects of implemented resocialization measures
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This list was the basis for designing the questionnaire which,
in addition to the list of jobs, had the following questions:
Is this job (duty) being performed in your institution?
(Representation of jobs of certain qualification profiles)
Do you think there is a need for this duty although it is not
performed in your institution? (Assessment of the need for
performing certain jobs)
Please list the education profiles / occupations of all
employees who perform this duty/job.
Is there a necessity for the provision of services that your
institution is not providing?
INVESTIGATED INSTITUTIONS
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Institution type
Number of institutions
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Centers for social work
19
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Institutions for social protection and resocialization
prisons – 20)
47 (adults– 21; children and youth– 6;
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National Employment Bureau
1
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Institutes for the analysis and evaluation of public policies
3
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Local self-governments
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Ministries
2
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Total:
90
18
RESULTS OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
CENTERS FOR SOCIAL WORK
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Assessment of the current state and prediction of future users’ needs in order
to prepare an institution development plan
Creation of the institution’s work plan in accordance with the law, national and
local strategies in the area of social protection
Networking with relevant institutions in order to provide adequate social
protection and support to the users
Jobs in crisis situations – measures of social protection and assistance in cases
of natural disasters, extraordinary situations…)
Assessment of the needs of the users of social protection services and
determination of the aims of the support
Development of individual protection and support plans
Implementation of the planned protection and support measures
Counseling work with the users of social protection and support measures in
order to make social inclusion more adequate
Monitoring of the user who is in the state of social need.
The evaluation of the effect of protection and support measures
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REPRESENTATION AND ASSESSMENT OF THE NEEDS FOR JOBS
The activity of the centers in the area of planning on the examined sample of institutions is
underrepresented. “The assessment of the current state and prediction of users’ needs in
the social protection system” is recognized as a necessary activity in the centers, but is not
performed in 4 centres or is only partially performed in 3. As for the other questions, it is
obvious that other activities are almost completely performed in the centres.
PROFILES OF EXPERTS WHO PERFORM THE JOBS
The jobs mentioned are performed by various profiles of experts. It is clear that social
workers are most often responsible for all these jobs or work tasks, and after them come
professions like psychologists, pedagogues, lawyers, special pedagogues and sociologists.
This indirectly tells us that there is no single personnel solution on who should perform
these jobs. In these institutions, there is a need for the analyst of social policy profession,
because there are jobs which require the engagement of trained personnnel for tasks in the
area of analytics, which have been performed by other educational profiles so far.
NECESSARY SERVICES THAT ARE NOT PROVIDED BY THE INSTITUTION
There is a whole range of services, such as, for example, a daycare for children with
disabilities, counseling work with young people, families, various services for the elderly,
persons with disabilities, women and children who are victims of violence, which are
needed, and which many Centers for Social Work do not have the conditions to realize,
and the need for them still exists. That means that there are no staff members, nor
material, nor physical resources to develop these services.
INSTITUTIONS FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION AND
RESOCIALIZATION
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Assessment of the current state and prediction of future users’ needs in order to prepare an institution
development plan;
Creation of the institution’s work plan in accordance with the law, national and local strategies in the
area of social protection;
Reaction to crisis situations – measures of social protection and assistance in case of natural disasters,
extraordinary situations…);
Assessment of the needs of the users of social protection services;
Development of individual support plans;
Monitoring of the user who is in the state of social need;
Offering social protection services;
Implementation of the planned support measures;
Monitoring of the effects of the applied support measures;
Assessment of need for the performance of resocialization (if it is in the scope of your work);
Making resocialization plans;
Counseling work with individuals and groups involved in the process of resocialization;
Implementation of resocialization measures;
Monitoring of the users who are involved in the process of resocialization;
Evaluation of the effects of the implemented measures of resocialization.
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REPRESENTATION AND ASSESSMENT OF THE NEEDS FOR JOBS
In the examined institutions, mostly all the jobs offered from the scope of work of social policy analysts,
social workers and social pedagogues are performed. The jobs typical for the educational profile social
policy analyst are recognized as necessary jobs. At the majority of institutions, particularly expressed is
the need for jobs “Assessment of the current state and prediction of future users’ needs in order to
prepare an institution development plan”, “Creation of the institution’s work plan in accordance with the
law, national and local strategies in the area of social protection”. A group of jobs from the defined scope
of work of a social worker is represented in all examined institutions. In almost all social protection
institutions, even though they are already represented, it is estimated that there is an additional need for
these jobs.
A group of jobs recognized as predominantly the scope of work of a social pedagogue is present,
mostly, in prisons. The need for these jobs exists: facilities for the elderly (three to four) have expressed
a uniform need for all the jobs from this scope of work; usually, only one institution for children and
youth recognizes the need for them; whereas in prisons a somewhat more pronounced estimate for the
jobs of monitoring of the users who are involved in the process of resocialization, as well as for the
evaluation of the effects of the implemented measures of resocialization is registered.
