Romania
Services of social and psycological assistance for street children economically exploited
The program aims to offer direct support for children and their families (educational and social services, psychological counseling and facilitating access to medical assistance) and, also, developing the capacity of partner institutions to offer services to the target-group and raising the awarness of public opinion about the causes and consequences of child labour exploitation.
The activities developed with children and their families within this program have the following components:
the educational component - recuperating the subjects according to the school curriculum for 1st-4th grades for children who abandoned school or who never went to school; additional assistance for 1st - 8th grades (for children who go to school and work, too) and pre-school educational activities
the social component - social assistance activities, psychological counseling, medical assistance, legal counseling for obtaining the rights provided by law.
Save the Children Romania is involved, since 1991, in social and medical assistance, school reintegration and psychological counseling of street children who work, through the first service of street social assistance. The initiative of developing this type of service for street children started from the need of interfering directly in the street. Another reason was the fact that any project directed to the child should start from their living environment.
Since July 2001, the street assistance services from Bucharest, Craiova and Iasi have become an important component of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour, developed by the Representative in Romania of the International Office for Labour. The program aims familial reintegration and social recuperation of 500 children involved in severe forms of labour exploitation. Two educational centers were created in Bucharest (the „Academiei" center) and in Iasi.
In 2004 and 2005, within the projects PIN 379 „Social Integration of Street Children" and PIN 4 „Preventing and combating child labour exploitation", financed by the National Authority for Child Rights Protection, educational centers were opened in Bucharest („Speranta" - Hope - center), Craiova, Tirgu Mures, Focsani and Bistrita. In addition to the existing goals, Save the Children Romania contributed with its own funds (obtained from fundraising) to arrange and supply the centers. After the County Offices of social assistance and child protection took over the centers, Save the Children Romania continued to monitor their situation and to support them financially by offering nutritional support, providing school supploes, cloths and shoes, medicines, body care products, according to their needs, support for entertaining activities for the children, the salaries for the specialized staff.
Also in 2005, were opened 2 educational centers in Bucharest - Thr Educational Center „Maresal Averescu" in partnership with DGASPC, sector 1 and with school No. 1 „Sfintii Voievozi" and the Educational Center „School after School" in the School No. 7 „Iovan Ducici". The Educational Center „Maresal Averescu"took over the activities of the Center „ Academiei"
In 2006, in the School No. 10 Resita, the Educaational Center Resita was opened, focussed on activities of preventing school abandonment.
The development of this program was possible due to the funds from the Festival of Christmas Trees, a fundraising event that taakes place annually and is supported by the diplomatic and business community, reunited in a honorary commitee. Also, the project benefited of significant support after the campaign „The Month of Open Hearts" initiated by the Cora Hypermarket, developed in partnership with ILO-IPEC in 2005 and continued in 2006 and 2007.
In 2006, the social and educational services were adressed to 744 children and their parents:
-600 children benefited of educational and social programs in the Save the Children educational centers from Bucharest („Maresal Averescu" and School No. 71), Iasi and Resita.
-144 children benefited of the organization's support through services and complementary activities of those provided by the public institutions (DGASPC), in the educational centers „Speranta" (Hope) - Bucharest, sector 6, Dolj, Bistrita-Nasaud, Mures and Vrancea;
50 families received legal counseling;
120 informative meetings were organized about the HIV infection and other ITS (Infections Sexually Transmisible) for 386 children in the 2nd phase of the program Preventing HIV/SIDA transmission among street children and Roma communities, financed by the Global Fund of Combating HIV/SIDA, TBC and Malaria.
The children who benefited from the progam participated in entertainment activities during the school year and during the summer vacation, also: camps, trips (Arbanasi - Buzat county, Slanic Prahova, Costinesti, Bucsoaia - Suceava county, Bran), spectacles, museum visits, sport manifestations.
The perspectives for 2007 are to open another 4 educational centers Timisoara (April 2007), Brasov, Targoviste and Cluj. In 2008 will be continued the social and educational activities in all 13 centers.