Public Guardian vs. Social Worker: Interpretation of the Cumulations of these Functions by Social Workers

Lubica Juricková, Rostislav Pech

Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The performance of public guardianship requires an examination of the cumulation of functions of public guardian and social worker. The article deals with how social workers of selected municipalities of the Moravian-Silesian Region who also perform the function of public guardian perceive the cumulation of both functions after legislative changes of the Civil Code. THEORETICAL BASE: The cumulation of the functions of these roles involves case management, which requires analysis. METHODS: A qualitative research strategy was chosen. Data were obtained from semi-structured interviews with fourteen public guardians who performed the function of public guardian and social worker in 2018-2019. OUTCOMES: The public guardians from the sample use the case management approach in working with the guardian, without explicitly calling it case management. The use of case management in a cumulative function is based mainly on the need to coordinate activities aimed to benefit the guardian and fulfill the need for defending the rights of the guardian. The connection between the performance of social work activities and that of public guardianship by municipal authorities is problematic, as these are two different professions with different sources of funding. SOCIAL WORK IMPLICATIONS: The creation of a unifying legal document has been useful as a guide for public guardianship. Related to this is the need to “make visible” the usefulness of case management for wards and to establish case management as a separate discipline within the helping professions.

Keywords
public guardianship, public guardian, ward, social work, social worker, cumulative function

p. 102-116