Our “Superkids” on the Superhero Summit

On June 7th our “superkids” – Nastya, Andriy and Nikifor took part in the “Summit of superheroes for children: from vision to changes”, which was organised by the Representative Office of “Hope and Homes for Children” organisation in Ukraine.

The event had the objective to gather the best national and international experts, officials, NGO representatives, opinion leaders, as well as children, in order to talk about the issues regarding the initialization and to find, together, a solution for ensuring equal rights for all children who are brought up in families.

After a word from the spokespeople, the participants worked in groups for 5 sessions. There was a separate session for children, where a moderator talked with them about improving the child protection system.

Children were happy to see, that there are adults who are worried about them, who want to hear their thoughts about the issues, who seeks the way out alongside them. Aside from that, the kids could speak with the participants from other cities since there were kids with different life circumstances: with disabilities, orphans, kids deprived of parental care, as well as kids from full families. 

In our Centre’s representatives’ opinion, the most important thing is that prophylactic measures are the best method of treatment. After all, if the help given to the families in need is on time, fewer children will end up in institutions, therefore the need for such establishments will decrease.

That is exactly what we do in the Centre “Our Kids” since our work is focused not only on helping the children, we also take priority in working with the biological family, where we focus on bringing the children back to their families. Parents and relatives are able to attend meetings with the psychologist and social teachers. On the Centre’s territory group meetings of children and parents are held with the participation of the psychologist. Every year, about 50% of our kids get in permanent family arrangements. We also support the children and their families for 3 years after the child leaves the Centre, with a gradual reduction in the frequency of visits.