Description
Roma children are significantly more frequently placed in institutional care facilities. Given the discrimination that Roma face in the society it is plausible that racism and prejudice affect also Roma children's status in such facilities. So far, inadequate attention has been paid to this issue and no relevant analysis has been made that would comprehensively assess the status of Roma children in children's homes. The project's main objective is to explore processes of placing Roma children in children's homes, the care personnel's and other stakeholders' attitudes and different treatment of Roma children in comparison to non-Roma children. Results and outcomes of the research will serve as a basis for further advocacy activities realized within a project. The main aim is to foster changes not oly in public policies, but also in practice.
Summary of project results
The project has made a significant contribution to the ongoing public discourse on the situation of Romani children in children’s homes; especially the advocacy activities that went beyond the project’s original scope have made many child minders at children’s homes aware of the need to show greater cultural sensitivity towards Romani children. A qualitative research that formed the first part of the project identified several areas of institutional care that needed to receive special attention. The research showed that while Romani children institutionalised in children’s homes were not subject to discrimination per se, their specific needs and their cultural identity often did get ignored. Despite the empathy with which employees of children’s homes treat the inmates, the research identified various ways of better responding to individual needs of all children. One of these ways, for instance, is to take into account the fact that the mother tongue of many Romani children is different from Slovak.The project’s output included a set of recommendations and a final report. As part of advocacy activities, the researchers have visited two committees of the Government Council for Human Rights, National Minorities and Gender Equality; the research findings have also been presented to the country’s public defender of rights. Thanks to these activities, project managers established contact with the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family and agreed on mutual cooperation in the field of organising training courses on cultural sensitivity for 300 employees of select children’s homes.
Summary of bilateral results