עבודה סוציאלית קהילתית-ביקורתית מודעת-עוני בשירותי הרווחה: שיח, פרקטיקה ואתגרים

Background: In the context of widening socio-economic gaps and the COVID-19 pandemic, there is growing awareness of the role of communities in addressing poverty. The Ministry of Social Welfare has been developing and implementing a model of poverty-aware critical community practice since2018. This model offers values, knowledge, and tools to support communities and confront the structural roots of poverty and its consequences.Aims: To explore critical community social work with communities that face poverty. The study focuses on the discourse, practice, and challenges in implementation of the model in public social services.Methods: A qualitative study based on interviews with 12 expert facilitators who train local social service departments serving poor communities.Main Findings: Despite awareness of the structural and collective nature of poverty, the dominant discourse in local social services centers on individual change, rather than facilitation of community change. The findings suggest that social workers mainly serve individuals and families, while community practice is limited and avoids engagement with the structural roots of poverty and community change. This dynamic is precipitated by multiple factors that fall into three main spheres:the organizational sphere, the professional sphere, and the local sphere. The result is a shift of local services towards clinical poverty interventions, and a diminishing of critical community practice.Implications for practice and policy: The study highlights the need to shift discourse and promote critical practice to confront community poverty. We discuss policy changes at the local and state levels in the three problem areas identified in the study.