In Vitebsk, the results of the project “Family for Every Child” were discussed.
At the conference in Vitebsk, the results of the implementation of the project "Family for Every Child" were discussed: 360 children left orphanages and are now growing up in families.
The focus was on the best practices already implemented in the region to assist young children, children with disabilities, and their families.
The "Family for Every Child" project in the Vitebsk region is being implemented by the regional executive committee and UNICEF in Belarus with financial support from Priorbank. It aims to ensure that children grow up in a caring family environment, receive the necessary assistance, and can develop in conditions that meet their needs and interests.
Rustam Haidarov, a representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Belarus, emphasized the importance of joint work among the relevant ministries and agencies – education, health care, and social protection – while summarizing the results of the "Family for Every Child" project.
– The main goal of the project is to take children out of orphanages, often children with disabilities who have parents, and create conditions for them to be raised in their families. Thanks to inter-agency cooperation, coordination of actions, and an individual approach to each child, we have achieved high results: 360 children have left orphanages and are now growing up in families. After comprehensive family support, 138 children returned to their mothers and fathers, 83 found new families through adoption, and 139 were taken in by guardians. In addition, we prevented about 200 children from entering orphanages. More than 250 specialists from the fields of education, health care, and social protection have undergone training in case management and communication basics with families in crisis situations. This allows for a deeper understanding of each family's needs and taking necessary measures to exit the crisis, – emphasized Rustam Haidarov.
Conference participants discussed how inter-agency interaction helps prevent children from entering orphanages, timely identify family needs, and provide them with comprehensive support.
Particular attention was paid to the influence of the environment on child development, international approaches to deinstitutionalization, and the experience of the Vitebsk region in creating a case management system. Participants reviewed the results of the inter-agency group of more than 20 specialists, which assesses family needs, helps to form individual support plans, and accompanies families in crisis situations.
Dmitry Shilin, Senior Coordinator for Child Protection at UNICEF in Belarus, reported that one of the outcomes of the project was the development of a Roadmap for Deinstitutionalization, which was presented at the conference. It represents tools tested in the project and mechanisms for implementing these tools. All of this will be further integrated into everyday practice.
– As part of the project, a thorough assessment of children's needs was conducted. Special questionnaires and methodologies were created to identify specific causes of social risk and determine what exactly the family needs to overcome difficulties, – said Dmitry Shilin. – Our goal is to develop an individual plan that includes specific activities to assist children and their families in exiting the crisis. This is an innovation that has not been applied before. Additionally, new services such as "social respite at home" were tested. Unlike the traditional approach, which involves temporary placement of a child in residential institutions for up to 28 days, in this case, the child is offered to stay in the family, which will be visited by specialists to provide necessary assistance. Mechanisms for interaction between various agencies have also been developed, as the care and protection of children are handled by educational, health care, and social protection institutions. Trainings were conducted, and new mechanisms were implemented to improve this cooperation.
– We are summarizing the results of a three-year humanitarian project that was implemented in nine pilot districts, as well as in Novopolotsk and four orphanages, – concluded Marina Fyodorova, director of the regional center for corrective and developmental education and rehabilitation. – Currently, our state has developed a serious legislative framework that supports family forms of placement and assists families raising children with disabilities and special educational needs. Within the framework of the project, our specialists implemented non-standard forms of support, including a mobile resource room with specialized equipment for corrective and rehabilitative work with families raising children with disabilities. We also provided professional consulting assistance, developed checklists for specialists and parents raising young children and more. We explored new forms of support, including deep family assessment technologies, which allow for a more detailed understanding of their needs and transmitting information to the relevant agencies. The main thing is to remain kind and attentive to those in need of help and be ready to provide assistance.