Obstacles or possibilities? A study of social workers and school staff experiences of collaboration

AbstractObstacles or opportunities? – A study of the experience of collaboration of social welfare secretaries and school staff.The purpose of this study is to illustrate the importance of the work with children and youth through the joint efforts between different authorities. The study deals with the collaboration between the social services and schools in the Ludvika municipality. The objective of the study is to investigate how teaching personnel and headmasters in compulsory schools and the social welfare secretaries in Ludvika, experience the collaboration, and how this works. On the basis of the objective, we have formulated some relevant questions; To what degree are schools aware of the model of collaboration, which is the basis for collaboration within the municipality, and are there any differences in awareness between different categories of employees? Other questions deal with differences in how the social services and schools experience the collaboration, discrepancies between different schools in this regard and if the respondents’ experience any obstacles and/or opportunities by the collaboration.Collaboration is, and has been, a pressing issue for a long time in the public debate. Within the social services, collaboration with other functions has become a natural part of the daily work since the social services are obliged to collaborate and to take initiative for collaboration. In Ludvika, a model for collaboration, called Ludvikamodellen, has been worked out for the social services and schools. The aim with this model is to better economize the resources in the part of the administration where both school and social services are included. Even though the collaboration is both an obligation and a necessity, there are conditions that facilitate the collaboration. This has been shown in previous research. Certain obstacles and opportunities have also been identified, by experience, in previous collaborations. Information has been collected through questionnaires to school staff and social welfare secretaries in Ludvika. The result shows, among other things, the respondents’ view of the need for collaboration, the experience of how the collaboration works and if there are obstacles and opportunities with the collaboration.One conclusion from the study is that documentation about the collaboration model is inadequate since there are no official document of collaboration between the social services and schools. Such a document should, according to previous research, be established and used as a basis for collaboration. There are also differences between different positions within the schools in how well Ludvikamodellen is known. There are also discrepancies in the experience of how the collaboration works, both between the social services and schools and between different schools. There is a pronounced need for collaboration at both the social services and at the schools, but collaboration is also believed to be associated with obstacles and opportunities.