Introduction: The Canadian Welfare State Today

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• 1.
• Introduction The Canadian Welfare State Today

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What is Social Welfare?

• Social welfare is about how people, communities
  and institutions in a society take action to
  provide certain minimum standards and certain
  opportunities. It is generally about helping
  people facing contingencies.
• It is to help people through difficult times
  until they can rebuild their lives. 

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Contingencies

• Unemployment
• Illness, disease, violence
• Injured or disabled
• working poor
• Homeless
• Divorce or separation 
• Raising children 
• Elderly requiring care

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Types of Contingencies

• Threats economic survival  
• Threats to the integrity of the person  
• Threats to the family
• Think of examples of each type

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Components of Social Welfare
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What are Social Services?

• Social services are services provided by a
  combination of public and private organizations
  for members of the community, including
  education, housing, health, individual and family
  support, and child welfare.

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What is Income Security?

• Income support in the form of demogrants, social
  insurance, social assistance, and income
  supplementation that can be unconditional or
  based on an income or needs test, or negative
  income tax.

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What is the Welfare State?

• A system whereby the state undertakes ostensibly
  to protect the health and well being of its
  citizens, especially those in financial need.
  The key elements of the welfare state are the
  use of state power (government, bureaucracy, the
  judiciary. political parties) altering the
  operation of the private market place and the
  use of grants, taxes, pensions, social services,
  and minimum income programs, such as welfare and
  social insurance.

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Approaches

• RESIDUAL
• Limited and temporary
• When all else fails
• Family and market first line of defense

• INSTITUTIONAL
• Publicly funded and comprehensive
• Integrated into economy
• Provide basic minimum standard for all

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What is Social Work?

• Work, both paid and volunteer, that is undertaken
  by trained staff, and with the stated objective
  of helping people in need. This occurs by means
  of social service and income security programs.

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What do they do?

• Social workers have an obligation to promote the
  best interests of the client and to promote
  social justice.
•     child welfare
•         family services
•         health/mental health
•        community development
•         youth programs
•         corrections
•         gerontology
•         addictions
•         welfare administration

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Types of Social Work

• Direct Social Work
• Indirect Social Work

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Locating the Problem

• Approaches that locate the problem in the human
  being
• Approaches that locate the problem in social
  structures

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Definition (www.ifsw.org)

• The social work profession promotes social
  change, problem solving in human relationships
  and the empowerment and liberation of people to
  enhance well-being. Utilizing theories of human
  behaviour and social systems, social work
  intervenes at the points where people interact
  with their environments. Principles of human
  rights and social justice are fundamental to
  social work."

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Social Change

• A social change mandate means working in
  solidarity with those who are disadvantaged or
  excluded from society so as to eliminate the
  barriers, inequities and injustices that exist in
  society.

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Problem-solving

• Explore the persons concerns, to identify the
  need(s)involved, to identify barriers to meeting
  need(s) and to carefully determine the goals and
  possible plans of action.

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Person-in-Environment

• This distinguishes social work from other helping
  professions. Always consider some aspect beyond
  the personal. These environments may include the
  family, friends, neighborhoods, schools, laws,
  legislation, places of employment or economic and
  social systems and structures.

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Empowerment

• The process of increasing personal, interpersonal
  or political power so that one can improve their
  situation. Both personal aspects of being
  in-control and power within structures.