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Abstract:
The main aim of this paper is to gain insight into the needs of youth who have left alternative care in the social welfare system. The study was conducted in Zagreb on a sample of sixteen young people. The needs of the study participants are: the need for contact with others, formal support, autonomy, housing and financial support, employment, learning practical skills, access to information, and the right to benefits such as (financial) relief. It has also been examined how participants cope with problems: positive self-direction and control of the situation, distraction…
During the EU co-funded project "Prepare for Leaving Care" (2017-2018) a training for care professionals was developed and delivered together with young people with care experience. This video shares the views of the Croatian partner's trainers, young people and care professionals involved in the training.
The Plan for Transformation and Deinstitutionalization of Social Welfare Homes and Other Legal Entities Providing Social Welfare Services in Republic of Croatia for the period 2011-2018 was created as the basic strategic document for planning the network of institutional care and social welfare activities. The purpose of the Plan was to reduce the need for institutional care, while establishing a diversity of new forms of child care, in particular to increase family- and community-based care services for children. When it comes to transforming institutions for children with behavioural…
The context:
Numerous studies have highlighted that in Europe people with care experience are amongst the most socially excluded groups and are at greater risk of poor outcomes in education, health, employment, criminality, mental health and social functioning in general as compared to the wider population.
Leaving the formal alternative care system is an important phase for both young people and the service providers responsible for their care and development. All the efforts and investments made throughout the child’s alternative care path risk being rendered futile if the preparation…
The Opening Doors 2018 country factsheets provide an update about the progress with the transition from institutional to family- and community-based care (also known as deinstitutionalisation). The new generation of country snapshots covers 12 EU Member States, 2 EU pre-accession and 2 EU neighbouring countries. This factsheet highlights the developments and challenges still ahead in Croatia and offers key recommendations to the EU and the national government to ensure that children are cared for in family-based settings.
This publication from SOS Children's Villages and CELCIS describes the two-year project 'Prepare for Leaving Care,' which aimed to "embed a child rights based culture into child protection systems which improves outcomes for children and young people in particular in the preparation for leaving care," with youth participation at the heart of all activities. The report…
The aim of this report from SOS Children's Villages is to increase the knowledge and understanding of the needs and rights of young people ageing out of alternative care around the world, in order to inform strategies, policies and services to improve their life chances and outcomes through appropriate preparation for leaving care as well as after-care support. The specific objectives of the research were to highlight facts and figures (or in some cases, lack thereof) on the experiences and challenges of young people leaving care, including through their own voice and the testimony of experts…
This Practice Guidance seeks to promote improvements in practice that should have a positive impact for young people during and after the leaving care process. It is grounded first and foremost in the realities of the national and local contexts in which leaving care is currently carried out. It was produced as part of the Prepare for Leaving Care project…
The 2017 country factsheets provide an update on the status of child protection and care reforms from 16 European countries that are the focus of Opening Doors for Europe’s Children campaign in Phase II. The latest compilation of data identifies key achievements and gaps towards DI reforms in each participating country across member states, pre-accession countries and countries within the EU neighbourhood. The evidence focuses on policies that regulate deinstitutionalisation and prevention of child abandonment; engagement of civil society; existing know-hows;…
This paper examines the work Open Society Foundations have done in Croatia as part of its Mental Health Initiative (MHI), with the goal of helping people with disabilities return to their communities where they are supported by family and friends. For 17 years, MHI has worked with local partners and advocated with successive Croatian governments for the social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities and the replacement of long-stay institutions with community-based alternatives. Deinstitutionalization and the development…