Supportive Family Environment for Children in Kyrgyz Republic

The project purpose

The action aims to increase chances of 40.000 vulnerable children from KR to live in secure and protective family environment. The project will provide the authorities of KR with assistance to strengthen the child protection system, addressing the needs of vulnerable children and their families, and covering the gaps in their access to quality social services alternative to residential care.

The specific objectives of the action:

• Enhance capacities of LAs in Çüy region to put in place appropriate social services system to prevent family separation & provide effective protection to children deprived of parental care and to those at risk of separation and institutionalisation;
• Support the GoK, LAs, and COSs in strengthening systems and services, improving the decision-making processes to fulfil child’s right to grow up in their families or be placed in appropriate, permanent alternative family care.

The action will support national and LAs in KR to strengthen its child care system and reorganise and ensure safe and secure transition of children from residential care into family and community-based care. The action will support LAs from Çüy region in KR to develop community-based social services, particularly for children in institutions and families with children at risk of institutionalisation in line with gatekeeping approach as defined in the Children’s code.

The action will contribute to the reduction of the reliance on institutional care by supporting the implementation of OP. The project will support authorities to deinstitutionalise 220 children by reorganizing 3 residential institutions. Children will be supported to integrate into mainstream education and access community-based or specialised family type social services.

The optimisation process will facilitate the transfer of released human, financial and material resources from institutions under local management. The action will contribute to revision of the financial mechanism that will lead in the long term to reallocation of existing funding from residential care to the development of community-based social services targeting vulnerable children and families.

Creation of new or adjustment of existing social services for children and families with children at risk will contribute to building a non-institutionalised environment in Çüy region that will prevent unnecessary placement of children in institutional care and will strengthen families to ensure their children well-being. The project will explore all opportunities to establish integrated services at community level in cooperation with key sectors to provide joined-up intervention and support.

The children’s right to a family will be ensured and their opinion on decisions that affect their life will be heard. The capacities of key decision makers and professionals will be built upon to ensure provision of quality family based services applying the case management, developing and enforcing the minimum quality standards, methodologies, and practices in social care provision for children and their families.