Support system for parents reduces
child abuse

Many cases of child abuse can be avoided through preventive support to parents. January 2008, Nobody´s Children started a pilot project for parents with small children in Warsaw with support from World Childhood Foundation and Vattenfall. Since then, more than 1000 parents have received support, and the project will now be spread over Poland.

– When parents have a difficult life situation, they often raise children who in turn also have problems. If you make an early intervention, this vicious cycle can be stopped, says Agnieszka Izdebska, psychologist at Nobody´s Children.

Nobody´s Children has been working with children and youth at risk and socially vulnerable families in Poland for more than 17 years. In January 2008 their vision of a support system for parents with small children became reality. With financial support from Childhood, the pilot project Good Parent – Good Start was launched in the Warsaw district Praga. The idea was to find a way in which health care clinics and social welfare centres could cooperate to identify children at risk. Now, support is offered at an early stage to strengthen the parents.

Since the start, almost 1000 parents have participated in workshops and trainings, and more than 100 parents have received individual consultations by Nobody´s Children. Around 300 doctors, nurses, midwifes, psychologists, social workers, child care workers, and police officers have been trained to recognize signs of maltreatment and abuse of children, and to know how to act when they suspect a child is at risk.

–I feel safe here. Nobody is judging me as a parent, and I am never left alone with my problems, says one of the mothers who participate in a parental skills workshop.

From the beginning, the goal was to spread the model all over Warsaw, and in the long run all over Poland. In cooperation with Warsaw City Hall, further city districts have been invited to participate. The plan is that by 2013, the project will be spread all over the city.

– We are hoping to make our method a part of the social safety system for children in Poland within six years, says project manager Karolina Lewandowska.
Read more about Childhood (new window)

Nobodys´s children in Poland

Project:
Good Parent – Good Start; prevention of maltreatment and abuse against children trough support to families with small children.

Location:
Warsaw, Poland

Target group:
Children at risk under 3 years of age, their parents, and health care workers, social workers, psychologists, midwifes, police officers, probation officers.

Cooperation with Childhood:
Since January 2008

The support goes to:
Salaries for a project leader, a psychologist, a pedagogue, and a web-editor. Costs for educational material, education for parents, and administrative costs.