Educatie & LifeLongLearning

The PHARE Project 2006/018-147.01.02 aims at providing training on civic instruction to the children and young people from the Foster Centers within the General Directorates and Child Protection (DGASPC) in the districts 5 and 6 of Bucharest, with the view to turn them into the active and responsible citizens by the time they leave the Foster Centers. The project is being developed between January and October 2009.

Objectives:

• Raising by 50% of the civic habits, behaviors and values needed for a successful integration of the children and young people living in the foster centers and in the services for juvenile delinquency in the districts 5 and 6 of the Bucharest, by:

- providing sessions of civic instruction in order to raise awareness of their own capacities and self conduct, in the case of the teenagers from the services of juvenile delinquency and foster centers
- information and prevention training designed to the children and young people in the foster centers
- producing a paper case on the development of civic habits and behaviors – a study paper for the institutionalized children and young persons in the foster centers and services of juvenile delinquency
- civic participation within the community; practicing the theories acquired during the educational activities

• Improving by 50% the skills of the trainers and educators in the foster centers and the DGASPC in the districts 5 and 6 of Bucharest so that they are able to enhance the civic instruction of the children and teenagers who have committed criminal deeds, but have not been punished by the criminal law. This goal can be reached by:

-organizing together with the Vent Debout Association of an expedition camp, with the aim to decreasing the delinquent behavior by taking the child or teenager (cases with no criminal sentence) away from the depraved environment where he lives and by teaching him to strictly obey the rules and the persons he is sharing his time with
- setting off with Vent Debout Association (Belgium) a training session for the staff working in the service of the juvenile delinquency, involved in this experiment
- an exchange of experience between the organizations in Belgium and Romania and the services of juvenile delinquency within the DGASPC in the districts 5 and 6 of Bucharest, with the view to increasing the intervention capacity to fight against delinquency and pre-delinquency behaviors of the children who are not responsible under the criminal law

• Improving by 50% the supporting networks designed to civic education of the children in the foster centers, in order to raise their integration rate in the community. Line of attack to meet this goal:

- to organize a round table with the representatives of the institutions in the community (NGOs, state institutions) to be presented the situation of the young people who are leaving the foster centers and to find methods to support the civic education process for them and to help their social-professional integration;
- to arrange a meeting between the young people in the foster centers, the representatives of the institutions in the community (employers, cultural events organizers , social workers) and the representatives of the civil society during which to be set out the expectations of the latter as regards to the behavior of the future responsible and active citizens
- to carry out a raise awareness campaign regarding the institutionalized young people within the state own child protection system, to support the civic education and integration process of the children in the foster centers.
 

Target group
The project is targeting 230 young persons, out of which 95 are from DGASPC district 6 and 135, from DGASPC district 5, aged between 10 and 22 years old; 30 teenagers aged between 10 and 14 years old, who have committed a criminal deed, but are not made responsible for that under the criminal law; 220 institutionalized children in the foster centers. There are also pointed 15 experts in the field of juvenile delinquency in the district 5 and 6 and 10 members of the NGOs active in this field

Main activities:

• Testing together with the Vent Debout Association in Belgium of a special pedagogical project consisting of organizing a month long camp for the teenagers aged between 10 and 14 years old, with the aim of decreasing delinquent behavior; A group of 10 teenagers who committed a criminal deed but are not responsible under the criminal law, being under the supervision of the juvenile delinquency in DGASPC districts 5 and 6 in Bucharest, together with 3 tutors will be involved in the experiment. The expedition sets its goal to take the teenager away from the problems he is facing in his home environment and to change his perception about himself and his condition – a must for a change.
• Coordinating a training session for the staff working in the juvenile delinquency field within the DGASPC, district 5 and 6 and for the NGO’s active in the domain; the participants at the training will be provided with the methods and techniques used in the projects aiming at reducing the delinquency amongst teenagers who committed a criminal deed, but are not responsible under the criminal law.
• Organizing together with representatives of authorized institution (Anti drug National Agency, Romanian Angel Appeal) of 5 information and prevention trainings on the issue of drug addiction, alcohol and tobacco consumption; the kick start of delinquent behavior; HIV infection
• Undertaking activities to build up habits, behavior and civic values; producing a paper case containing printing material about learning how to become an active and responsible citizen. The 30 pages paper case is to be printed in 500 copies which will be disseminated to all the districts in Bucharest and to the foster centers within the region Bucharest-Ilfov.
• To organize a round table with the representatives of the institutions in the community (NGOs, state institutions) to present the situation of the young people who are leaving the foster centers and to find methods to support the civic education process and to help their social-professional integration;
• To carry out a raise awareness campaign regarding the institutionalized young people within the state own child protection system, by inviting the representatives of the community’s institutions to a round table to show them the situation of the young people who are leaving the foster centers.
• Dissemination of the project’s activities by organizing a seminar with the participation of the staff within the child protection system in the region Bucharest-Ilfov and of the representatives of the institutions of the community. There will be printed 1000 leaflets with the project’s results.

Partners:
1. The General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection district 5, Bucharest
2. The General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection district 6, Bucharest

Associates:Vent Debout Association in Belgium