Organisation for Aid to Refugees (OPU) is implementing a new project ‘HOME IN A NEW COUNTRY’ since January 2017, with the purpose of improving the status of underage international protection applicants and foreigners who come unaccompanied (without their parents or other relatives) on the Czech soil and are allocated to some of the specialized foster facilities.
- PERIOD OF REALIZATION: 01/01/2017 – 30/06/2019
- FUNDING: The project ‘Home in a new country’, reg.n. AMIF/7/02 in framework of national program of Asylum, migration and integration fund (AMIF) and the budget of the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Czech Republic.
- ABOUT THE PROJECT:
The main purpose of the project is to raise awareness, ensure help and facilitate the integration into society to the members of the target group to which unaccompanied underage persons without legal representative belong, and who are placed into some of the specialized foster facilities. These are the third countries members, some of them underage, but also those who already reached legal age, but continue to be placed in a foster facility based either on court’s judgement or follow-up studies. The aim of the project is to raise awareness to the members of the target group, informing them about their rights and duties, about their status and possibilities in the Czech Republic, assist them with solving problems related to their situation and facilitate their integration into the Czech society. Through the mediation of different project activities we would also like to prepare the target group members for leaving the foster facilities and facilitate the transition between such facilities and independent life that comes next, as well as to assist with the incorporation into the Czech society.
- WHAT DO WE OFFER:
- Legal counselling and assistance (giving information to the underage persons immediately after their arrival in the Czech Republic: about their situation, residence possibilities on Czech soil, family reunification, assistance with the proceeding related to the international protection application, handling of their residence situation before the departure from foster facilities)
- Educational and socio-cultural activities (workshops of socio-cultural orientation, workshops of elementary financial knowledge, prevention from taking part in hazardous groups, prevention of illegal labour, education in the field of prevention and medical treatment of diseases)
- Leisure time activities (organisation of collective cultural and sport events, creating pairs of a volunteer and unaccompanied underage child, arranging regular meetings of these pairs)
- Social counselling and assistance (counselling in the area of education, employment, individual assistance with communication at offices, systematic preparation of unaccompanied underage children for their departure from the foster facilities, creating individual plans, group workshops on different topics such as departure from the facility, national offices and their function, possibilities on the labour market, how to find a job etc.)
- Professional psychological help (extra psychological care provided to underage children apart the help accessible in the foster facilities)
- Individual and collective tutoring (involvement of volunteers into individual tutoring, collective Czech language courses)
- During all of these project activities, the services of qualified interpreters are used.
- TO WHOM IS THE HELP INTENDED:
- To underage international protection applicants and unaccompanied foreigners (without legal representative) who are placed to some of the specialized foster facilities
- To international protection applicants and foreigners who have already come of legal age, but remain to be placed in one of the specialized foster facilities, either based on court’s decision to the age of 19, or based on follow-up studies to the age of 26
- PARTNER FACILITIES IN WHICH THE PROJECT ACTIVITIES ARE IMPLEMENTED:
- Zařízení pro děti – cizince, diagnostický ústav, středisko výchovné péče v Praze
- Výchovný ústav a středisko výchovné péče Klíčov v Praze
- Výchovný ústav Višňové
- Dětský domov Sedlec – Prčice
- Other facilities to which the target group members will be newly placed