First Step Georgia Jane Corboy

The Beginning Arrived in Georgia in November 1994 The break up of the Soviet Union A country in general crisis Grinding Poverty Massive Inflation Average salary $15 per month State pension $7

Everything had broken down The economy Health system Education system

Many vulnerable groups Old age pensioners Children institutionalised because of poverty Street Children Disabled children

Orphanages 75 orphanages in Georgia home to over 8,000 children 4 orphanages for disabled children Visited Kaspi in March children died there the previous winter There is only one word - Horrendous

Kaspi

Kaspi 2006

Kaspi

UNICEF, Echo, Save the Children, Caritas Georgia agreed to work together to bring about change Programme was created....to help four of the most needy orphanages including Kaspi

Result.....No Result The Programme ran for 6 Months with a break then a further 6 Months and cost $200,000 There was little or no difference to the lives of the children They still lived in a vacuum Staff attitudes had not changed There were still horrendous accidents Medical evacuations

New Approach A whole new approach had to be found in the care of special needs children and young adults 2006/2008 it was necessary for FSG to fund a food and heating programme for Kaspi

decided to create an NGO - First Step Nino Zhvania the wife of Georgia’s leading reforming politician- Co-founder

Government offered old Soviet buildings and hospitals 300,000 IDP occupied any decent unoccupied buildings Finally the government offered land in a suburb of Tbilisi

During 1998/9 Georgia in very difficult situation economically Funding to institutions was irregular In order to avert another tragedy we were advised to evacuate 30 very sick children – and one year later

First Step Georgia created a multi disciplinary team consisting Psychologists, Pediatricians, Special Teachers, Trained Social workers and Occupational therapists

The Village In 2000 construction started on the first building on what is now known as the First Step village Autumn 2001 caregivers recruited and their training commences April children move to the their new home Initiative pilots decent residential care

Nino Zhvania at the Village

The Village

In 2003 First Step starts integrated education in Tbilisi state school Day care centre opens in Georgia’s third City Zugdidi for 20 special needs Children TFS social workers become involved in state deinstitutionalisation programme 15 children are returned to their birth families

Zugdidi

In 2004 a second residential cottage opens in the First Step village for a further 12 children TFS social work team work to prevent abandonment of children with disability In 2005 alone 5 cases were successful In 2005 First Step opens a day care centre in the village for children and young adults with moderate to profound special needs

Zugdidi Centre

St Michaels House In 2005 St Michaels House in Dublin host 5 day policy trip for Georgian policy makers In 2006 two psychologists, a social worker and special teacher spend 8 weeks working with St. Michaels House on a trainer of trainers programme 2007 FSG trainers create training manuals adapted to the Georgian reality

The Government of Georgia make Kodjori home available for the re housing of the remaining children and young adults from Kaspi. Re construction work starts on the Kodjori building FSG professional team recruit potential caregivers and start their training April 2008, 25 youngsters from Kaspi move to Kodjori FSG raises funds for renovation, UNICEF fund staff training

Empowering Parents FSG pilots following programmes with funding from Irish Aid 1. Home based care 2. Semi independent living for young adults 3. Empowerment of parents 4. Awareness building 5. Job coaching

Kodjori Reconstruction

2008/2009 UNICEF request FSG to run training programmes for caregivers in state run institutions. FSG WORKING WITH UNICEF

Kaspi Closed In November 2008 the last remaining young adults leave Kaspi Kaspi is finally closed The same day Irish Minister Michael Martin visits First Step Georgia

What we have learnt and our conclusions Short term action- Saving Children’s Lives Long term Actions Working with Government on Policy- Very Important Capacity Building and training in the sector Raising Awareness Constant assessment- Taking account of political and economic reality in the country