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Description
The project proposal aims to provide support to children from vulnerable groups, including Roma communities in early childhood and their families to improve access to health care, develop parenting skills, improve the family environment, increase school readiness for children. inclusion in the education system, with the aim of reducing the transmission of intergenerational poverty. The complex integrated measures will be aimed at improving access to education, health protection and development of social skills for children aged 0-6 who do not attend / do not have access to kindergarten or nursery, or live in isolated rural / urban areas. and / or poor areas with a concentration of problems at risk of poverty, social exclusion and marginalization.
Specific objectives
• Creation of a complex of services (hub), providing functionally related services for education and care at an early age for the children from the target groups and their parents, including:
- Providing support for children in early childhood and support for access to education;
- Improving access to social and health services for vulnerable groups;
- Supporting the transition from a family to a formal educational environment.
• Engaging and activating families and the community to provide quality education and care in early childhood through a series of consecutive interventions; formation of parenting skills, health care, social and life skills, as well as the development and education of children.The main objective and the specific objectives meet and are in line with the objectives of the procedure.
Summary of project results
The challenge was to cover children from 0 to 6 from vulnerable groups and remote districts who do not attend nursery or kindergarten, as well as their families, in order to help them improve their parental skills, improve the family environment, increase the school readiness of children, improve access to social and health services and support the smooth transition form family to formal educational environment.
The project provided a complex of integrated measures for children 0-6 years from vulnerable groups who had no access or did not attend nursery or kindergarten and helped them improve their educational and social skills. With the establishment of the two mobile hubs, children from distinct and rural districts in Kystendil municipality were covered and received educational, social and medical help. The children participate in trainings to improve their Bulgarian language. The employed staff provided them health and psychological services and assisted their parents in the process of applying for different state services. Working both with the children and their families, the hired experts managed to activate the communities and made them more responsible for their children’s health and family environment and improved their parental capacity. The new and modern equipment, bought through the project, made the hub in Kyustendil to turn into a pleasant and friendly place where children can learn, play and develop their abilities.
In cooperation with he project partner “Centre for Regional Development - Roma” Foundation a Methodology and 10 programs for provision of services were crated and successfully implemented in the multidisciplinary team’s work.
Although the project promoter had not identified any DPP while applying for funding, correspondence was exchanged with institutions from Reykjavík, Iceland at a later stage for organizing and conducting a working visit to share good practices and exchange experience in the field of early childhood development. As a result, a working trip to Reykjavik took place for 4 people from Bulgaria in order to get familiar with new models of work with people from the target group and the applied innovative models to support children 0-6 years and their families.
As a result of the project activities, 3 hubs were established, one fixed and two mobile, which provide individual and group consultations for children from 0 to 6 and their families. During the implementation of the project 346 children were covered in various educational, health and social activities. A team of 11 people was created to implement the project activities both in the fixed and two mobile hubs.