Description
In the Czech Republic, legislation on the protection of children’s rights is currently undergoing a reform. As part of the overall reform, there is also a need to improve the quality and deinstitutionalisation of the system of care for children and youth at risk. The Pardubice region is the founder of 5 children’s homes and 3 so-called “special healthcare facilities”. The objective of the project is to prepare transformation plans for these 8 facilities for vulnerable children, which will cover all the residential facilities established by the Pardubice Region. The main aim is to reduce the residential capacity of these facilities by at least 50%; develop existing services and to create new services for vulnerable children and their families in response to the needs identified and in accordance with legislation in the area of the social and legal protection of children. The project will benefit vulnerable children and youth. No partner is foreseen in the project.
Summary of project results
The project implementation period was from 1 February 2015 until 30 April 2017 and it was divided into two stages - original period from 1.2.2015 to 30.4.2016 and additional activity from 3.6.2016 to 30.4.2017. For all 8 childcare facilities established in Pardubice Region, transformation plans were designed to reduce bed capacity for children and youth by 50 percent during the project implementation. Several analyses mapping the area of children and youth at risk in Pardubice region were elaborated (analysis of the needs of children at risk, analysis of children's homes and children's centers established by the Pardubice region in terms of human and material resources of the facility, analysis of measures necessary to prevent children's intake, legal analysis) and a strategy for the care of children at risk in Pardubice region was created. All eight facilities developed transformation plans with assistance of external consultants. Employees were given supervision and they attended several workshops and seminars where the transformation and deinstitutionalization process of residential facilities was explained.This was very beneficial as both processes are primarily about changing the thinking and the way people work in the care system. As a result of the project, some"institutional" elements were gradually removed from the facilities. During creation of transformation plans, employees of the facilities and external consultants worked with children and their opinions. Realized communication strategy helped to explain the project and planned changes in residential facilities to the professional and lay public.The project also involved three international exchange study trips - one to Norway and two to France.The project brought experience to members of the Pardubice Region Self-Government, responsible for the care of vulnerable children, employees of the Regional Authority of the Pardubice Region and employees of facilities involved in the project. The project has shown that the change in the thinking of those responsible for the functioning of the care system for vulnerable children at all levels is crucial to the transformation process.The basic conditions that allowed for this change were the experience from abroad as well as the process of transformation of social services for people with disabilities, education, methodical support and the possibility of actively influencing the process of change.
Summary of bilateral results