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Vitebsk conference discussed the results of the "A Family for Every Child" project implementation: 360 children have left orphanages and are now growing up in families.
The focus was on best practices already implemented in the region to assist young children, children with disabilities, and their families.
The "A Family for Every Child" project in the Vitebsk region is 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 necessary assistance, and can develop in conditions that meet their needs and interests.
Rustam Khaydarov, UNICEF Representative in Belarus, summarizing the results of the "A Family for Every Child" project, emphasized the importance of joint work by relevant ministries and departments – education, healthcare, and social protection.
– The main goal of the project is to move children out of orphanages, and these are often children with disabilities who have parents, and to create conditions for them to be raised in their own families. Thanks to interdepartmental 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. Additionally, we prevented approximately 200 children from entering orphanages. Over 250 specialists from the fields of education, healthcare, and social protection have been trained in case management and the basics of communicating with families in crisis situations. This allows for a deeper understanding of each family's needs and taking necessary measures to overcome crises, – emphasized Rustam Khaydarov.
Conference participants discussed how interdepartmental interaction helps prevent children from entering orphanages, timely identify family needs, and provide them with comprehensive support.
Special 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 work of an interdepartmental group of over 20 specialists, which assesses family needs, helps develop individual support plans, and accompanies families in crisis situations.
Dmitry Shilin, UNICEF Senior Child Protection Coordinator in Belarus, reported that one of the project's outcomes was the development of a Deinstitutionalization Roadmap, which was presented at the conference. It comprises tools tested within the project and mechanisms for implementing these tools. All of this will be further integrated into daily practice.
– Within the project, a thorough assessment of children's needs was conducted. Special questionnaires and a methodology were created to identify specific causes of social risk and determine exactly what a family needs to overcome difficulties, – said Dmitry Shilin. – Our goal is to develop an individual plan that includes specific measures to help children and their families overcome crises. This is an innovation that has not been applied before. Additionally, new services such as "in-home respite care" 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 with their family, where specialists will visit and provide necessary assistance. Mechanisms for interaction between various agencies have also been developed, as educational, healthcare, and social protection institutions are involved in child care and protection. Training sessions were held, and new mechanisms were implemented to improve this cooperation.
– We are summarizing the results of a three-year humanitarian project implemented in nine pilot districts, as well as in Novopolotsk and four boarding schools, – summarized Marina Fyodorova, Director of the Regional Center for Correctional and Developmental Education and Rehabilitation. – Currently, a solid legislative framework has been developed in our state to support family-based placements and assist families raising children with disabilities and special educational needs. Within the project, our specialists introduced non-standard forms of support, including a mobile resource room with specialized equipment for correctional and rehabilitation work with families raising children with disabilities. We also provided professional consulting assistance and developed checklists for specialists and parents raising young children and beyond. We studied new forms of support, including deep family assessment technologies, which allow for a more detailed understanding of their needs and the transfer of information to relevant agencies. The main thing is to remain kind and attentive to those in need of help and to be ready to offer assistance.