Agreement of collaboration to ensure the well-being of every child was signed on Tuesday, 7 February 2017 in Chisinau, between the Ministries of Labour, Social Protection and Family (MLSPF), of Health (MH), Education (ME), and Internal Affairs (MIA). The agreement lays the foundation for the implementation and integration of the National Practice Model (NPM) into the national policies, for the purpose of joining the efforts of the decision-makers and professionals from education, health, public order, and social assistance sectors, to prevent risks and ensure the child’s well-being.
The Minister of Labour, Social Protection and Family, Mrs. Stela Grigoras, mentioned in greeting speech: “The National Practice Model is a necessary innovation in the Republic of Moldova. It comes to create a well planned system based on inter-sector collaboration, responsible for the child and the family. The international practice shows that where the child’s well-being is a national priority, and the child well-being framework is based on cooperation between all universal and specialized services provided both by the governmental sector and the civil society, prompt intervention of specialists efficiently prevents emerging and worsening risk situations, ensuring the well-being of the country’s children”.
In their turn, Mrs. Corina Fusu, the Minister of Education, underlined: “The kindergarten, and then the school, are the very first environments laying the basis of the child’s development, and early intervention is crucial here, to provide necessary and adequate support. The educator, the teacher, along with the family, are the ones who know best the child’s emotional condition, thus, they are the most appropriate persons to make the necessary intervention. An additional resource ensuring our children’s well-being is never redundant, and joining the efforts of those who are responsible for the child protection: the school, the kindergarten, social assistance, public order authorities – is a priority that we all have to assume”.
Present at the event, Ruxanda Glavan, Minister of Health, talked about the importance of early prevention: “We have to reorient our actions related to the well-being of the child and the family, from “treating/recovery/rehabilitation” to “prevention”, taking a proactive and responsible approach. When our common goal is ensuring the child’s well-being, prevention can be made through inter-sector collaboration, using common language and tools, sharing relevant information and giving value to all available resources”.
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Alexandru Jizdan, specified: “Where ensuring child’s well-being is a national priority, and the universal services provided by the participating ministries collaborate and communicate reciprocally, the prompt intervention of specialists is able to efficiently prevent emerging and worsening risk situations”.
Karen R. Hilliard, USAID representative in Moldova, highly appreciated the initiative of the authorities for the implementation of this practice model in the Republic of Moldova: “This model helps to establish link between the four sectors and the local authorities, to ensure well-being of the child and the family, and we will not stop until we see that every child has a family”.
The agreement signed between 4 ministries foresees the piloting of the “Instructions on the inter-sector cooperation mechanism, for the prevention and primary intervention while ensuring the well-being of every child”, to regulate the application of the National Practice Model by the signing parties. The model will be piloted in Calarasi, Falesti, and Ungheni regions, and will further be extended at the national level.
The National Practice Model integrates a personalized approach to the work with the child and the family within the universal services (health and education), regardless of the origin, needs, risks, and circumstances. This framework is valid to all children, and it does not base on vulnerability or high risk, but is rather applied in all services/by all specialists/practitioners/staff/volunteers in contact with the children. The approach is also valid to the specialists working with adults – whether parents or care-givers, and for the entire adult community. The practice model proposed for the implementation in the Republic of Moldova was developed based on the principles of the UN Convention on the rights of children, and encourages all professionals in contact with the child to make sure that the child is placed in the centre of decision-making, is involved in the decision-making, and making sure that the child’s vision is sought and listened to.
The event was organized by the MLSPF, with the support of Partnerships for Every Child, within the USAID-funded project “Children in Moldova are cared for in safe and secure families”.