Hope and Homes for Children Romania  Hope and Homes for Children Romania

HOPE AND HOMES FOR CHILDREN ROMANIA 1. CLOSING DOWN INSTITUTIONS 2. DEVELOPING FAMILY BASED SERVICES 3. OTHER TYPES OF PROGRAMMES: QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAMME TRAINING PROGRAMMES AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PUBLICATIONS PR & ADVOCACY FOR CHILDREN’S RIGHTS CONVENTION OF COOPERATION ON DI PREVENTION PROGRAMME

 The move must be the last one for the child, as well as a positive one;  The groups of siblings will be kept or reunited;  Additional support for the children with special needs;  Closing institutions is not a purpose in itself;  The children’s opportunity to show their potential;  Commitment to real partnership Principles in planning the DI process  Hope and Homes for Children Romania

Vision I. DI – a dynamic process II. DI – a contextualized approach III. DI – child focused  Hope and Homes for Children Romania

Comparative analyses proving the impact upon children: child’s feeding ability motion capacity of clothing personal hygiene organisation of activities communication cognitive area social area spare time identity issues family relationships connection with other people  Hope and Homes for Children Romania

IDENTIFIED PROBLEMS: Lack of cooperation Diffuse responsibility – no action for child care Confusing procedures Inappropriate use of resources

7  Hope and Homes for Children Romania Preparing the Transfer of Children from Institutions

8  Hope and Homes for Children Romania The child’s opinion Did this child benefit from all the resources and information that could help him/her make a decision for himself/herself? Did he/she have enough time to examine all the possible alternatives?

9  Hope and Homes for Children Romania Components of the training programme Preparing the child Preparing the staff Preparing the context of the placement

10  Hope and Homes for Children Romania Preparing the child It is essential that we teach the child to trust adults Initiating a recuperation programme for some delays, especially those regarding independent living skills Familiarising the child with one or more forms of placement

11  Hope and Homes for Children Romania Preparing the context The social environment of the child: If the child’s family, the schools, health department, local authorities, local NGOs are involved, they will help the child in the process of adaptation Members of staff should work with the children on issues relating to their past, their present and their future

12  Hope and Homes for Children Romania Life Story Book It is a very useful tool to help the child in the process of movement, as well as during the period of adjustment to the new placement Contains the important events in the life of the child It is important that the significant events in the life of the child are not lost once the movement takes place Has as fundamental aim the development of self- identity and accepting their own person as a valuable, respectable human being

13  Hope and Homes for Children Romania The Parameters of the preparation process The process is individually designed for each child The child is an active part in each stage of the process, being encouraged to express their opinion

14 The preparation is based on different activities Needs a variable period of time, from minimum a month up to a few months, usually being related to the age of the child Many people are involved, including the child’s family  Hope and Homes for Children Romania

3. MOVING THE CHILD  Who accompanies the child?  What kind of things can he take with him/her?  Is the child aware of the date of moving?  Has the child visited the new location?  Is the family routine still kept in the new placement?

 Hope and Homes for Children Romania A. Services preventing the separation of children from their families Day Centres Mother and Baby Units Emergency Reception Centres and/or Emergency Foster Care;

 Hope and Homes for Children Romania Social workers in paediatric wards Material support Counseling Centers

 Hope and Homes for Children Romania Respite Care Simple placement

 Hope and Homes for Children Romania B. Reintegrations in natural or extended families o When reintegration possibilities are identified for children in institutions, those opportunities need to be exploited; o Reintegrations could be supported by sets of care measures for the child and the family: day centres, respite care units, counselling services and material support;

 Hope and Homes for Children Romania C. Care services by means of substitute families Foster care for typical children and children with special needs; Adoption

 Hope and Homes for Children Romania D. Family-type residential care For some children, care should be ensured in small family homes;

 Hope and Homes for Children Romania Using the range of services Based on complex evaluations; Offering care packages –to meet the individual needs of individual children; Choosing the best placement from a variety of available services;

 Hope and Homes for Children Romania Using the range of services Establishing partnerships with the children’s families, (in reintegration cases, families could initially mistrust the possibilities of taking responsibility for providing for the children); in these situations, the families will receive support, will be involved in planning the support services, will benefit from real monitoring; Periodically, each case should be reevaluated; as a result, the contents of the care packages could undergo modifications.

Challenges after DI Absence of quality services for children’s individualised needs, such as services for mentally challenged children Lack of inter-ministerial cooperation on childcare strategy The paediatric sections and the maternity wards might become the new baby-homes Legislation – too quick for real action on the ground A need for better quality middle management of social services

STEPS TO DE-INSTITUTIONALISATION Raising awareness Country/regional level analysis Design services Planning transfer of resources Preparing & moving children Preparing & moving staff Logistics Monitoring & evaluation Managing the process Analysis at institution level