In 2019, the team of PULSE Foundation, Pernik, started its work on a new two-year international project: SUPPORTS - "Supporting children in the delicate phase between adolescence and adulthood while leaving alternative care facilities", funded by the European Commission.
The project is coordinated by the PULSE Foundation and includes a partnership of 3 EU countries - Bulgaria, Portugal and Italy, which unite in the direction of creating comprehensive care for children leaving residential institutions.
The main goals that SUPPORTS sets are:
- To increase the competencies and skills of the specialists working in accommodation homes.
- To create a tool based on a childlike and dynamic multidisciplinary approach.
- To ncourage the participation of children placed in homes, taking into account decisions about their real and future conditions.
- To promote the exchange of good practices in each country and among European partners.
At least 2.7 million children worldwide live in institutional care, according to the latest study by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Statistics show that the number of children deprived of parental care is growing.
Often children are placed in places of alternative care without fully understanding why and what this means and what will happen to their lives in the near future. The development of information material for children placed in homes is one of the goals of the project. The information material (short videos / animation leaflets) can help young people to make decisions and improve their communication with their guardians and social workers, as well as to understand the process of deinstitutionalisation and to prepare for the forthcoming changes. Attention will be paid to the already available information materials.
The project will hold regular seminars with children leaving "care". It is also planned to establish an Advisory Group of Children and Youth, which will be able to participate directly in the various phases of the project.
SUPPORTS will also provide training for all professional educators (consultants, educators, social workers, psychologists, support professionals) in three residential care institutions in each country.
To ensure the sustainability of the project, a trainer will be provided to support the professionals working in the accommodation facilities directly involved in the project and to make it possible to replicate the experience in other establishments after its completion.
Accordingly, the SUPPORTS project will develop a system of local networks that will include various professionals and organizations from the education system, vocational training, labor market, health, social services, housing and therapeutic services and provide a different range of services for children, leaving the resident service.
The aim of the local networks will be to make public services accessible to young people and to facilitate their social inclusion through various activities such as advocacy at the individual level, crisis interventions, vocational training, support and assistance in finding work, finding housing, training for organizing and managing the household and independent living in all different areas.
Implementation period: January 2019 - April 2021
Coordinator: PULSE Foundation - Bulgaria
Partners: DCI - Italy https://defenceforchildren.org/dci-italy/
CESIS - Portugal https://www.cesis.org/pt
Co-financed by the European Union Program for Rights, Equality and Citizenship.
Main results and products in Bulgaria:
- More than 70 trained specialists from 13 social services in Bulgaria
- Over 40 children from crisis centers and social services participated in trainings and individual activities
- Video "Support for children and youth victims of violence and living in institutions"
- Videos for young people from institutions
- Handbook of Happiness - A Handbook for Young People Leaving Social Services
- My Rights - A Handbook for Children in Institutions
- Leaflets
- Translated and adapted training methods for specialists and conducting workshops with children
Materials for children and young people can be found at Library for children and youth
Training methodologies can be found at Library for specialists
Analyzes and reports are available at Library - analyzes and reports
Here you can find a summary of External evaluation of the project (In Bulgarian) and EVALUATING PROJECT SUPPORTS (in English)
You can check Manifesto (in Bulgarian) and The Manifesto (in Engl)
Accents:
30 April, Bulletin SUPPORTS (in English)
30 April, Project newsletter (in Bulgarian)
Resources in Portuguese and Italian are available on the project partners' websites.