October 2, 2015
Moldova
In August 2015, Moldovan experts, mainly from an organization called SocioPolis, finished six months work on materials for instructors and social workers active in the area of child protection. This included materials for tutors in family-type children’s homes, specialists from social centres and employees of relevant local institutions. A Czech expert, Petra Winnette, Ph.D, helped with the preparation of the materials.
The content of the training materials, written in the Russian and Romanian language, was approved, among other institutions, by the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family of Moldova (MLSPF). The ministry also invited selected persons to training sessions based on these materials. Three-day trainings sessions for 14 groups of 15-16 participants will be taking place until the end of December 2015. From January to June 2016, trainings for 41 groups will be held. In this way, a total number of 850 social workers specializing in child protection will be trained.
The training sessions cover topics such as support for children in critical situations, the formation of children’s identities, systems of communication with children, prevention of child abuse in foster families, placement of children with disabilities and many other topics. Caritas CR’s efforts should bring about better orientation to the legislation related to foster care as well as promote a better understanding of why foster care is needed. Last but not least, the training sessions were focused on transmitting skills and knowledge, thanks to which it is possible to prevent professional burnout. This can otherwise cause social workers to leave the area of social child protection.
The project was supported by the Czech Development Agency and Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Programme of International Development Cooperation of the Czech Republic.
