School social work in Hungary aims to provide services to children and their families to ensure that they have the opportunity to complete their education. Aid is particularly focused on impoverished areas with higher proportions of at-risk children and youth.
History The first steps toward school social work in Hungary were taken after World War I, when school nurses (referred to as green cross nurses by Emőke Bányai) started working at schools in the late 1930s. Similar to that of a present-day social worker, they pursued individual case work and aided families in the field and at school. The nurses had a college or university degree in education and belonged to the staff of the school, with the scope of their duties shaped according to its needs. The nurses offered family care services mainly for families residing in the slums of Budapest in order to prevent academic failure and school dropout. Following World War II, the Hungarian political elite declared that education was the primary requirement for child protection. The first significant change in child protection took place in 1964, when teachers were appointed child protection workers in the kindergartens and schools of Budapest. Elements similar to those in the work of school social workers appeared in the scope of activities of family care workers employed by educational advisory services, which were launched in 1967. In 1975, child protection supervisors were appointed to advise child protection workers at schools. Such child protection supervision functioned until 1985. Employees of family-care centres established in the mid-1980s developed a committed social worker identity. They made regular contacts with local schools, kindergartens, and offered various services to the children, parents and teachers. As a form of youth protection, a so-called afternoon-care system was functioning in the 1970s and 1980s with elements resembling present-day social work. Social and economic changes taking place in the late 1980s and the consequent increase in the rate of unemployment, declassing and dramatic impoverishment of certain social groups, changes in social norms and values, and the related emergence and extension of deviant behaviour challenged schools. It became apparent that these sudden and intensely rising problems were preventing schools from fulfilling their basic tasks, and could not be addressed by traditional educational tools. Child protection workers, whose positions were filled by teachers, did not have the qualifications or the time necessary for the management of complicated cases. Finally, schools stated their claim to employ professionals who provide personal social services for pupils, parents and staff members.
Resolutions of the 1990s To resolve the problems which had arisen, three basic concepts were developed by the early 1990s: the appointment of dedicated full- and part-time child protection workers, specialized schools for underprivileged areas with large numbers of at-risk children, and teams of social workers based in local child care centres.
Appointing teachers to the duty of child protection
Employment of child protection workers The management of some schools sought to enhanced child protection service by partially or wholly freeing the workdays of teachers willing and suited to the task of assisting troubled children and their families. Teachers so appointed usually did not have proper qualifications nor were they sufficiently equipped (with an interview room, telephone and supervision). As they were expected to act according to the interests of the school which employed them, it was difficult for them to advocate for the children and their families against the school administration. Colleagues often overwhelmed them with feelings of frustration and unreasonable demands, and they were frequently called to serve as substitute teachers on their days off.
Employment of independent child protection workers To improve upon the above model, child protection workers were separated from schools in the early 1990s and employed by the Educational Service Cabinet, in districts XV and XVI of Budapest. Their assignment and supervision was made by the educational department of the local government. This ended the conflict of loyalties but it continued to use educational means and an educational approach. The model was criticized as it continued to employ people who were teachers by training, rather than social workers; and as a government employee the school social worker could not stand against the state schools administration. Despite these problems, the employment of child protection workers remained standard practice at schools.
Internal school social work Alternative schools established in the early 1990s sought to provide education satisfying the individual needs of children coming from underprivileged social backgrounds and being unable to manage in a traditional school. In these schools, educational and social work overlap; the educational concept requires the staff to utilize social expertise in educational work. Success of the model is presumably due to the staff's awareness in handling problems that pupils face outside school and a supporting attitude toward pupils. Despite facing some of the same issues of conflict of interest, such schools continue to employ school social workers even when traditional schools ceased to offer services. Both the need among the pupils and the academic mission of the alternative schools legitimized the role of the school social worker.
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