Title of the collection: Civic counseling – effective help to society (current state - necessity - perspectives). The international scientific conference was held in Bratislava on March 13, 2014. Editor of the collection: prof. PaedDr. Milan Schavel, PhD.

PREFACE

The scientific international conference entitled "Citizen counseling - effective help to society (current state - necessity - perspectives)" was held as a direct consequence of the absence of a counseling system in Slovakia, especially for socially dependent citizens.

In Slovakia, we still don't have a built-in counseling system, mediating a complex solution to the acute social problems of the inhabitants. We lack advisory services for a wide range of the population with the aim of guiding citizens to know and exercise their rights and obligations in all areas of their lives.

Despite the existence and activity of state administration entities and non-profit organizations, there is a lack of conceptual (systemic) counseling activities of citizen counseling centers developed in neighboring countries in Slovakia. Personal incompetence and, consequently, long-term non-solving of citizens' existential problems often causes their material need associated with social exclusion. It brings the accumulation of other complex social collisions such as indebtedness, family breakdown and some undesirable socio-pathological phenomena.

We lack the social effort to support the citizen in his efforts to solve his problem independently, despite the fact that we have enough professional prerequisites and experience.

The possibilities of solving this unfavorable situation are precisely in the construction of a network of citizens' advice centers with the support of political decisions and legislative assumptions.

The conference was held under the auspices of the rector of the University of Health and Social Work St. Elizabeth and the Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic. In the opening speeches, Mgr. Zuzana Jentschke Stöcklová, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs in the Czech Republic, who in her speech pointed out the importance and importance of citizens' counseling centers in the Czech Republic precisely in the field of helping citizens in unfavorable social situations. State Secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the SR Ing. Jozef Burian pointed out the absence of a comprehensive advisory system in Slovakia and at the same time expressed his interest in supporting the initiative in the framework of the creation of citizen advisory services through the legislative process and with support from the European Social Fund.

In the next part of the professional contributions, the contents were concentrated on the importance of citizen counseling, the functioning system of citizen counseling in the Czech Republic and the genesis of the development of citizen counseling in Slovakia, together with a comment on the current unfavorable situation. The active participants then presented the possibilities of supporting the professional potential to ensure the activity of citizen counseling centers, and in the next part, contributions were presented in individual sections that pointed to current problems in society associated with unemployment, indebtedness, poverty and the overall unfavorable situation of some groups of the population. The collection also presents a relatively extensive section devoted to seniors, as a threatened group of the population in the context of a reduced level of financial literacy and the impact of a possible threat to their quality of life.

The conference created a prerequisite for solving the current problem, which is the absence of an advisory system available to anyone who finds himself in an unfavorable social or socio-economic situation. It will be important to analyze the current state of counseling for these target groups in Slovakia, to discuss possible solutions, and to be inspired by experiences with the activities of citizen counseling centers abroad.

13/03/2014 Milan Schavel

CONTENT

Preface (Milan Schavel)

Civic counseling in the Czech Republic (Hynek Kalvoda)

Citizen counseling - effective help to society (current state - necessity - perspectives) (Jana Špániková)

Civic counseling centers - civic counseling as a perspective in solving the unfavorable social situation of citizens (Milan Schavel)

The current situation and solving the problems of residents in an unfavorable socio-economic situation (Nadežda Šebová)

Coping with the social problems of today (Miloslav Hetteš)

Guaranteed social minimum: A new approach to social protection in Europe (Miloslav Hetteš)

Questions about financial literacy in the elderly population (Jaroslava Pavelková, Monika Stojáková, Miroslav Doležal)

Economic literacy of persons with mental disabilities (Doc. Mgr. Ján Hučík, PhD - PhDr. Alena Hučíková)

Place of counseling services within low-threshold facilities for children and youth (Lucia Bednárová)

Reviewers: doc. PhDr. Andrej Mátel, PhD., m.prof. doc. PhDr. Mária Dávideková, PhD. Quantity: 100 pieces in CD version Release year: 2014 Edition: 1st edition Number of pages: 100 Graphic editing and text processing: Mgr. Peter Senko, Prohuman Press: Business Intelligence Club, o.z. http://www.clubbusinessintelligence.sk ISBN: 978-80-8132-117-7