Livia

Sharing Good Practices in Supporting Kinship Carers to Prevent Substance

Related Harm to Young People

ROMANIA Project partner :

HOLT ROMANIA – FOUNDATION OF CONSULTANCY AND SOCIAL SERVICES FOR

CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

Livia TrifExecutive Country Director

Edinburgh – March 16, 2011

WHAT WAS THE PROJECT ABOUT

in Romania Develop appropriate resources to increase awareness and

help kinship cares to protect children and young people in their care from harm, as a direct consequence of alcohol misuse.

Create written materials (poster + brochure) about the damaging effects of drug and alcohol consumption;

Create a manual and provide training for specialists working in Child Protection domain or Social Assistance in Romania;

Share good practices in supporting kinship carers and dealing with the negative effects of alcohol misuse;

Include kinship carers in groups and provide parent education ”How to Become Better Carers for our children”; help them deal with stress and anger;

Directly support the children who lost their childhood because of this delicate problem.

HOLT ROMANIAFOUNDATION OF CONSULTANCY AND SOCIAL SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

R E S O U R C E S

POSTER

Communities: 3 rural (Castelu, Poarta Alba,

Cumpana), 4 urban (Constanta, Iasi, Mures,

Medgidia)

Locations: rural Local County Councils, DGASPC Constanta, Mures, Iasi, Local Council Medgidia, COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER Constanta

good feedback for a poster particularly directed to Kinship Carers

examples

B R O S H U R E

offers information about the way alcohol misuse reflects not only on the consumer’s life, but also on the lives of the people that surround him. There are information about drugs and alcohol and their negative consequences shown in a suggestive image.

states the problems that a child, whose parent has alcohol problems, confronts with and in what way these problems will affect him in the future.

provides information about the kinship carers who are in the situation of being parents again, answers to some of their concerns, questions, a list of advices for them to follow and also guidance to specialized people who can help them.

T R A I N I N G

One day training for professionals (6 hours)

March 17th, 2010 9 participants , all

social workers : 4 from Constanta DGASPC, 5 from Community Social Services

Evaluation

46%

36%

18%

Shared experience by other specialists Information about alcohol and drugs New information

Solutions for identified needs within the training session:

•Identifying the needs of alcohol consumers;•Distributing leaflets and audio / video materials in communities;•Promoting the effects of alcohol / drug consumption;•Moral and financial support for kinship carers.

46%

18%

36%

Role play

Discussion

Material presentation

Themes that should be discussed within the future meetings:•State intervention in supporting kinship carers;•Community role in fighting against alcoholism;•School abandonment;•Information of young mothers regarding the consequences of alcohol consumption during pregnancy;•Pregnancy at early ages;•Domestic violence;•Sexual Transmittal Diseases;•Support groups.

The most important things that participants won:

Preffered activities within the training:

ADVISORY GROUPmonthly meetings

Livia Trif – project manager Bogdana Galantonu/Florentina Andrei – project officer ( social worker) Sorin Grigore – sketcher Raluca Purcarin – social worker,translator Ludovic Fraico – psychologist 2 kinship carers

LESSONS LEARNED

Focus the recruitment of Family Preservation cases on kinship carers and the children they care;

Consider drug & alcohol issues as major risk factors of child abuse/neglect/abandonment;

Increase the organizational capacity to create specific materials for information and education;

Value the importance of an international partnership.

Sharing Good Practices in Supporting Kinship Carers to Prevent Substance

Related Harm to Young People

ROMANIA Project partner :

HOLT ROMANIA – FOUNDATION OF CONSULTANCY AND SOCIAL SERVICES FOR

CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

Livia TrifExecutive Country Director

Edinburgh – March 16, 2011