Abstract:

In the last few years in Bulgaria, significant changes have been made in the legislation in the field of social assistance, with an emphasis on the adoption of a special law regulating the system of providing social services. With the adoption of the Social Services Act in 2019, an important and significant change was made in the direction of creating regulations governing their differentiation and a completely new way of organization and management. In this context, the changes in the legislation can be assessed as an important challenge in terms of formulating the substantive aspects of social work training in Bulgaria.

Significant changes are needed in the content of the educational documentation and in the overall organization of the educational process in order to form knowledge, skills and competencies in accordance with the legal regulations, taking into account the level of modern requirements for the quality of social work. The expansion of the spheres of realization, caused by the development of the different types, orientations, forms of provision and other criteria for social services presupposes a new content of the training of the future social workers. The need to increasingly focus on integrated health, social and health education services highlights the requirement for the inclusion of new disciplines.

At the same time, the development of a wide range of social services as a main priority of the policy for social protection and support of vulnerable groups and their families determines the serious emphasis on enhanced specialization in the training of students in Social activities.

The report focuses on the specific aspects in which the change in the content of social work education should take place as a mandatory condition for the adopted amendments to the legal framework to be adequately reflected.

Keywords:

Legal framework, changes in legislation, social services, social work education.