Prepare for Leaving Care

Young people in alternative care need adequate support when they reach adulthood and get ready to start independent lives. Care professionals play a key role in empowering young people for their futures. The two-year project ‘Prepare for Leaving Care – A Child Protection System that Works for Professionals and Young People’ aims to help build the capacities of care professionals so they can better integrate a child rights approach into their work.

The project aims to ensure that the rights of young people in alternative care are respected and that they are prepared for an independent life. Led by SOS Children's Villages International and supported by associate partnership of Eurochild, the project builds on the experience of 'Training of Care Professionals', and specifically addresses the rights and needs of young people on their way to adulthood and independence.

The project is carried out in cooperation with SOS Children’s Villages’ national associations in Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Spain, as well as experts from CELCIS and Eurochild.

Key expected outcomes

• A ‘Leaving Care Toolkit’ is developed, including a training methodology and manual based on evidence collected in five EU countries. The toolkit will aim to provide practical guidance to care professionals and a range of front line practitioners. The main focus will be on how to best plan the transition to independence with and for young people and support them during and after the leaving care process.
   
• Through a ‘train the trainers’ approach, master trainers are empowered to apply the developed tools and methodology widely in all five participating countries.
   
• 400 care professionals receive training on how to embed a child rights based approach into their daily work.
   
• National policy guidelines are elaborated to raise awareness and push for the development of a comprehensive Leaving Care Framework. Based on learnings from project activities, these guidelines will define how training can be integrated into existing frameworks.

Participation of young experts

The participation of young people with first-hand experience in alternative care is central to the success of this project. Young experts, aged 16-27, from all five participating countries are providing input throughout all activities, drawing on their personal experience and the challenges they have encountered when they got ready to leave care.

 This two-year project is co-funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) Programme of the European Union (2017-2018).

International Child Welfare: Analysing and Reforming Child Protection Systems

How to plan and implement reform in child protection and child welfare system

This University of Central Lancashire 5 day masterclass will provide a theoretical and practical guide to analysing and reforming child protection systems in high, middle and low-income countries. The tutors (David Tobis and Andy Bilson) will be joined by leaders in child protection reform from Better Care Network, Family for Every Child, Hope and Homes for Children and UNICEF to present a series of case studies of systems change in different countries using different strategies including top down, bottom up, middle out and when regimes change.

Systemic and sociological theories will provide a framework to understand the operation of systems and identify, plan, implement and evaluate strategies for change. The sociological theories focus on issues of power and culture and indicate the need for a countervailing force to bring about institutionalized change such as the empowerment of parents, communities or other constituencies. Systemic practice stresses the need to understand and challenge the assumptions that lead to harmful patterns of response to children and families. The approach involves reflexive conversations involving engagement, emotion and explanation. Participants will also explore effective use of information and research for system change.
     
Participants will prepare for the 5 day programme through exercises to reflect on their experience of child protection reform. You will work in small groups to consider processes of change relevant to your cultural and country context.  During the 5 day programme you will identify an area of reform, produce an analysis of this area and a plan for system reform. You will receive consultancy on your plan from other participants and trainers during the programme. After the 5 day programme, you will also have time allocated for consultancy from a trainer, to be used within 3 months, to assist with the implementation of your plan.

Please email Olivia Murphy at socialworkcpd@uclan.ac.uk or call 01772 893408 for booking instructions.

Booking deadline: 28 February 2019.

• 5 Day Masterclass: Monday 1 – Friday 5 April 2019, 9.30am – 4.30pm each day
• UCLan Westleigh Conference Centre, Lea Road, Preston, Lancashire PR40RB
• Pre-event online resources and post-event consultancy time also included
• £950 per participant

Maintain, strengthen, expand: How the 2021-2027 EU budget can end the institutionalisation of children in Europe

These recommendations have been developed by the Opening Doors for Europe’s Children campaign and are based on the work of the campaign since 2016, calling for a stronger commitment to maintain, strengthen and expand the use of EU funds for deinstitutionalisation reforms in Europe. For more detailed information, such as proposed amendments for each financial instrument in the MFF 20212027, please contact Katerina Nanou, Senior Policy and Advocacy Coordinator, Eurochild, +32 (0) 2 211 0559, Katerina.Nanou@eurochild.org, Hallepoortlaan 27, 1060 Brussels, Belgium, www.openingdoors.eu.



RECOMMEDATIONS 

130.000 άστεγα παιδιά στην Βρετανία θα βρεθούν σε προσωρινά καταλύματα τις ημέρες των Χριστουγέννων

Στη Βρετανία υπάρχουν περισσότεροι από 320.000 άστεγοι .

Από το 2010, ο αριθμός των αστέγων έχει αυξηθεί κατά 61%, λόγω των υψηλών ενοικίων, των περικοπών των κοινωνικών παροχών και της έλλειψης οικονομικά προσιτών κατοικιών, σύμφωνα με τον Guardian.

Τα τελευταία πέντε χρόνια, τα παιδιά που μένουν στο δρόμο έχουν αυξηθεί κατά 50.000 και όσο περνά ο καιρός πολλαπλασιάζονται. Έστω, όμως, και για λίγο, 130.000 παιδιά θα περάσουν τις γιορτές έτσι όπως τους αξίζει. Και μετά πάλι από την αρχή.

Ο διευθυντής της φιλανθρωπικής οργάνωσης για τους άστεγους της Βρετανίας, Γκρεγκ Σέλτερ, δήλωσε ότι ο αριθμός των παιδιών που μένουν σε πανδοχεία και σε B&B αρκεί για να μας ραγίσει την καρδιά.

