Training for social workers of Social Service Agency, working in west Georgia regions was conducted by GASW. The training was provided within the framework of the project “Capacity Building of Professionals for Improving Small-Scale Alternative Services for Children with Severe and Profound Disabilities”, funded by the USAID and UNICEF. The training was held in Kutaisi, during the period of October 31 – November 3.
Following topics were discussed during the training: current and desired practices of working with children with disabilities; legal rights of children with disabilities in Georgia, social worker’s role in rights protection; social worker’s function in relation to a family type small houses, needs assessment approaches; a new model of services for children with severe and profound disabilities – criteria for placement in 24 hours care, alternative service model; working with families and strategies of social worker’s involvement; existed services, stages of adaptation of families to limited abilities; adaptive and non-adaptive means for coping with stress, advocacy process, problematic issues, requiring advocacy, existed professional challenges and the ways of their overcoming. Observation on participants engagement showed, that for social workers it was important to discuss practical issues and get information on latest approaches. Participants actively participated ini discussions and shared their own practices.
