Children aged between 7 and 18 and their families that are in situations of risk, including refugees, will receive psychological and psychosocial assistance, will be able to develop social-emotional skills and will be guided by employees at the day centers for children and families that were opened in Chisinau. By two such institutions were set up in each district of the capital city in a move to offer a friendly environment for children and families and to prevent the separation of children from the family. The beneficiaries can use the service for six months and the period can be extended, if necessary, IPN reports.
Deputy mayor of the municipality of Chisinau Angela Kutasevich said that children and families at these centers will have access to a number of support programs that ensure social inclusion, psychosocial inclusion and also to pedagogical support, specialized support on the part of employees of the General Children’s Rights Protection Division. The centers were created based on four key aspects, namely the need for support and protection of the child, support for parents and families by offering assistance in managing stress and settling conflicts. The development of the social-emotional skills of children is the next role of the centers. At these centers, there were be staged group activities, interactive, society games that will encourage the children in difficulty to develop social-emotional skills. The reduction of social inequality was the last reason for which these centers were set up as these institutions will offer services to children and families in difficulty absolutely free.
“During a year, at least 500 children and families in difficulty can receive the necessary assistance at the ten centers. In a year, we will definitely speak about that good impact. It is better and more correct to prevent than to intervene in those crisis situations where much greater effort is needed,” stated Angela Kutasevich.
Flore Rossi, head of the Child Protection Section of UNICEF Moldova, said that the child protection system in 2022 was overburdened due to the impact of the war and the refugee crisis. For UNICEF, the cooperation with the municipality of Chisinau on this segment is extremely important. “After the common assessment of needs, we realized that we must create such centers oriented to the children in situations of risk and to the refugee children so that we support them. We, those from UNICEF, are very proud that we today managed to develop these ten day centers by offering different types of support, such as the formation of child protection specialists, development of services and programs in assistance for children and parents,” stated Flore Rossi.
Tatiana Oboroc, head of the General Children’s Rights Protection Division, said that highly skilled personnel, teachers, psychologists and social assistants trained by UNICEF Moldova will provide high-quality services at these centers. “This initiative was indeed opportune and useful as this way we managed to create a child and family-friendly environment,” noted the official.
“We continue to have a lot of children who can adopt high-risk behaviors, starting from alcohol and drug use and smoking at a rather early age and ending with a lot of aspects related to violence, abuse, etc. Our goal is to diminish these risks and to do our best for all the children who need assistance to benefit from this opportunity,” said mayor general Ion Ceban.
Over 7 million lei was allocated for setting up the ten centers.
