Description
The project is national in scope and its goal is to ensure public scrutiny over Family-based Foster Care Management Organisations at the county level and local governments. The project seeks to eradicate malpractice and promote best practice where foster care is managed in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Related to this goal is that of monitoring the impacts of new laws and regulations and scrutinising Government policy and developing a shadow report on the implementation of the Law on Family Support and Foster Care as an alternative to the mandatory report published by the Cabinet. As a result of this project, data from 150 Polish counties will have been collected and a template for County Foster Care Development Programs will have been developed offering transparent and standard-based systems of communication with community members.
Summary of project results
"The project was a response to challenges related to implementation of the Act on support for family and foster care (the Act) on the level of county administration. After several years, it appeared that even good particular provisions can be interpreted in a way that diminishes the efficiency of implementation of the intended objectives. The only report with important data is the annual Council of Ministers Information on implementation of the Act, containing mainly quantitative statistical data, without any analysis of causes and effects of the problems. No social institution supervises implementation of the Act. The aim of the project was to analyse the functioning of the Organisers of Family Foster Care (ORPZ) and municipalities, and - as a result - better quality of the system of care for children and families. Under the auditing activity, the summary statistical data were obtained from the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy (MRPiPS), the questionnaire on the implementation of the Act was sent to all counties in Poland, a deepened qualitative survey was conducted in 12 counties. 9 counties were selected and singled out, where the rights of children to be brought up in families are protected and family foster care is developed. Information on the system were gathered during offering legal advice to foster families. Conclusions from the survey were presented in a report containing analysis of quantitative data and qualitative analysis of difficulties in implementation of the Act, taking into account perspectives of all major participants of the system: representatives of ORPZ, coordinators and foster parents. Good county practices were also developed, as well as a sample of the County Program for Development of Foster Care. The recommendations from the monitoring were presented to the MRPiPS, responsible for foster parental care, the Ministry of Justice and the Ombudsman for Children. The results of the project were also presented during three conferences. As a result of the project, the position of the Coalition as an expert in advocacy and analytical/research activities in the field of parental foster care on the local, national and international levels was enhanced. Cooperation with local foster parent organisations was started."
Summary of bilateral results