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Description
In Slovakia, most children with health disadvantages do not have support from early childhood, parents do not receive support, children have very low chances of getting into kindergarten. Consequently, there is a failure of the school system, where a cooperating analyst proves in her research that the number of children staying at home due to health disadvantage has increased by a third over the last seven years.
The project aims to build a long-term functioning rooftop parental organization for families of children with any health disadvantage and to employ directly the parents of these children. Based on the existing activities, the Platform has a chance to be a long-term competent intermediary in promoting a change in the system of current services and support for families of children with disabilities, the initiator of cooperation between NGOs and public administrations, a guide for families of children with disabilities. The Platform''s activities to date have been carried out by volunteers, but due to the scale (more than 100 activities per year), this is not possible voluntarily and without background. Parents themselves are "forced" to be excluded from the society and they want to be involved in the working process and many of them are motivated to work on changes for the benefit of families in a similar situation. The target group of the project consist of children with health disadvantages and their families.
Slovak partner, CDKL5 lends space for activities of the Platform of Families of Children with Health Disabilities to organize meetings, parental discussions and workshops, rehabilitation of children and other activities. The role of the Icelandic partner, Rökstólar Samvinnumiðstöð, is to design and facilitate support and educational activities, to contribute to the systemic changes needed during the transformation of the Family Platform.
Summary of project results
In Slovakia, children with disabilities and their families face various problems. The Platforma rodín organization was created in order to advocate for the needs of children with any medical handicap and their families. The range of activities required for this turned out to be so large that it could no longer be carried out on a voluntary basis. Therefore, the challenges of the project were: to build a strong umbrella parent organization for families of children with any medical handicap; to verify in practice the conditions necessary for the employment of parents of children with disabilities who normally do not have access to the labor market; set the long-term sustainability of the organization.
The following activities were carried out for the mentioned calls: team education, webinars and team meetings, defining the vision, mission, goals, organizational structure, defining the activities of the members of the organization, filling jobs for 9 parents of children with disabilities and providing care for their children with the help of a partner CDKL5, creation of a campaign called We know you need us, education for 308 parents, collection of 780 parental suggestions.
The main results of the project are: creation of multi-source support for families of children with disabilities (lay advisors, infoportal...), stable partnerships with 7 organizations and 2 private sector entities, connecting key stakeholders - 69 people and 116 representatives of organizations in project activities, 308 informed parents who will enforce their children''s rights themselves, securing funds for 6 months of the team''s continued operation.
Based on the indicators, it is clear that thanks to the project, the organization has become professional. It has become a stable support for the target group of families of children with disabilities and a respected partner for competent and other non-governmental non-profit organizations. Participation in the creation of 3 strategic government documents for children with disabilities is proof of the partnership with competent authorities. The created positions will remain active even after the end of the project. Cooperation with 2 entities of the private sector brought the Unstoppable project and probono support in the field of PR, which after the end of the project creates another campaign to increase mutual understanding between the public and people with disabilities.
Summary of bilateral results
Thanks to the partnership with the Rökstólar organization, the platform was able to implement a number of activities: co-creation of the Long-Term Sustainability Strategy; webinars on sustainable work arrangements; continuous support of individuals and working groups during transformation processes; preparation of the draft "Framework for long-term sustainability" and strategic goals; setting competence in the team taking into account the new strategy; creating job positions while simultaneously ensuring the well-being of employees, setting up the functioning of the Platform during the coronavirus pandemic. The training "Empowerment and empowering learning spaces" took place in Bratislava and the training of lecturers who will later educate parents with the aim of supporting parents in their skills so that they can assert their rights themselves. What the partner said: "Rökstólar as a social enterprise has taken away a lot of useful things in the years to come thanks to this cooperation. We successfully piloted a 2-day version of the residential workshop for a target group that wants to live the concept of empowerment in the context of their work. This module was further multiplied to different target groups. Thanks to the cooperation, we gained a clearer overview of the current situation in the field of the non-profit sector and active citizenship in Slovakia, especially in the field of inclusive perception of society. We are convinced that the active involvement of segregated parents in the labor market, which will be supported by a clear national policy and an allocated budget from public funds, will greatly help both society and parents and their children. The platform has successfully piloted the work of 9 parents of children and knows a lot of resources that must be secured in the future. Mutual cooperation brought deepening of relations and strengthening of trust."