Russia
Wise Parenting
Organization: Aistenok
Project: Wise Parenting
Location: Yekaterinburg, Russia
Target group: Children in alternative care
The Centre Aistenok is a pioneer in the area of support to foster families in Sverdlovsk region. With support from Childhood it will be able to further develop its capacity to provide training and support to foster families. Aistenok runs an open pre-school for foster parents and their children which both give the parents a chance to network and receive advises and support in their role as foster parents and is also a way to monitor the situation in the families in order to be able to intervene as soon as problems might occur.
The goals of the project are to increase the number of orphans placed in foster families and increase the number of potential foster parents, prevent secondary rejection of orphans through development of a service to support foster parents in Yekaterinburg and Sverdlovsk region, strengthen parent-child relationships and improve the living conditions of foster families.
Read more: www.aistenok.org
Contact person at Childhood:
Åsa Wikström
asa.wikstrom(a)childhood.org
Child Abuse: Recognition and Response
Organization: Family to Children
Project: Child Abuse: Recognition and Response
Location: Russia
Target group: Children who are victims of abuse, children in alternative care
The goal of the project is to prevent child abuse in the state institutions. Based on information provided by care leavers, two main complementary approaches will be developed to prevent abuse to happen in the future. First, a curriculum for training of staff about types of abuse, symptoms of abuse and how to work with abused children will be developed. Second, an inter-agency, monitoring and controlling body (expert council) led by the Ombudsman for children will be established. The task of the expert council will be to monitor the situation in the residential institutions.
Read more: www.family2children.ru
Contact person at Childhood:
Åsa Wikström
asa.wikstrom(a)childhood.org
We Are Together Peer Support Network
Organization: Community to Children
Project: We Are Together Peer Support Network
Location: Moscow, Russia
Target group: Children in alternative care
The We Are Together project was developed in partnership with the Moscow Youth Council (a group of orphanage alumni) which advises Moscow city on policy and programs for orphans. The project’s main aim is to support orphanage alumni to access their rights and legal interests (including housing, education, health, employment) through the development of a peer to peer support network and expansion of orphanage graduates’ resource networks.
Read more: http://com-children.ru
Contact person at Childhood:
Åsa Wikström
asa.wikstrom(a)childhood.org
Preventing Abandonment of Infants
Organization: Community to Children
Project: Preventing Abandonment of Infants
Location: Moscow, Russia
Target group: Families at risk, Children in alternative care
The aim of the project is to provide crisis support to mothers and their babies in order to prevent abandonment and to improve coordination of assistance to migrant mothers. Community to Children works with Moscow authorities to assist with the development of a new residential center for young mothers. For migrant mothers and children the project will organize focus groups to analyze their specific problems, information material about their rights will be developed and disseminated among migrant mothers and awareness raising activities about the rights and needs of migrant mothers and their children will be organized for child protection agencies.
Read more: http://com-children.ru
Contact person at Childhood:
Åsa Wikström
asa.wikstrom(a)childhood.org
Socialization and Education for Orphans
Organization: Orphan Opportunity Centre, Step Up
Project: Socialization and Education for Orphans
Location: Moscow, Russia
Target group: Children in alternative care
Step Up provides individual educational support to children and young people who are raised in institutions. The main goal of the project is to provide access to education and socialization to Step Up students from the most underprivileged categories. The project is expected to help students advance in their studies and participate in a number of extracurricular activities which help them become more independent, responsible, organized and assertive.
Read more: www.vverh.su
Contact person at Childhood:
Åsa Wikström
asa.wikstrom(a)childhood.org
Little Moments, Big Magic
Organization: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Russia
Project: Little Moments, Big Magic
Location: Russia
Target group: Children in alternative care
The project is implemented in Moscow under the umbrella of Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program for children in need. It creates and monitors matches between adult volunteers (Bigs) and children (Littles). Big and Little agree to meet for a certain amount of time per month on a one-to-one basis. By providing caring and compassionate adult role models that communicate and relate to the child individually, the program allows children to see healthy behavior models, to discuss their future, hopes and dreams with someone who will listen and encourage them, and above all, gives self-esteem, dignity and hope for a better life. The relationship in the match is regularly monitored by professional program staff: social workers and/or psychologists.
Read more: www.nastavniki.org
Contact person at Childhood:
Åsa Wikström
asa.wikstrom(a)childhood.org
Home “Chance” – Successful Start in Independent Life
Organization: Open World
Project: Home “Chance” – Successful Start in Independent Life
Location: Kaliningrad, Russia
Target group: Children in alternative care
The project aims to assist graduates of orphanages after graduation and to support families where the parents themselves during their childhood were left without parental care. The home “Chance” provides temporary accommodation for orphanage graduates, gives socio-pedagogical and psychological assistance to young people and young parents who were previously categorized as children left without parental care.
Read more: www.openworld-kaliningrad.ru
Contact person at Childhood:
Åsa Wikström
asa.wikstrom(a)childhood.org
Karelia 2012 – Improving Quality Care of Children
Organization: Korchakovsky Center
Project: Karelia 2012 – Improving Quality Care of Children
Location: Karelia, Russia
Target group: Children in alternative care
The Korchakovsky Center is located in St. Petersburg and has developed a model of support for young mothers whose children are at risk of being taken to institutions. The mothers are orphanage graduates and have no experience of family life. The project will replicate the model developed by the Korchakovsky Center in St. Petersburg. The aim is to prevent child abandonment by improving social support for families of orphanage graduates.
Read more: http://korchakcentr.ru
Contact person at Childhood:
Åsa Wikström
asa.wikstrom(a)childhood.org
Step to Family and Wellbeing
Organization: Upsala
Project: Step to Family and Wellbeing
Location: St. Petersburg, Russia
Target group: Children who are victims of abuse, Families at risk, Street children
Upsala was established as a social-circus project in 2000 and has since then been working with at-risk children. Children from disadvantaged and underprivileged backgrounds are engaged in circus training and provided with multifaceted social support. Upsala runs an educational assistance program where the children receive support in doing their homework. The combination of the circus program and the educational program has showed to be effective ways to raise the self-esteem and self-confidence of children.
Upsala also provides psycho-social support to the parents. The focus of the work is to improve the interaction between parents and their children and motivate parents to get help for alcohol abuse. With support from Upsala, several parents who were threatened to be deprived of their parental rights have been able to keep their families together.
Read more: www.upsalaspb.ru
Contact person at Childhood:
Åsa Wikström
asa.wikstrom(a)childhood.org
Combating Child Abuse in St. Petersburg
Organization: HealthRight International/Doctors to Children
Project: Combating Child Abuse in St. Petersburg
Location: St. Petersburg, Russia
Target group: Children who are victims of abuse
Since 2008, HealthRight/Doctors to Children in partnership with government law enforcement, social protection and healthcare agencies in St. Petersburg have been developing a system to combat child abuse. A psychosocial rehabilitation unit for victims of child abuse has been established at a public children’s hospital. With support from Childhood HealthRight will expand the program, both to help more children and families but also to train service providers and engage government child protection agencies.
Read more: www.healthright.org, http://doctors2children.ru
Contact person at Childhood:
Åsa Wikström
asa.wikstrom(a)childhood.org