Project

Project "Mobile Preventive and Educational Multi-Disciplinary Team For Preventing Cases of Abuse in Local Child Care Institutions". Project is co-financed by the European Union's Phare Access programme in Latvia. This project is being implemented by professionals of Center Against Abuse "Dardedze" in 8 local childcare institutions in 2001 and 2002. The main goals of project are:

• to prevent cases of child abuse in local childcare institutions;
• to provide information and education for the staff of childcare institutions, thus promoting their understanding and knowledge about symptoms of child abuse, risk factors and consequences, the need of multi-disciplinary approach in solving cases of child abuse, as well as acknowledge skills of anger and stress management in working with children;
• provide real, professional and practical assistance and supervision in crises situations in everyday work of the institution regarding incidents of child abuse.

Professionals of “Team on wheels” spend 3 days in a certain childcare institution. The first part of the day is spent working with the whole staff of the institution or orphanage discussing various subjects of child abuse and neglect, as well as child sexual exploitation, and the second part of the day is spent working with children in 4 age groups educating them about their rights, as well as implementing child abuse prevention program.

The evaluation of this program by he participants has been very high, therefore we believe that it should be continued and also implemented in the rest of 50 state and municipal childcare institutions/orphanages.

As a result of this project there will be the first mobile multi-disciplinary team established, that would provide not only educational and preventive programme and assistance, but also could provide real holistic assistance to professionals outside of Riga working in child protections regarding the cases of child abuse. There will be preventive, educational programme on child abuse developed that could be applied in other childcare institutions, as well as in schools that are interested in preventing child abuse in their settings. The most significant result of this programme is that the risk factors for 1000 children living in 8 childcare institutions will be reduced.