Problem addressed
Czechia ranks among the countries that have the highest number of institutionalised children in Europe, and there are over 300 institutions in the country[1].
There is a lack of community-based outreach and family support services to help vulnerable families and an absence of social housing. Children are often placed in care because their families face extreme poverty and are unable to cope.
Young people who grew up in institutional settings might experience difficulties in transitioning to independent living. In particular, their most common needs include finding and maintaining employment; preparing for further education and self-development; finding, retaining and furnishing long-term housing; meeting new people and establishing a network within the local community. The project aims to address these needs.
Innovative solution
As part of the ESF-funded One Step Ahead project, the LAG Hradecký venkov – Local Action Group Hradec rural area – provided support to young people who spent most of their lives in a children’s home in Nechanice – a town close to the regional capital city of Hradec Králové, while they were still in an institutional setting. In particular, the project aimed to help integrate young people over 15 into everyday life and in the rural community, by preparing them for an independent life and possible careers outside of institutional care, improving their financial literacy and facilitating their access to the labour market.
In particular the project focused on children with special educational needs coming from families of disadvantaged backgrounds, who were at a high risk of social exclusion or are growing up in foster care. The LAG Hradecký venkov (LAG HV) gave these young people the chance to find work and accommodation by connecting them to potential employers in the region. The project also provided guidance and helped young people to develop the practical skills necessary to sustain themselves. At the same time, the project also created a support network against both social exclusion and rural depopulation. Thus, the activities also responded to the lack of workforce in rural areas.
In more practical terms, participants’ knowledge of independent living acquired in the children’s home was expanded through:
- Individual counselling, carried out on an ongoing basis by the community workers;
- Seminars held by experts in the Nechanice City Council, in a nearby municipality hall or in the children’s home on the following topics: financial literacy, job opportunities, social security, independent living;
- Involvement with community life in the surrounding municipalities; and
- Mentoring programmes with potential future employers.
All activities were tailored to the specific needs of the target group. Most of the activities include the participation of the community workers, with whom participants can have personal or group consultations. The young people could also reach out to the community workers if they need specific support. An important aspect of the project is that the involvement of local companies and mayors in increasing the rate of employment and job retention amongst the target group after leaving the children's home is continuing even after the end of the project.
In 2019, after the end of the project, which lasted 18 months, local companies and representatives of municipalities were committed to continue to engage this group in local communities in various ways, including providing part-time job opportunities, membership in non-profit organisations, participation in municipal events, etc.
The LAG is an open local partnership that implements Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) in a given area. It represents the public and private local socio-economic interests. The LAG Hradecký venkov brings together a number of key partners and players, including orphanage management, local governments, local businesses and NGOs. All key partners’ main aim was to prepare young people from the children’s home in Nechanice for life outside the institution. Each actor provided suggestions for how to best organise the project’s schedule and content of activities, which were also consulted by the children involved during the implementation of the project to make sure their needs are met as much as possible.
Key results and benefits
The external evaluation was carried out by the contractor Mikroregion obcí Památkové zóny 1866 during the second half of the project implementation in 2019, and focused on the impact of the project on the target group and the territory. The evaluation used questionnaires and individual interviews. The results of the evaluation showed that the project activities had a positive effect on the target group and that participants gained practical skills and knowledge that they can use after leaving the institutions. In particular, seminars on finance and social security provided clear explanations with specific examples, helping the participants to orientate in the Czech social system.
The results of the evaluation were used to improve the functioning of the project and for the elaboration of the follow-up project ‘Community Social Work in the Countryside’, which has been implemented since January 2020, also funded by the ESF. The objective of this latter follow-up project was to support socially excluded persons and those at risk of social exclusion from the community of small municipalities due to their complex life situation. The follow-up project aimed to do so by introducing systematic community social work in these small rural communities to activate the target group and to involve them in solving their unfavourable living situation through cooperation with the local government and the local community. Social counselling and tailored assistance were also set up, taking into account the local conditions.
Over the course of 18 months, eight young people – who were preparing for early discharge from institutional care – have been trained and received practical information for independent life and finding employment as part of One Step Ahead. The eight beneficiaries were chosen, as they were at the end of their studies, thus these topics were timely and relevant to them. Relations with future employers and representatives of municipalities were established, where in the future it would be possible under certain conditions to find employment, obtain independent housing, or to actively participate in the life of the municipality. Participating companies and mayors offered assistance and cooperation to the target group, and together, sought the most appropriate form of cooperation and support. These eight young people were also supported more intensively by mentors and trainees who helped them to thoroughly prepare for an independent life step by step.
Altogether 41 young people – including the above eight oldest ones – acquired and practiced knowledge and skills in the following topics: labour market, financial literacy, mortgages, building savings, income, taxes, levies, contracts, employment contracts and interviews, CVs, addictive and psychotropic substances and their dangers, prevention of risky behaviour and personal development. All children were given the opportunity to attend summer camps two years in a row where they could learn about and practice the above topics, strengthening their independence and preparing them for life situations that may occur after leaving the children's home.
Accommodation was offered to the beneficiaries in municipal flats, or in sublets in the surrounding municipalities.
Two key outputs of the project include a manual on mentoring programmes – which is for the mentors involved – and the Handbook for representatives of municipalities, employers, companies for the involved municipalities, employers, companies).
Potential for mainstreaming
The following elements of the project are transferable and can be applied in other regions or other countries:
1) Mentoring programmes and internships with the employers: the LAG members / entrepreneurs from the territory offered to become mentors based on the focus of the young people. Participants were accompanied to work, guided through the work process and habits, and had the opportunity to communicate in real life at work. They could turn to their mentors at any time.
2) The involvement of participants in the LAGs, including in local events allowed them to meet the community and learn about their everyday life, as well as to learn how to organise events for the community and ways to get involved in them.
3) Lectures given by volunteer university students on several topics: ways to save money during travels and to look for a job abroad, finding plane tickets, how to deal with travel insurance, how to pay taxes and levies in the Czech Republic. University students who had experience working abroad have been involved also to develop the trust of the young people in the project activities. As they were closer to the target group in age and language, they supported communication.
