Description
The main objective of the project is to ensure the welfare of children in risk groups at day care centres in Lithuania. The project aims to do so by enhancing the skills of social professionals using best practices from this field in Norway, developing and building new integrated family empowerment services and promoting inter-agency cooperation and its development in the country. The project will realise the following targets: the number of children for whom the social services are provided in children day care centres will increase to 120; the number of children day care centres will increase to 3; and the number of complex services provided to the children and their families will be 39 family empowerment services. The social programs for children from risk groups will be set up and operating in two municipalities. The project partner, Boenheten AS (Norway) will participate in the project related activities, participate in the meetings or online meetings, and share information and experience with the partners.
Summary of project results
The data of various studies analysing employment, social problems and techniques of social insertion promotion reveals that there is a growing number of people who find themselves at the margin of social life and who cannot independently use the minimum public resources and options in Lithuania. They supplement the groups of social risk or social exclusion. Children is the most sensitively susceptible group in these situations. Currently there are around 23 000 children from risk families in Lithuania, but only around 5000 of them and 2800 of their family members receive the social services provided by child day care centres: common family faces with the psycho-social and economic issues. One of the features of socio-economical comprehensive support is a rapid exchange of social innovations, simulation of innovations. Social innovations are usually implemented and prepared for responsible social partnership by NGO, but only 14 per cent of country residents are involved in their activities. In addition, such issues as poor awareness, financial viability, lack of trust, absence of NGO “map” and inability to determine their exact density are related to NGOs. The challenges hindering the social interactions are summarized at the state progress strategy “Lithuania 2030”. Given the trends of modern society globalization development (creation of knowledge society, human resources migration and other socio-economic issues), the attention is drawn to the ongoing development of skills of the social professionals, often called as managers of successful life scenarios. The main objective of this project was to ensure the welfare of risk group children of day care centres in Lithuania, by enhancing the skills of social professionals through the best practices of Norwegian social field, to develop and build new integrated family empowerment services and to promote inter-agency cooperation and its development in the country. These indicators were achieved during the project: the number of children for whom the social services are provided in children day care centres - 120 children; the number of children day care centres - 3 centres, the number of complex services provided to the children and their families - 39 family empowerment services; the number of municipalities where the social programs for risk group children are set up and operating - 2.
Summary of bilateral results
During the project there were no direct bilateral activities foreseen. Donor project partner was acting rather as consultant for project promoter and other Lithuanian partner institutions - transferring the best know-how, consulting on training topics, new complex services, which were provided to the children and their families.