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Methodology of the institute of host care for unaccompanied minors

Methodology of the institute of host care for unaccompanied minors (in Czech version only) has been produced thanks to the European project of the Operational Programme Employment, Support for the care of foreign children in host families CZ.03.2.X/0.0/0.0/18_095/0011233 and deals with the methodology of the institute of host care for unaccompanied minors from third countries (i.e. from non-EU countries) who come to the Czech Republic. In the Czech system is currently minimal possibility of implementing foster care in the form of substitute family care for unaccompanied foreign children placed in institutional institutions. Foster care has never been implemented for unaccompanied foreign children. Since the institution of adoption is not possible for these children for legislative reasons, our long-term goal remains to place them in foster care. Until the conditions for the implementation of foster care for unaccompanied foreign children are prepared, we want to enable the children to stay in the family for the maximum possible time at least in formo f host care – i.e. in terms of the Act on Social Protection of Children § 30 Stay of the child outside the institution. A host care institute can offer these children at least intermittent stays in a family environment and the establishment of close relationships in a new country. However, this Act is only vaguely anchored in the Czech legal order and, above all, there is only a general methodology for working with Czech children and hosts. Therefore, our organization is the only one in the Czech Republic that is trying to implement this law in practice in cooperation with the Department of Social and Legal Protection of Children Prague 5, which is in charge of the facility for children – foreigners, where unaccompanied foreign children are placed for a diagnostic stay after their arrival in the Czech Republic. The procedure for recruiting candidates for hosting, training them, matching them with children, ongoing support and evaluation of their interaction with children has not yet been formalized. In this methodology, we formalize these principles of cooperation and provide guidance on how to proceed in an anchored and systematic way in the implementation of host care for unaccompanied foreign minors in the Czech Republic. The project is based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which in particular draws attention to the best interests of the child.