Press Release - Hope and Homes for Children (SERA): Structural Funds DG Regio
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Press Release - Hope and Homes for Children
2017-10-12 17:18:53
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Hope and Homes for Children and FONPC set up the NGO Support Council to implement de-institutionalization programs with European funds
Carsten Rasmussen, Head of Unit for Romania, Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission
The process of closing down some of the old-age institutions in Romania where children living in the state protection system are proposed to be funded by European funds should be simplified and the deadlines for submitting funding projects in the field of deinstitutionalization should be prolonged, and contracts on ROP and POCU need to be synchronized to avoid slippages. These are some of the conclusions of the working meeting for the creation of the NGO Support Council in implementing deinstitutionalisation programs with European Union funding, held on Wednesday 11 October at the initiative of the Hope and Homes for Children Foundation and the Federation of Children's Non-Governmental Organizations (FONPC).
Carsten Rasmussen, head of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Regional Policy and Urban Affairs, Mark Waddington, Chief Executive Officer of the Hope and Homes for Children Foundation, Stephen Darabus, Regional Director for Central and South Europe of Hope and Homes for Children, Bogdan Simion, President of FONPC and Executive Director of SERA ROMANIA Foundation, Mihaela Toader, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Regional Development, Public Administration and European Funds, Gabriela Coman, President of the National Authority for the Protection of Child's Rights and Adoption and Octav -Dan Paxino, State Secretary at the Ministry of Regional Development, Public Administration and European Funds,as well as representatives of NGOs in Romania and representatives of the managing authorities within the ROP and the POCU.
Romania has made considerable efforts over the past 20 years to reform the child protection system. If in the 1990s there were over 100,000 children living in precarious conditions in large-scale state institutions, today there are less than 7,000 children still suffering from institutionalization traumas.
In the context of the European funding for deinstitutionalisation, according to the documentation proposed by the applicant's guide, the closure process of old type centers is preposterous and the deadlines for accessing the European funds available are too short - are the representatives of NGOs with experience in the field of deinstitutionalization .
The two organizations with more than 20 years experience in closing old childcare institutions, Hope and Homes for Children and SERA ROMANIA, intend to make available to public authorities the expertise to optimize deinstitutionalisation programs to strengthen the prerequisites for success in their implementation.
"We, as a Council of non-governmental organizations, want to support and provide technical assistance to public authorities so that the success of this deinstitutionalization program, funded by the European Union and Romania, is the one we want . To achieve this, teams of non-governmental organizations specialized in child protection in Romania work together. We want to make sure that our investment in the life of children in a family environment is found in sustainability, in a dramatically changed structure of child protection services and that our suggestions are taken into account, "said Stefan D?r?bu?, Regional Director, Southern and Central Europe of the Hope and Homes for Children Foundation.
Over the past 20 years, Hope and Homes for Children and SERA ROMANIA have directly funded and funded the closure of more than 130 old-style institutions, and the investments that the two organizations expect to make between 2017 and 2027, in deinstitutionalisation programs it amounts to over 50 million euros. At a working meeting held on October 11, Stephen D?r?bu? pointed out that it is appropriate for experienced NGOs to be part of the decision-making process in the field of deinstitutionalization so that they can contribute at the right time to optimize the process closure of old children's institutions.
At this point, the deadlines imposed are not realistic and local public authorities have no time to meet all the conditions imposed in the applicant's guide. "We work directly with people who actually implement these programs and they have to be done first and foremost for children. Centering on the child should be a priority rather than focusing on deadlines, "added Stephen D?r?bu?.
In turn, Carsten Rasmussen, the Head of the Romanian Unit in the European Commission's Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy, stressed that there are enough funds and additional funding can be made to build family-type houses so that they can host an optimum number of up to 12 children and not overcrowding by increasing this number. He said that the deadlines for applying for European funds could be extended, or successive deadlines could be set, so that the deinstitutionalisation program had the desired results.
