Krizni menadžment u socijalnoj zaštiti – slučaj pandemije
Crisis management in social protection — the case of the pandemic

Summary/Abstract: The pandemic has brought about a series of changes in the field of social protection services. The conventional models of management in the field of social protection services underwent fundamental changes overnight due to the mandate to comply with the epidemiological measures. Even priority areas of social protection went through changes which were reflected in the fulfillment of key principles in working with beneficiaries, accessibility and timeliness in procedures. The subject of the paper is precisely those changes. The paper is based on the results of research conducted into the functioning of protection and support systems for victims of domestic violence in Republika Srpska, with a focus on changes which occurred in the management of the social welfare center, one of the key entities in that system. Applying a functionalist-structuralist approach to the theoretical determination of the subject of analysis, the research was conducted using empirical research instruments, surveys with professional workers and interviews with directors of social welfare centers. Just over a half of the professionals believe that the centers were entirely unprepared for the emergency situation caused by the pandemic. More than a third of the respondents are of the opinion that the organization and the mode of operation of the center changed from one day to the next, with an emphasis on implementing restrictions in terms of contact with the beneficiaries, fieldwork, and the business hours of the institution. Directors of social welfare centers have emphasized that multi-sectoral cooperation in prosecuting domestic violence cases was reduced to informal communication mechanisms, and that coordination of actions “from top down” was completely lacking. The results of the research have shown that changes in the management of social welfare centers during the pandemic were significant and had a negative impact on fulfilling the principles of accessibility and timeliness in dealing with victims of domestic violence.

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