Preventing violence against children may be challenging, but models of good practice exist and are being widely shared. Side by Side, a European Social Network-led project, identifies good practices while also assessing child protection professionals' training needs so that they align with international standards.
One of the project's main deliverables is the Compendium of Good Practices. The compendium outlines good practices in detail, including key findings and recommendations for how they can be adopted by other local and national contexts.
In social services, the identification and sharing of good practices is fundamental. With this in mind, the second and final webinar of the Side-by-Side showcased the project's best work.
The webinar, which took place on the 11th of September, was opened by Alfonso Lara Montero, ESN’s Chief Executive Officer, who highlighted some of the recent activities ESN has been engaged in to support organisations in preventing and protecting children from violence. These include the ‘Working Group on Integrated Care and Support’ from 2018 to 2021 and this year’s annual seminar on Protecting Children: Working in Partnership across Children’s Services.
Harnessing lessons in best practice from national, regional and local contexts
After introductory remarks, the webinar saw Amy Mulvihill and Karen Connell present the Irish national practice, Meitheal. As a national early intervention practice model, it ensures that the needs and strengths of children and their families are effectively identified and responded to in a timely way so that children and families get the help and support needed to realise their rights and prevent violence against children. Meitheal provides a multi-agency intervention for families who do not necessarily require the Social Work Department's child protection response. Furthermore, critical success factors were presented. For example, the ongoing training of the professionals allows for consistent implementation and is a key contributor to its success.
Nord County Council presented the French legislative framework for integrated child protection and how it is implemented in the region. The presentation focused on two key services: the Maternal and Child Protection Service (PMI) and the Unit for the Collection of Information of Concern (CRIP). The PMI provides mandatory health visits, collaborates with schools for health checks, and may refer children to specialists. On the other hand, CRIP collects and assesses reports of children at risk and may recommend preventive follow-up, administrative or judicial protection. The collaboration of the two departmental services with national services and social, education and health services facilitates communication to define the appropriate response to a particular situation.
In the Austrian local context, the City of Graz presented the Social Space Orientation (Sozialraumorientierung). The goal of this project is to address the needs of children, young people, and families before they escalate to situations that require a much more robust and expensive intervention. At Sozialraumorientierung, professionals from relevant disciplines work together in an integrated and coordinated way to improve families’ quality of life. Gudrun Painsi and Ines Pamperl from Graz City Council noted that ‘Social Space Orientation’ is a flexible model that can and should be adapted to different local circumstances.
Finally, SOS Children’s Villages Italy, presented the ‘Applying Safe Behaviours’ project, which aims to make children and young people active agents in creating a safe environment for themselves and to enable child and youth care professionals to respond appropriately to peer violence amongst children. To this end, children and young people participated in workshops and trainings to build their capacity to recognise and speak about peer violence. The project also gave particular attention to children with alternative care experiences, who offered a unique viewpoint on childhood trauma and the impact of adverse childhood experiences. In a similar tone, Coenraad de Beer from SOS Children’s Villages International, while concluding the webinar, presented projects from their network while stressing the need for integrated child protection systems that put the child at the centre and use a trauma-based approach.
The Webinar raised awareness about good practices in different contexts for preventing violence and fostered information exchange through participant interaction. As Side by Side draws to an end, ESN wishes to continue addressing the issue of violence against children through a follow-up project. “The proposal will have an innovative approach by including training models to equip professionals to deliver similar training, ensuring its sustainability”, Mr Montero explained.
