A model of streamlined primary support activities in the Social Support Service for Families with Children /SSF/ will be piloted in the Territorial Agency for Social Assistance /ATAS/ Centre (Criuleni, Dubasari, Ialoveni and Straseni districts). The aim of the piloting is to strengthen the SSF and develop the primary component to ensure the well-being of children, the stability of families and reduce their dependence on specialized support/interventions. The piloting will be carried out by the AO "Partnerships for Every Child" /PPFC/ in the framework of the Global Initiative Changing The Way We Care /CTWWC/.
The piloting process is based on data from a national review of existing family support and strengthening programmes/activities, which was carried out between March and April this year. The research involved local public authorities (LPAs), community social workers (CSOs), specialists from social work, medicine, education, public order, the voluntary sector, religion and beneficiaries of primary FSH.
According to Danielei Mămăligă, director of PPFC, "4 communities will be selected for piloting in the 4 districts of ATAS Centru, where activities focused on preventing family crisis situations will be tested, as well as working models with community members on involving and providing different types of support for families with children. All these practices will serve as a basis for the revision of current legislation and replication at national level."
It should be noted that the piloting process will be supported by a comprehensive training programme in providing family support and strengthening for local multidisciplinary teams, representatives of ATAS Centru, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection /MMPS/. A group of national trainers, which will include representatives from the health, public order and education sectors, will be trained in the model proposed by SSF.
Present at the event, Igor Chișcă, Head of the Rights Protection Policy Directorate MMPS stressed the need to strengthen the FSH and the development of the primary component "dictated by the fact that community actors do not clearly delimit these two components and do not fully exploit prevention activities. As a result, interventions are made when the child is assigned the status of a child at risk, when intervention is more complex, costly and requires more effort. This approach can reduce the financial and emotional costs associated with dealing with complex family social problems. Thus, it is proposed to conceptualise a new model of FSH and to pilot it in a few pilot localities, with the lessons learned from the piloting process to be analysed by us and eventually to serve as a basis for amending the regulatory framework on FSH", reported Mr Chiscă.
The launch event of the piloting process was organized within the framework of the Global Initiative Changing The Way We Care /CTWWC/, implemented in the Republic of Moldova with the financial support of USAID, by Catholic Relief Services (USA) and Maestral International (USA), in collaboration with project partners AO "Partnerships For Every Child", AO "Child, Community, Family" and Keystone.
The social support service for families with children is geared towards families with children to prevent and overcome risk situations, strengthen their parenting skills and the resilience of families and children, using a child-centred approach, empowering and supporting families so that they can provide a safe and supportive environment for the care, growth and harmonious development of children.