Σημειώνει, μάλιστα, ότι η χρόνια διαμονή σε καταλύματα, που συνήθως συνεπάγεται και συχνή αλλαγή διεύθυνσης, μπορεί να επηρεάσει αρνητικά τόσο την ψυχική υγεία και την συναισθηματική ευεξία των παιδιών, όσο και την εκπαιδευτική τους κατάρτιση.

Ο αρμόδιος υπουργός για τους άστεγους , Heather Wheeler, δήλωσε: «Καμία οικογένεια δεν πρέπει να μένει χωρίς ένα κεραμίδι πάνω από το κεφάλι τους, ειδικά κατά τους χειμερινούς μήνες, και εργαζόμαστε για να διασφαλίσουμε ότι όλα τα παιδιά θα έχουν ένα ασφαλές μέρος για να μείνουν και να περάσουν τις γιορτές όπως τους αρμόζει.

«Παρέχουμε περισσότερα από £ 1,2 δισ. για την αντιμετώπιση του φαινομένου της αστεγίας που επηρεάζει όλο και περισσότερα παιδιά. Γνωρίζουμε ότι πρέπει να κάνουμε περισσότερα για να αντιμετωπίσουμε την έλλειψη στέγης και θα το κάνουμε»

Αν και όλοι εύχονται μέχρι τα επόμενα Χριστούγεννα να αμβλυνθεί το δυσμενές φαινόμενο, οφείλουν να εκμεταλλευτούν τα υπάρχοντα κονδύλια, ώστε να γίνει πράξη. Κανένα παιδί, κανένας άνθρωπος να μην μένει στο δρόμο.

SOURCEΗUFF POST GREECE

Family and alternative care

What are children’s rights regarding family and alternative care? Why are they important? 

The family is a very important social structure. All different types of family structures can successfully raise a child, and there is no "one-size fits all" definition.

The State must protect the child from violence, abuse and neglect. But no child should be removed from their family home by State intervention without very good reason, and after considering all views, including the child’s, in light of what is in the child’s best interests.

But sometimes - through war, persecution, health needs, violence in the home, or for other reasons - children are deprived of their family environment. In these situations, the State must protect the child and ensure appropriate alternative care.

Adoption, particularly international adoption, is an overlooked and serious issue that can deny children, usually from developing countries, these rights if their best interests are not at the forefront of decision making.

Parents have a responsibility to protect their children and raise them. However, this should never be at the expense of children’s rights. For example, a parent does not have a "right" to physically punish their child - smacking an adult would be violent assault. It should be the same for children.

All human rights are inter-connected, so it is important to look at children’s rights regarding family and alternative care along with their other rights. For instance, the right to be heard in custody disputes or State interventions removing a child from their family home.

Relevant articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) dealing with family and alternative care:

• Parental guidance and the child's evolving capacities (article 5): The State must respect the rights and responsibilities of parents and the extended family to provide guidance for the child, which is appropriate to her or his evolving capacities.
• Separation from parents (article 9): The child has a right to live with his or her parents, unless this is deemed to be incompatible with the child's best interests. The child also has the right to maintain contact with both parents if separated from one or both.
• Family reunification (article 10): Children and their parents have the right to leave any country and to enter their own for purposes of reunion or the maintenance of the child-parent relationship.
• Parental responsibilities (article 18): Parents have joint primary responsibility for raising the child, and the State shall support them in this. The State shall provide appropriate assistance to parents in child-raising.
• Protection from abuse and neglect (article 19): The State shall protect the child from all forms of maltreatment by parents or others responsible for the care of the child, and establish appropriate programmes for the prevention of abuse and the treatment of victims.
• Protection of a child without a family (article 20): The State is obliged to provide special protection for a child deprived of the family environment and to ensure that appropriate alternative family care or institutional placement is available in such cases. Efforts to meet this obligation shall pay due regard to the child’s cultural background.
• Adoption (article 21): In countries where adoption is recognised and/or allowed, it shall only be carried out in the best interest of the child, and then only with the authorisation of competent authorities, and safeguards for the child.

Πρόσκληση στην συζήτηση "Κακοποίηση και Παραμέληση των Παιδιών από τους Γονείς και άλλους που τα Φροντίζουν" | 7/12/2018 | Κέντρο για το Παιδί

Σας προσκαλούμε στην συζήτηση με τίτλο: "Κακοποίηση και Παραμέληση των Παιδιών από τους Γονείς και άλλους που τα φροντίζουν", με την Στέλλα Τσίτουρα (Παιδίατρο - Ιατρό Κοινωνικής Ιατρικής, Τέως Διευθύντρια Τμήματος Κοινωνικής Ιατρικής, Νοσ. Παίδων 'Π&Α Κυριακού') και τον Γιώργο Νικολαΐδη (Ψυχίατρο, Διευθυντή στη Διεύθυνση Ψυχικής Υγείας & Κοινωνικής Πρόνοιας, ΙΥΠ) την Παρασκευή 7 Δεκεμβρίου 2018, στο Κέντρο για το Παιδί, Δομοκού 2 και Φιλαδελφείας, στις 18:00 το απόγευμα.

*Η Στέλλα Τσίτουρα θα μιλήσει για τους παράγοντες που αυξάνουν το ευάλωτο του παιδιού, τα χαρακτηριστικά της οικογένειας και του γονιού, τους κοινωνικούς παράγοντες και τους  παράγοντες στην κοινότητα, την ιατρική φροντίδα, το προνοιακό σύστημα, τις κοινωνικές συγκρούσεις & πολέμους, τα επακόλουθα της κακοποίησης και την πρόληψη.

**Ο Γιώργος Νικολαΐδης θα μιλήσει για τις σύγχρονες δράσεις σχετικά με την Προστασία του Παιδιού στην Ελλάδα και τη Ευρώπη.
 
***Η συζήτηση πραγματοποιείται στο πλαίσιο της δράσης "Το Δίκτυο προβληματίζεται".