“In Attempt to Better Lives”

In April 2010, EveryChild Georgia launched the project “Assessment of Special Boarding Schools under the Ministry of Education and Science” to support the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia in optimization of  the network of Special Boarding schools in Georgia and help establish an effective gate-keeping mechanism.

During the four month project , 465 children from 8 boarding schools located in different regions of Georgia will undergo detailed assessment with aim of their further deinstitutionalization into families or family-like settings, identifying the need for alternative, community-based care services.

The project was planned and elaborated on the basis of earlier and recent studies carried out by various child oriented organizations, which showed that although the beneficiaries of schools with residential care can be children with special educational needs due to disability or behavior problems,  in reality the majority of children placed in these establishments are without parental care.

Moreover, in many boarding schools clinical diagnosis is limited to labeling, primarily “Mental retardation”, and to irrelevant diagnosing of children, high proportion remaining undiagnosed even after placement. 

Despite the reduction in the number of institutionalized children in Georgia, a half or in some cases over a half of the children currently living in boarding schools have been there for four or more years and have been receiving few visits from biological parents, which has jeopardized their long-term physical and psychosocial development and reduced their chances to be out up for alternative care services.

The project will be implemented with financial support of UNICEF and close collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs and the local NGO Children of Georgia which is a main partner of EveryChild in this project and has a unique and a long-term  experience of working  with children who have special needs.

The project sets three objectives:

1. Comprehensive assessment of beneficiary children and their families-the real statuses of the children entering the service, carrying out physical and psychological and social assessments of each child. This comprehensive assessment will produce clear recommendations for each child in terms of whether reunification or some other placement is appropriate, and what support would be needed to achieve the best interests of the child.
2. Rapid assessment of the programs existing in these institutions, as well as the physical environment at the institution and the capacity of the staff working there to carry out existing and new development/educational programs.
3. Participate in the consultations, together with relevant stakeholders from government Ministries, local NGOs and other entities concerned with the future plight of children in boarding schools to put forward a set of recommendations for these types of schools in the country and develop plans for further deinstitutionalization.
 
Direct beneficiaries of the project will be 465 children residing at the above mentioned boarding schools.  Indirect beneficiaries will include community informants in the Rayons concerned, whom this project can help in attempting to resolve wider child care problems, various representatives of the Government and NGO stakeholders involved in working group meetings in the last stage of the project whom this project can aid in successful optimization of the boarding schools and representatives of educational agencies working for inclusion whom this project can aid in coming up with plans of integrating children with disabilities into local schools.

In addition, a rapid assessment of the human capacity and physical environment at each boarding school will be carried out. Human capacity assessment will include interviews with staff and caregivers and observation of their work and their interaction with children.

A physical environment assessment will include assessments of all basic care needs, amenities and residential, play and educational equipment. A safety assessment will also be conducted on all available facilities.

It is expected that at least 15% of children without any special needs, currently residing in these boarding schools will be deinstitutionalized as a result of the above interventions. For cases of children that will not be deinstitutionalized in duration of the project, the case files for each individual child with recommended placement and/or assistance intervention will be handed over to the statutory SW services for further follow up.

Upon completion of the project, it is expected that EveryChild Georgia will have a clear picture of physical, psychosocial and academic needs of all children residing in these schools. Awareness of the plight of children in boarding schools will be raised amongst Government partners in order to develop a realistic strategy for these types of schools in Georgia.