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19/03/10
EveryChild Ukraine and State Social Services for Families, Children and Youth sign agreement to help prevent institutionalization of children
18 March, EveryChild Ukraine and State Social Services for Families, Children and Youth set priorities for 2010 and signed an agreement for increased cooperation at the national level in an effort to improve social work with vulnerable families with children and develop a modern legal framework of social work.
One theme for both agencies is their work on prevention of institutionalization of children, including EveryChild Ukraine's effort to develop and implement gate-keeping mechanism to prevent separation of children in Kyiv oblast.
The agreement specifies the areas of cooperation of State Social Services and charitable organization in the development of social work with families, children and youth. In particular, the EveryChild Ukraine is to accompany the approbation of new methods and technologies of social work, mechanisms for interagency cooperation in identifying vulnerable families with children and the introduction of gatekeeping mechanism - so called barriers to getting children into orphanages and boarding schools in order to reduce institutionalization.
These barriers will be: improved decision-making system, which will include a comprehensive assessment of the needs of the child and family situation. EveryChild Ukraine already has started testing of assessment methodology in 12 regions of Ukraine.
The parties agreed that State Social Services will use the capacity and best practices of EveryChild's Ukraine projects, participate in testing of new developed technologies in the field of social work and contribute to its growth in the centers of social services for families, children and youth and social service institutions.
Furthermore State Social Services will invite trainers in social work, prepared by EveryChild Ukraine, and facilitate the dissemination of information and methodological materials for social work with families, children and youth.
Among other priorities of cooperation - the formation of a new regulatory framework for the introduction of specialist in social work with families, children and youth in the community, a mechanism for monitoring, control and evaluation of the effectiveness of the implementation of social programs, social services, supervision of social services centers for families, children and youth, as well as organization of approbation and introduction of innovative technologies in the field of prevention of early social orphanhood and social support for families with children.
