Children with disabilities represent a significant part of the population of users within Social welfare system in the Republic of Srpska. Number of children with a disability who are registered as users at the centers for social work, and therefore as users of social services, annually range around 3.5 thousand. Their status and support services are defined by the Law on Social Protection, which allows the non-governmental sector to provide services for children with disabilities. The network of non-governmental organizations and consumer associations concerned with providing social support to children with disabilities and their parents began to develop in the late 90s, when they started to form parents' associations in several municipalities. In the past period such associations were formed in almost all the communities in the Republic of Srpska. Their activities are very important for improving social protection in local communities. These associations work together at regional level, in the framework of the Association Persons with Mental disabilities (acronym -MINERALS). The effect of parents' associations is recognized through the development of partnerships with centers for social work on the realization of social protection measures for children with disabilities. Associations have developed new support services such as day care, speech therapy treatments, workshops, self-help groups and etc. Association improved the direct work with children, provide new ways of financing social protection and welfare (project finance), have contributed to the planning of services, developed the partnership model of cooperation, have contributed to the legal solutions; enhance the social sensitivity of the local community to the situation of children with disabilities. This paper presents the development of a network of parents associations of children with disabilities in the Republic of Srpska, legal merits of their work and partnership in the social welfare system, model of community work and the role of associations in the life of the local community. Paper also presents the results of research relating to the general characteristics of a network of associations, members of the association structure, and the types of services provided to the associations, methods of working with customers, quality of partnerships and ways of financing the association.

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The number of the elderly in the overall population is increasing, which poses a need to seek an adequate model of organizing social care of the elderly. Most of them get social safety through the social welfare system. A functional and sustainable social welfare system requires application of efficient management and technique models based on the theoretical premises of contemporary management. The role and the importance of old people's protection in a social welfare system is becoming a topic of great importance both for theoreticians and the practitioners in the social sector area. This research analyzes the management functions and the roles of managers in running social protection of the elderly in the example of the social welfare system in the Republic of Srpska. A decentralized system, such as the one existing in the Republic of Srpska, brings along a number of organizational problems which points out to a need to apply the theoretical bases of managerial processes. The results obtained via empirical analyses indicate a number of deficiencies and obstacles in the implementation of social protection of the elderly in the social welfare system of the Republic of Srpska which are result of the insufficient and inconsistent application of the basic managerial elements. The obstacles emerging from this analysis indicate that there are chances and opportunities to improve the system and enhance the development of new forms of protection by applying managerial theories.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, and thus its entities, has ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In spite of that fact, adults with developmental disabilities daily face stigma and barriers in exercising their fundamental rights. Due to the inability of independent functioning, as well as the inability of the family to care for adults with developmental disabilities, a big number are placed in residential care. Foster care as a form of care in System of social protection can be functional for avoiding institutionalization, insurance of social inclusion of adults with disabilities, and enable them to function independently. Specialized foster care is one of the possible solutions in the deinstitutionalization of adults with developmental disabilities who are placed in residential care. This paper is focused on the particularities of specialized foster care for adults with developmental disabilities in the Republic of Srpska, which is regulated by the Social Protection Law and the foster care Rule book. Foster care, in terms of the Law, implies takin care the care users in the family that provides fulfillments of basic needs, family that takes care of the person and helps in the rights exercise and the obligations fulfillment. This normative definition of foster care opens space for adults and the elderly foster care, which is not developed nor sufficiently represented in the countries of the region, Europe and the world as well. Foster care for adults with disabilities in the Republic of Srpska is performing through a form of specialized foster care. This paper presents case studie of the specialized foster care as a posibility for adequate care of adults with developmental disabilities, with special points to the ability of supporting deinstitutionalization through specialized foster care. This case study is an example of a systemic approach to deinstitutionalization of adults with developmental disabilities. The study and results that were presented in the case has shown that it is possible to perform the deinstitutionalization of persons with developmental disabilities after twenty years spent in an institution.

The key resource on which the efficiency of the system offering protection and support to victims of domestic violence depends is related to the number of professionals who deal with this phenomenon at work and to the training offered to them. Qualifications and competences of professionals who are directly engaged in cases of domestic violence are the key to success in prevention of violence and legal prosecution of perpetrators, as well as in providing direct support to victims of violence. For that reason, the research focuses on the respective segments of public systems that deal with domestic violence. Through an analysis of the basic elements of competences of employees in public systems, this paper gives an overview of the state of human resources from the aspect of possessing expertise and professional knowledge, experience, and abilities. With regard to this, the sample of 283 respondents employed in the police, social work centres, health centres, and primary schools in six municipalities in the northern part of Republic of Srpska offers a conclusion that the existing resources are not sufficiently developed and directed towards the area of domestic violence. In addition, the results obtained show that there is no practice of professional training introduced for dealing with the field of domestic violence at work, with the self-perception of employees in public institutions not related to objective indicators of their abilities and skills they possess. In terms of practical agency, the focus is mainly on minimal actions arising from the implementation of the most necessary legal procedures, while the interest expressed by professionals employed in public institutions opens space for their professional development in this direction and ensuring greater functionality of the system in terms of offering protection and support to victims of domestic violence.