New project seeks solutions to inadequate family care for unaccompanied children | European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE)

Research shows that children who grow up in institutions fall behind in their development compared to children who grow up in families. The ALFACA- project aims to improve family care for unaccompanied minors in Europe by increasing the basic knowledge among professionals working with reception families.

“The majority of unaccompanied children in Europe are placed in institutional reception facilities and therefor it is vital to increase the knowledge of family care. We are offering a substantial package of trainings and guidelines to ensure that the quality of family care improves and that a larger number of unaccompanied minors will be able to benefit from it,” says Liedewij de Ruijter de Wildt, Project Manager at Nidos, the national Dutch Guardianship Institution for Unaccompanied Children

The training consists of e-learning and a manual that provides general knowledge on working with unaccompanied minors and knowledge on recruitment, screening, matching and guidance of the reception families. The training materials have specifically been developed for social workers, reception professionals and guardians who are responsible for counseling reception families that take care of unaccompanied children. The EU co-funded ALFACA-project partners include Nidos (the Netherlands) in cooperation with Minor-Ndako (Belgium), Jugendhilfe Süd-Niedersachsen (Germany), OPU (Czech Republic) and the Danish Red Cross.

Photo: (CC) James Allen