An assessment of the service model in children's homes in the eyes of the service providers –Ankara province example

This study aims to display the views of social workers and care staff - who work at the Chilren's Homes Coordination Centre affiliated to the Ankara Provincial Directorate of Family, Labour and Social Services and the children's homes functioning as a part of this centre – regarding the service model in question. The research has had a descriptive structure with a qualitative design and the use of general survey model. The research has been conducted with 147 caregivers and 36 social workers. Data were collected by interview form prepared by the researcher. According to the findings, almost all caregivers are women and most of them are married. Half of the caregivers find their income sufficient. 3/4 of those who have children have stated that being a parent provides them with an advantage in doing their jobs. Almost all the care providers have stated that they received in-service training about various subjects. It has also been understood that the care providers have expectations from their managers, social workers and children's homes keepers. 2/3 of them have underlined that their opinions have not been taken regarding the children and children's homes. The care providers have mostly found their working hours too long, and more than half have described their workload as 'high'. It has been found out that more than half of the social workers are women most of whom are teachers. Almost all the social workers find their income insufficient. More than half of them see themselves competent in practicing their profession and are content with the institution they are working at. More than half of the social workers have stated that they received in-service training and almost all have found this training useful and necessary for their development. The major problem that social workers come across with is the inefficacies in the regulations. Additionally, almost all the social workers have found their workload high and most of them have pointed out that this has an effect on the recipients of service. They have also stated that the number of social workers working in the institutions is very insufficient. Similarly, social workers have also stated that their opinions have not been taken regarding the service. In addition, it has emerged that the regulation needs to be improved on specific issues. In this respect, it is recommended to continue the trainings, to meet expectations, to take measures for the number of employees and workload results, to improve salaries and to strengthen the regulation. Keywords: child welfare, children's homes service model, caregivers, social workers