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Local Support System For Families At Risk Of Exclusion

Counteracting exclusion Completed
mazowieckie
Warszawa
2014-10-01 - 2016-04-30
410 360,00 PLN
350 000,00 PLN
family, rural areas
Project description
Most of the intellectual, emotional, and social capacity is formed in early childhood. It is also the fundamental stage of educational inequalities emerging. Good educational programmes are of key importance to children from exclusion-threatened families (“Investing in Young Children”, World Bank, 2010). Care and educational services for families with young children are part of municipal duties managed in 2 systems: social services (support for families, nursery care) and education (obligatory kindergarten attendance for children aged 6). Municipalities have no duty of providing services to the youngest. In 2012, over 86% and 52% of children aged 3-5 attended kindergarten in urban and rural areas, respectively (Ministry of National Education). The educational offer for children under 3 is scarce.
The project purpose was to improve access to integrated services for families with young children from rural areas by setting up pilot support systems for exclusion-threatened families in 4 municipalities.
Co-operation between municipal agencies and a new offer for the youngest allowed families from the municipalities of Piecki, Przeworsk, Rawa Mazowiecka and Zarzecze easier access to care and educational services, and more extensive assistance. The partner shared materials and experience in small families support systems applied in the Norwegian municipality of Bodø. Local representatives attended seminars on designing local needs analyses; they used them on families with young children. Two-year plans of family support systems were drafted, including hearing screening tests of kindergarten children, parenting skill workshops, family picnics. In each municipality, 5 persons were trained in delivering classes to young children and in visiting exclusion-threatened families. Trained animators spent 480 h visiting families and 768 h delivering classes for children and parents. A manual was published (inspirations from Bodø, practical guidelines to creating a family support systems, documents indispensable to municipalities introducing similar solutions).
Project beneficiaries included 386 children and parents from 4 municipalities.
We use the grant for capacity building