An information day presents the Center for Counseling and Legal Assistance for Children in Lom
On February 26, at 1:00 p.m., an information day was held in the hall of the “Roma – Lom” Foundation to present the activities of the specialized Center for counseling and legal assistance to children created under the project. Educational and labor mediators, school psychologists, representatives of the Social Assistance Directorate, schools and non-governmental organizations, managers of social services and social workers participated.
After the Methodology and documentation of the Center for Counseling and Legal Assistance for Children service were developed, the team was formed. It went through specialized training, and an IGA Fund expert performs periodic monitoring of the service.
The Center mainly works in the following areas: Coordination of case work, information and counseling of children and families – legal, psychological, social, health and educational; provision of expert assessment or specialized assistance in cases of children in contact or conflict with the law; work on an individual case and assessment of a case – assessment of the needs for protection, for accompaniment in the justice process, for recovery, personal development and professional orientation and realization, for specialized additional assessments; assessment of the child’s resources and environment, etc.
The consultations held had several main highlights. A significant part of the children worked with are at risk of dropping out of school and their motivation for education is a key element in the work of both the psychologist and the lawyer. Social consultations most often concern problems related to lack of personal documents and contacts with institutions. Legal consultations are focused on increasing the legal culture of children, legal consultations on education, on the topic of violence and aggression. Psychological consultations focus on increasing the motivation of children and parents to attend school regularly, to increase the self-esteem of some children, to overcome conflicting or challenging behavior, to overcome problems with communication and social relationships.
After the presentation of the project manager, the specialists from the team who worked with the children and parents who sought help at the Counseling and Legal Assistance Center made their speeches.
The information day ended with a discussion, in which some of the participants in the event actively participated.
Center for counseling and legal assistance for childrenwas created within the framework of the project “Specialized services for children from Roma communities in conflict or contact with the law”, Contract MP No. 93-00-145/12.10.2022. The project is financed by the “Justice” Program of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014- 2021. Partners in its implementation are the IGA Fund, the Roma-Lom Foundation, the Roma Regional Development Foundation – Plovdiv and Save a child – Norway.
