Johnová (Praha sebo): Prague is strengthening programs to support the transition of adolescents from institutional and foster care
Council of the head m of Prague on Monday approved two memoranda to support children growing up in institutional care and young people leaving institutional and foster care.
The aim of the first memorandum is to bring child care in the capital closer to everyday life through systemic support for the development of preventive and community care. The second memorandum addresses and helps prevent homelessness among young people who are leaving or have already left institutional and foster care.
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The capital city of Prague is establishing three children’s homes and is trying to gradually transform them so that care in them is most similar to care in a family. Unfortunately, it cannot directly influence the form of other services in its territory, such as diagnostic and educational facilities or educational care centers, because these organizations are established by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. For that reason, the capital city of Prague provided support to the Ministry of Education and enabled the care of Prague children to be brought closer to the community in these services. The memorandum, which was approved by Prague councilors on Monday, sets the overall framework for this cooperation.
“Prague’s experience with the transformation of Charlotta Masaryková’s children’s home showed that caring for children at a younger age in ordinary apartments is not only possible, but also beneficial. As part of the cooperation, we will provide the Ministry of Education with premises where the operation of institutional facilities will be able to move and thus ensure more appropriate care. In addition, I am also thinking about prevention, which is why it will offer new premises for the operation of the educational care center. Our cooperation aims to reduce the number of Prague children taken from their families and children who grow up in an institutional environment,” said Milena Johnová, councilor for social policy and healthcare.
“Cooperation between the capital city and the Ministry of Education will bring targeted support for Prague children. Therefore, I welcome the signing of the memorandum. The Ministry will supply educational know-how, we in turn select suitable objects, because we have a detailed overview of how which building can be used and which is ideal for the given purpose,” added Jan Chabr, councilor for property.
The memorandum of cooperation with the Ministry is part of the capital city’s wider efforts to transform the care of children at risk in the territory of Prague, such as the memorandum of cooperation approved in May 2022 with the J&T Foundation in the preparation of a strategy for the development of a system of support for children at risk and their families in the territory of the capital until 2030. This also includes professional cooperation with the Letní dům organizations, which refers to the second approved memorandum. Prague also strives to improve opportunities for those who leave foster care and need support or accompaniment during the transition to independent living. In this way, the Summer House supports around 20 young people under the age of 26 from this target group, two thirds of them are already out of institutional care. Most of them do not have a permanent home or are at risk of losing their home. The capital has not yet systematically addressed their situation, mainly due to a lack of data and information. As part of the cooperation that has just been approved, Prague will provide ten apartments to Letní domu. Another form of help is, in particular, a contribution from the Social Endowment Fund hl. m of Prague directly to solve the situation of endangered children and young adults.
“It is an honor for Letní dům that it has become an expert partner of the Prague City Hall in solving the issue of homelessness among young people who have left or are leaving institutional and foster care. We bring to the partnership with Prague the know-how of a non-profit organization that has been systematically preparing children and young adults from institutional care for independent life for 25 years. I believe that our cooperation will prove beneficial and that it will deepen in the future,” said Jiří Strejček, director of the Summer House.
“The Summer House is the only one in Prague that systematically prepares children and young people from institutions and foster care for an independent life. Without housing, even the best preparation cannot save young people from life on the streets. From the organization Naděje, with which we established cooperation in August of this year, we know that half of the 200 young people from the street have experience of institutional care. “Since the cooperation with Letní dom, we promise that young people from institutions and foster care will not even get to the streets of Prague,” said councilor Milena Johnová.
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“We want young people to suffer as much as possible for the rest of their lives because they didn’t grow up in functional families. That is why we are gradually moving towards bringing the institutional education of children as close as possible to the natural environment so that the transition of young adults into adulthood from these institutions is as smooth as possible. At the same time, we are taking steps to ensure that as few young adults as possible end up on the street, knowing that the key tools in this area are providing housing with the support of social workers,” added Adam Zábranský, councilor for housing and transparency.
The situation of young homeless people in the capital city of Prague should also be reflected in the emerging strategic documents, in particular the concept of support for young people leaving alternative care and strategies for prevention, reduction of negative impacts and ending homelessness in the capital city of Prague by 2030.
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author: PV
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