4 The voices of Italian social workers: from a pilot anti-poverty intervention to a national policy
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Matteo D’Emilione
Abstract
Between 2013 and 2015 the Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Policy ran an experimental anti-poverty program in 12 metropolitan areas. The program provided households with children an income support through a conditional cash transfer scheme. In order to understand how the program worked within the different local welfare systems, an ex post process evaluation was developed. Focus groups were carried out with almost ninety social workers with different professional backgrounds (social services, employment services, schools, ONGs etc.) involved in the implementation of the program. According to the analysis of the collected data, the chapter explores in particular: how social workers perceived the implementation of the program; to what extent, the insights of the evaluation process and the voices of the social workers have been taken into consideration within the scaling up of the intervention at national level.
Abstract
Between 2013 and 2015 the Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Policy ran an experimental anti-poverty program in 12 metropolitan areas. The program provided households with children an income support through a conditional cash transfer scheme. In order to understand how the program worked within the different local welfare systems, an ex post process evaluation was developed. Focus groups were carried out with almost ninety social workers with different professional backgrounds (social services, employment services, schools, ONGs etc.) involved in the implementation of the program. According to the analysis of the collected data, the chapter explores in particular: how social workers perceived the implementation of the program; to what extent, the insights of the evaluation process and the voices of the social workers have been taken into consideration within the scaling up of the intervention at national level.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures and tables vii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xvii
- Introduction: social work and the making of social policy 1
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Social work, problem definition and agenda setting
- Social work as policy innovator: challenges and possibilities in the UK 21
- Social work, problem definition and policy change in the US: the case of sex-trafficked youth 37
- The voices of Italian social workers: from a pilot anti-poverty intervention to a national policy 53
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Social work interests in policy formulation and decision making
- Social reform in the US: lessons from the Progressive Era 71
- Social work academia and social policy in Israel: on the role of social work academics in the policy process 89
- Social workers’ collective policy practice in times of austerity: Italy and Spain compared 105
- Social policy and welfare movements ‘from below’: the Social Work Action Network (SWAN) in the UK 121
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Social work and implementation
- Policy work and the ethics of obedience and resistance: perspectives from Britain and beyond 139
- Systemic barriers to effective implementation of child protection reform in Israel 155
- Social workers implementing social assistance in Spain: reshaping poverty in a familialistic welfare state 169
- Layering, social risks and manufactured uncertainties in social work in Poland 185
- ‘A little more humanity’: placement officers in Germany between social work and social policy 201
- Conclusion: social work and the making of social policy – lessons learned 217
- Index 229
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures and tables vii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xvii
- Introduction: social work and the making of social policy 1
-
Social work, problem definition and agenda setting
- Social work as policy innovator: challenges and possibilities in the UK 21
- Social work, problem definition and policy change in the US: the case of sex-trafficked youth 37
- The voices of Italian social workers: from a pilot anti-poverty intervention to a national policy 53
-
Social work interests in policy formulation and decision making
- Social reform in the US: lessons from the Progressive Era 71
- Social work academia and social policy in Israel: on the role of social work academics in the policy process 89
- Social workers’ collective policy practice in times of austerity: Italy and Spain compared 105
- Social policy and welfare movements ‘from below’: the Social Work Action Network (SWAN) in the UK 121
-
Social work and implementation
- Policy work and the ethics of obedience and resistance: perspectives from Britain and beyond 139
- Systemic barriers to effective implementation of child protection reform in Israel 155
- Social workers implementing social assistance in Spain: reshaping poverty in a familialistic welfare state 169
- Layering, social risks and manufactured uncertainties in social work in Poland 185
- ‘A little more humanity’: placement officers in Germany between social work and social policy 201
- Conclusion: social work and the making of social policy – lessons learned 217
- Index 229
