Institutional Staff Assessment for Compliance with Standard 5 of the Georgian Childcare Standards

At the beginning of 2010, the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs initiated the process of upscaling various existing institutions to the Childcare Standards and asked non-governmental organizations with child protection focus to conduct assessments of existing services and propose a training program of caregiver/teachers capacity building. EvC Georgia teamed up with 4 other international and local NGOs on refining comprehensive assessment methodology and capacity building training modules. In February and March, EvC staff together with staff from the Social Services Agency conducted assessment at 6 of these institutions.

This work is strategically important for EvC and child welfare in general in Georgia. It ensures close cooperation between government and civil society, aims to enhance the quality of service provision and tests the capacity of the state care system to adapt to new standards and regulations. Further assessments are spread out throughout 2010 and have the eventual aim of removing staff which poses a danger to children and where necessary provide recommendations for staff that may need their skills upgraded.