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PROFILES OF EXPERTS WHO PERFORM THE JOBS
The group of social policy analyst jobs is mostly performed by social workers and then by special
pedagogues and psychologists, sociologists.
Jobs from the scope of work of a social worker are performed, first of all, by social workers, then, by
psychologists, pedagogues and sociologists. The jobs recognized as the scope of work of social
pedagogue are currently performed in these institutions by sociologists, psychologists and social
workers.
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NECESSARY SERVICES THAT ARE NOT PROVIDED BY THE INSTITUTION
postpenal acceptance of convicted persons;
daycare for persons in need of support;
various forms of offering assistance in the homes of persons who are in need of support;
support from outside of the institution: resocialization, therapeutic, preventive and counseling work;
various forms of foster care.
NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT BUREAU AND THE MINISTRIES (MINISTRY OF LABOUR,
EMPLOYMENT, VETERAN AND SOCIAL POLICY, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT, MINISTRY OF JUSTICE - THE
ADMINISTRATION FOR THE EXECUTION OF PENITENTIARY SANCTIONS)
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Collection of relevant data (needs and resources) and making of
evidential basis for the creation of policies in the area
Processing and analysis of the collected data in order to establish the
situation in the area
Comparative analysis of the measures for achieving social goals and
the recommendation of more effective measures in the area
Creation of strategic documents in the area
By creating concrete plans for the implementation of measures in the
area
Tracking the realization of the social policy measures in the area
Evaluation of the effects of the implemented policy measures in
marginalized groups
Provision of counseling services to clients
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REPRESENTATION AND ASSESSMENT OF THE NEEDS FOR JOBS
A majority of jobs offered in the questionnaire were from the field of work of the social policy analyst.
Out of all the jobs offered, in the National Employment Service, only the job “Tracking the realization of
the social policy measures” is not done, and a need has been recognized for this job. In the Ministry of
Education, all (except for one) jobs mentioned are carried out. “Evaluation of the effects of the
implemented educational policy measures “ is not carried out because that activity is assigned to
another institution, although a need for the execution of this job as well has been recognized in this
Ministry. In the Ministry of Labour, all the jobs mentioned are performed.
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PROFILES OF EXPERTS WHO PERFORM THE JOBS
The jobs of the analyst of social policy are, both in the National Employment Service and in the
Ministries, performed by very different educational profiles. It is certain that there in no way that all of
them can have the qualifications needed to perform these jobs. What is interesting is that computer
scientists, to a large extent, work on collecting, processing and even analyzing data, even though they
do not have the necessary knowledge or the competencies to perform these jobs.
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THE NECESSARY SERVICES THAT ARE NOT PROVIDED BY THE INSTITUTION
Evaluation, Determining the indicators for evaluation, Creation of measures, Analysis, implementation
and evaluation of measures.
Synthetic analysis which includes a simultaneous observation of all the action levels (measures to the
local level, all actors)
Creation of differentiated measures, Market analysis for different professions, Counseling work in
management
INSTITUTES (INSTITUTE OF CRIMINOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL
RESEARCH (ICSR), CENTRE FOR EDUCATION POLICY (CEP),
INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC HEALTH (IOPH))
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Keeping track of current events and decisions concerning
social policies
Evaluation of the effects of social policies and laws and the
proposal of new policies
Anticipation of political, economic and social trends
Designing research projects in order to examine certain
problems or to check theories about social issues
Collection, processing and analysis od data collected as a
part of the research
Presentation of research results through the creation of
reports, presentations, publication of articles
Introduction of the participants in the creation of social
policies to the research findings
REPRESENTATION AND ASSESSMENT OF THE NEEDS FOR JOBS
 All the offered jobs are from the scope of work of a social policy analyst. At the
Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research, the majority of offered
jobs are performed. The jobs related to the monitoring of current events and
anticipation of social trends are not performed. It is estimated that there is a
need for these jobs, and the following educational profiles are recognized in their
performance: a lawyer, a sociologist or a psychologist.
 In the Institute of Public Health, the job “Evaluation of the effects of social
policies and laws and the proposal of new policies“ is not performed, nor is the
need for it recognized, whereas all the jobs are performed in the Centre for
Education Policy. The presence of these jobs in various institutes shows that the
institutes are the places where a social policy analyst would have their field of
expertise, but also that this type of profession does not have a recognized
professional space in the labor market.
PROFILES OF EXPERTS WHO PERFORM THE JOBS
 A large number of jobs which we have identified as jobs from the expertise of a
social policy analyst are performed in institutes by lawyers, economists,
sociologists, psychologists and political scientists.
LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENTS
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Collection, processing and analysis of data in order to
determine the state at the level of the local self-government
in the area:
Comparative analysis of measures for achieving social goals
and recommendations of effective measures at the level of
self-government in the area:
Creation of strategic documents at the level of selfgovernment in the area:
Creation of concrete measure implementation plans at the
level of self-government in the area:
Monitoring the realization of measures at the level of selfgovernment in the area:
Evaluation of the effects of implemented measures at the
level of self-government in the area:
REPRESENTATION AND ASSESSMENT OF NEEDS FOR JOBS
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The jobs of collecting, processing and analysis of collected data in order to determine the state at the
local level are the most represented: over 70% of local self-governments collect and analyze these data.
The following best-represented jobs are related to the creation of strategic documents and
implementation of concrete plans, as well as the monitoring of their realization, except that this is the
most represented in the area of employment and social protection. The comparative analysis of
measures and the evaluation of the effects of implemented measures are significantly less represented,
and thereby there seems to be a need for these jobs to be performed, mostly in the area of healthcare
and social protection
PROFILES OF EXPERTS WHO PERFORM THE JOBS
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The persons who perform social analyst jobs in the surveyed LSGs are usually the experts in the area
of law and economics: depending on the job type, this percentage ranges between 43 (monitoring of the
realization of measures) to 57 (comparative analysis of measures,…). All the other professional profiles
are significantly less represented, whereas, among them, the most common are the experts in the area
of social sciences and humanities (psychologist, pedagogue, andragogue, defectologist, sociologist).
THE NECESSARY SERVICES THAT ARE NOT PROVIDED BY THE INSTITUTION
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What can be noticed from the previous table is that the local self-governments themselves recognize
the need for these positions (that currently do not exist) from the scope of work of a social policy
analyst: analysis, monitoring, evaluation, strategy creation.
RELEVANCE OF THE RESEARCH FOR THE PROJECT
OBJECTIVES
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Jobs and services that the centers for social work provide for their users are covered
by different educational profiles, and there is an insufficient number of staff for the
expansion and establishment of new necessary services Certain jobs significant for
the analysis and activity planning in the social protection system are performed
occasionally, usually once a year and with available staff. There is a need for these
activities to be systematically and professionally performed by the qualified
personnel. The educational system should recognize these needs in the social
protection system and to adequately train the professionals who would perform these
jobs in a competent way.
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In the institutions for social protection and resocialization, all the offered jobs
are being detected based on the pre-defined duties in the scope of work of social
policy analysts, social workers and social pedagogues. By analyzing the existing
educational profiles who perform the work from the scope of work of social policy
analysts, social workers and social pedagogues, it was noticed that: social workers
(together with psychologists, social pedagogues and sociologists) in most instances
perform the work of social policy analysts as well as duties form the defined scope of
work of social workers; social workers also perform the tasks from the scope of work
of social pedagogues, whereby, in the analyzed institutions, sociologists and
psychologists are more represented in the performance of these jobs that social
workers. The question is whether social workers are trained to perform all these
different tasks.
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At all surveys of national employment bureaus, ministries and institutes, the jobs from the scope of work
of a social policy analyst are being detected, but these jobs are performed by IT engineers and persons from
other incompetent professions. An important finding is that the offered jobs are considered to be necessary, and
also that the surveyed institutions listed them as necessary concrete jobs in the area of measurement
monitoring, evaluation and strategic planning – and that is the expertise of social policy analysts.
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Regarding the units of the local self-governments, the jobs from the scope of work of a social policy analyst
and usually being performed, but they should be a foundation for the planning of social protection programs. An
important finding is the data that the professional of other educational profiles, which are not related to the area
of social work, are in charge of these jobs. In some cases, these are even the persons with elementary or high
school education. It has been observed that there is a need for the provision of complex types of services
related to the comparative analysis of measures, creation of strategic documents and evaluation of the effects
of implemented measures at the local level, which is the area of expertise of social policy analysts. Since these
jobs are not performed at all surveyed local self-governments, or they are performed by persons without proper
education, one of the main findings of this research is that we lack professionals that can competently and
professionally perform the jobs of social policy creation, monitoring and evaluation of measures and
improvement of strategies for the social protection of the population.
It is undisputable that, among the profiles of interest, the occupation of a social worker is the most established
in Serbia. The job description of that profile in the Niš Study is defined in the framework of “micro and meso
practice” (based on the listed sources) and in that we can see the basis for the differentiation of qualifications
that are gained in the study of social work and the qualifications necessary in order to perform the jobs for
which it is necessary to be familiar with the comparative structural characteristics of the society as a context in
which social issues appear to which the measures of social policy respond, as well as to have the knowledge of
the research techniques and analytical instruments. The analysis of syllabi from the study programs of social
sciences and humanities will show whether the creators, analysts and evaluators of policies, have the
necessary qualifications in the existing programs or whether we need to make programs with the competences
that are needed.
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