"Romania is the country with a very high level in implementing the de-institutionalization program, being a model for implementing these programs in other states in the region. NGO support was very important, because without this network of organizations, with which we overcome many of the obstacles encountered, the results we have today did not exist. I am excited about this initiative, that you have a good strategy, solid studies that allow us to clearly set our objectives and that there is a clear methodology that we can rely on, "said Carsten Rasmussen, Head of Unit for Romania within the Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission,
He pointed out that the process of deinstitutionalization is fragile, with a lot of unknown data, especially because there are discrepancies between what happens at the county level and the strategies drawn at the central level. This goal can be filled by NGOs, which, through their own funds and funding attracted from 2000, are at the same level as their state and authorities. 'Without becoming critical, I have to say that such a state, where the budget increase rate is quite high, should start to take care of its children gradually and end up not relying too much on charitable acts and foreign funding. Romania can finance these programs and can help the NGOs that are really needed,
Bogdan Simion, president of FONPC and executive director of SERA ROMANIA Foundation, added at the meeting: "Closure programs of old type institutions are complex programs and involve a strict collaboration between the General Assistance Directorates and the public social assistance services. These are the two actors of the local public authority over whom we must bend. Old-style institutions exist in places where social assistance departments and departments have not implemented prevention programs. At the moment, in the last two, three years, the only reintegration programs in the state-protected child's natural family with support are those supported by NGOs. For example, Hope and Homes for Children, SERA ROMANIA, World Vision, SOS Children's Villages and other organizations of this type carry out the only reintegration programs with support. Public social assistance services to make such programs should spend money from the mayoral emergency funds and municipalities have no funds for this. The only financial resources and elasticity for these funds is provided by NGOs. '
Press statements:
'The process of de-institutionalization must be completed correctly and completely. If this closure does not happen, we leave an open door to the return of old residential institutions, which is to be avoided, otherwise we risk returning back in time. ' - Mark Waddington, Chief Executive Officer, Hope and Homes for Children.
'Romania is determined to support deinstitutionalization. We want these children to have an environment as close as possible to the family. The State's responsibility in this area can not be circumvented, a partnership framework is the best way of action and is very necessary. The contribution of civil society is definitive for the change of mentality. We want projects that respect the needs of communities and, above all, the fundamental rights of children. " - Mihaela Toader, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Regional Development, Public Administration and European Funds.
"In Romania, both the government and the European Commission only benefit from the association of non-governmental organizations in a platform to participate in dialogue with state institutions, institutions with which to build a healthy relationship and mutual help." - Carsten Rasmussen, Head of Unit for Romania at the Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission.
About Hope and Homes for Children Romania
Hope and Homes for Children Romania has been operating in our country since 1998, during which it has directly contributed to the closure of 53 old (orphanage) institutions, while another 10 are in the process of being closed. Through the services developed by Hope and Homes for Children, children move from care to mammoth institutions, where they lack individual attention and affection, to systems based on the family concept that allow them a life close to normality. Through the efforts of Hope and Homes for Children and its partners, 4,985 children were taken out of the institutions and 912 others were to leave institutions in the process of closure.
At the same time, the organization is actively involved in preventing child separation from the family, intervening with the means to support families where the risk of abandonment of children is high. Thus, 25,787 children were rescued from family breakage, 862 were assisted for independent living, 1,812 were received in day centers and 843 in emergency centers, and 8,255 staff members child protection have been trained by Hope and Homes for Children.
So far, 40,280 children have benefited from Hope and Homes for Children, whose goal is to eliminate the institutionalization of children in our country by 2022. More information at www.hopeandhomes.ro.
About the Federation of Children's NGOs (FONPC) The
Federation of Children's NGOs (FONPC) is a network of Romanian NGOs working in the field of child protection and welfare, being the main specialized state interlocutor in drafting and redefining public policies to ensure the child's well-being from the perspective of the child's rights, using and developing in a coherent and comprehensive framework the experience and expertise of its members.
Throughout its 20 years of existence, FONPC has been and is involved in projects to prevent child abuse, training professionals working directly with children, reforming social affiliation, and promoting juvenile justice. Monitoring children's rights is one of FONPC's concerns with a view to producing reports on the respect of children's rights in Romania, and especially on influencing public policies on children.
About SERA ROMANIA Foundation
The SERA ROMANIA Foundation is a Romanian legal entity, a non-profit private non-profit organization registered in March 1996. SERA ROMANIA's mission is to create, organize and develop activities in favor of children in need: orphans, abandoned children, neglected children and others children in difficulty, but also for adults or vulnerable families. In the vision of SERA ROMANIA Foundation, the child has the right to grow up in a family or environment as close as possible to the family concept, regardless of age, illness or disability.
SERA ROMANIA intervened in all the counties of the country (41 counties and 6 sectors of Bucharest), essentially contributing to the closure of old-style institutions that accommodated under harsh conditions hundreds of children and to the development of alternative social services, young people were given the first chance to live a decent life.
Through SERA, we've been able to change the lives of over 84,000 children for the better.
Since 1996, SERA ROMANIA has been involved in the restructuring of over 84 old residential care institutions (82 children's institutions and two adults) through the creation of over 60 day-care and recovery centers for children with disabilities, mother and child, centers for HIV-positive children and family homes for abandoned children.
More information: www.sera.ro and the Facebook page.