9 Nov 2011 • Child protection systems Romania

Romania: Life and childhood through the eyes of a child

- Published by Darcissac, Marion

Craiova, Romania: In order to support the local authorities in their efforts to protect children from risk of different forms of abuse and neglect and also to strengthen their families, Terre des hommes Foundation in partnership with the General Direction of Social Assistance and Child Protection Dolj has signed a collaboration protocol with 30 municipalities, towns and communes from Dolj County . The main objective of this partnership is to achieve an improved child protection system for preventing risk situations and for protecting child’s rights at local level through the reinforcement of the Child Protection Safety Net. This innovative network promotes dialogue among the local /regional stakeholders who can share information and experiences, being able to offer effective responses to vulnerable children and their families.

With this aim, Terre des hommes Foundation (Tdh) and the General Direction of Social Assistance and Child Protection Dolj (GDSACP) initiated a training program addressed to social workers/persons with social assistance responsibilities, teachers, Roma ethnic minority representatives and other members from the local communities where there is an increased number of children left behind, children who are exposed to labor exploitation, school drop-out, and other types of risk.

“Lately, absolutely all social phenomena have increased. Our institution is facing a workload which is three to four times larger and, in order to solve things without losing quality, we have to put into practice the development of these partnerships with the NGOs. One of the components of Terre des hommes Foundation’s project is focusing on the specialists from the municipalities who should work in the same way that the experts from our institution are working, they should use the same communication language, the same model of intervention and be prepared to cope with as many cases as needed. The training team consists of specialists from our institution, but also specialists recruited by Terre des hommes Foundation in the country and abroad. Their role is to improve the action of the persons with responsibilities in the child protection domain from the locations which were selected according to their numerous case load.” stated Florin Stancu, the director of the GDSACP Dolj.
This month, the training was focusing on case management. A previous phase of the training focused on the theme “Life and childhood through the eyes of a child.” The beneficiaries were approximately 70 local stakeholders who showed their interest and openness, appreciating the efficiency, usefulness and appropriateness of the training to their professional needs and requirements.

The training session was able to provide a balance between presentations and group activities/exercises addressing topics such as: basics on how to obtain every child’s rights (“getting it right for every child!”), professionals’ expectations and worries regarding the situation of all children from Romania, transgenerational perspectives on childhood, the universal well-being indicators which are used to record observations, events and concerns and the integrated intervention within specialized institutional networks, which involves working together to make things better. Another framework that was incorporated in the training session referred to the need’s assessment tool “My World Triangle”. This model can be used by practitioners, allowing them to consider systematically how a child is growing and developing, what a child needs from the people who look after him or her and the impact on the child’s wider world of family, friends and community. It includes identifying strengths, risks and protective factors and it provides a clear staged approach for professionals from the point of needs identification through to analysis, planning and review and ensures the views, wishes and intentions of the child and family are taken on board and inform the process.

Key international trainers with a rich expertise in the child protection domain and working as Tdh’s experts (Laura Ghica, Child Protection Officer; Joseph Aguettant, Country Representative in Romania and Neil Whettam, Regional Child Protection Adviser) provided this professional training course and facilitated the understanding of four major goals in a very effective manner:
1. Put the child at the centre of everything local actors do for them and develop a shared understanding within and across institutions / organizations.
2. Use common tools and processes, considering the child as a whole, and promoting closer working where necessary with other professionals.
3. Provide an aid in putting together a child’s plan, using the “my world triangle” model for gathering, structuring and assisting in the analysis of information.
4. Support informed choice, work in partnership with families, and make the most of bringing together each worker’s expertise.

The overall training was developed from the onset as an interdisciplinary experience. When asked to evaluate the content of the training and to express what they have liked more, the attendants offered enthusiastic comments and insights. The responses can be summarized in four significant areas. Trainees have an increased awareness of children’s challenges and problems and their interconnectedness. They have gained a little more professional knowledge, skills and other tools to confidently address the varied issues presented to them by the struggling children and families, making them more well-rounded and committed professionals. They feel that they have a thorough understanding of what a healthy family relationship is, helping them to focus, with a greater confidence, on the intervention plans and on preventive activities. Finally, they enjoyed the positive and comfortable atmosphere, the interactivity, teamwork, the teaching methods and they appreciated the analysis of concrete cases and aspects. They all found the BBC’s documentary “Eyes of a child” an interesting training tool which depicts the shocking reality about the impact of poverty on children. The main protagonists, eight-year old twin sisters, astonished the participants when describing the conditions they were living in and their attempts to cope with situations that even many adults could not live with, judging the adults from the household for their problems and addictions, and articulating in a deeply sensitive manner their hopes for the future: “a nice house, a quiet place, no drugs and to forget about the past”, exactly what each child, facing intolerable situations, could think of.

When asked what suggestions or changes they would offer in order to make the training session more applicable for other local actors, they responded: “to invite more Roma persons and other specialists working in other areas related to the child protection domain”, “to have more training sessions, with various topics, held in our communities”, “to discuss more case studies and situations that we are confronting with in our communities”.
Taking into account these opinions but also the next steps within this project, other guidelines will be designed by Tdh and the GDSACP, in the following months, in order to assist professionals in going beyond reporting child abuse by integrating best practices for child’s risk prevention activities into their daily work with children and families.

Future capacity building activities will focus on communication with children and families.