A new children’s centre, which opened today is the latest in a line of new projects set to provide critical aid to children in central Poland. The Children's Mental Health Center in Tarczyn will offer comprehensive medical and social support to young persons in the Poviat of Piaseczno, just south of Warsaw.
The centre offers a holistic service, focusing not just on the child, but on the young person’s peer group as well. Further, the project operates not only at a stationary site, but also offers outreach services at participants’ homes.
The Centre will play an important role in the coordination of area services for young patients and their families – including social welfare providers, pedagogical and psychological counseling agencies, medical services and education. Contrary to in-patient, hospital treatment – which involves the temporary isolation of persons suffering from mental health issues – the community centre assumes full participation in social life. Qualified specialists accompany the person over the entire course of their recovery, for as long as this process takes.
This Centre, like others financed by European Social Fund (ESF), will have an important role in helping some of society’s most vulnerable. This includes not only the current inhabitants of the Poviat of Piaseczno, but also young people who have fled the conflict in Ukraine and who have recently arrived in Poland. Often, these children have experienced significant trauma and require the attention of mental health services. To this end, the centre will offer assessment, treatment and counselling, interventions that are vital to ensure a full recovery.
This Centre is one of 11 such institutions in Poland, launched as a pilot thanks to the European Social Fund within the POWER (Knowledge Education Development Operational Programme) social innovation scheme. Project costs include adaptation and furnishing of buildings, equipment, staff remuneration, and activities in the field of mental health. The project is expected to help nearly 2 000 children and as many families in crisis recovery.
