CASE OF EXCELLENCE 3

FAMILY AND CHILDREN CENTER "PERSPECTIVE"
city of SOFIA

by Evguenia Jordanova - volunteer

The Family and Children Center "Perspective" was founded in 1999 as a joint project on the territory of the Third Service for social assistance in collaboration with SISEP (Sofia Institute for Social Ecology of the Personality). The latter is a professional, nongovernmental organization whose members are lecturers in the field of social and behavioral sciences from Military Medical University - Sofia, who have specialized in Western Europe and the USA. SISEP is licensed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy. The Center's aim is to respond to people's psychological needs, to help them solve the every-day problems in the period of social changes. The organization's activity is targeted at prevention, and it also performs therapeutic services. The basic approach is the ecosystem one, which means that the Center's work focuses not only on the child but extends over the child's entire social surrounding - the family, the teachers… The Center offers psychological consultations, seminars, training psychological programs. Different forms of psychological work are also organized there: individual, group, family, club and so on.

Basic working principles:

The basic methodology is taken from the Sofia Institute for Social Ecology of the Personality and it aims to cover the maximum possible part of the system related to the child and its problem.
· Anonymity
· Confidentiality
· Individual approach
· Openness for cooperation with all municipal social and nongovernmental organizations with similar goals
· Utilization of psychodrama and positive psychotherapy methods

Target groups:

· Small children
· Teenagers
· Students
· Parents
· Teachers
· Institutions

Provided services /psychosocial programs/:

The services are provided free of charge upon referral of the clients by the respective organizations - kindergartens, schools, institutions.

1. Student programs for self-knowledge, emotional competence and socialization. The participants acquire skills for recognition of their emotions, communication with their peers and elders, development and personal autonomy. Two age groups are formed: pre-school age and growing ups.

2. Program for elderly people with sensory malfunctions which includes psychological help and a group for contacts and mutual aid and aims at their integration in the community.

3. Program for development of parenting skills for bringing up children and skills for equal-footing partnership in the family. Special program for single parents.

4. Program for consulting teachers with regard of the difficulties they experience. Training seminar on issues helping the teachers in their practice.

5. Program for support and communication with chronically ill and their parents.

6. Specialized psychotherapeutic help for families and children with problems:
- drug addiction
- sexual and domestic violence, depressive and phobic conditions, anorexia and bulimic conditions and etc.

7. Consultations with physician-psychiatrist.

8. Training programs for professionals - social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists, comprising of training, consulting and supervision. Training of young people and students volunteers for long-term participation in the activity of "Perspective" Center.

9. Program for relaxation, autogenic training and utilization of the personality's resources. The participants acquire skills for relieving from the daily stress and increasing their stamina in crisis situations, for effective and full-value communication, for lowering their tiredness and mobilizing their energy.

10. Family and individual therapy.

11. Social work.

Results:

As an independent party, the Center is the connecting element which synchronizes the actions of the institutions targeted at children. For that purpose a stable network has already been established. The organization works together with the following institutions:
*Home No 4 - for women with sensory malfunctions.
*Sixth Primary School.
*National Center for drug addictions
*Parental organizations of children with physical ailments (foundation "Life without barriers")
*Foundation "Way out"
"Perspective" is already working together with the Child Protection Department and in cooperation with all schools and kindergartens. An ever-increasing number of training seminars with students, teachers and parents are held.
In 2001 were conducted courses with 3 groups: 1 group of teenagers and 2 of smaller children. The course's duration is 1 school year and one group comprises of 5-10 children. Individual therapy was conducted with 15 children and in many more cases the work involved only the parents, only the teachers or both the parents and the teachers. In most cases the clients come upon referral by the schools in the region, the social assistance services and the Child Protection Department and only rarely on their own initiative.
It is difficult to classify the results from the provided services since prevention is their main purpose.

Evaluation of the services:

Once again due to the fact that the Center's services are aimed at prevention it is difficult to make a statistical evaluation. The criterion for success is the interest of the institutions dealing with the problem and the ever-growing number of clients referred by them. Unfortunately, so far this practice has not been developed and established in Bulgaria. The collaboration with other institutions is a slow process, yet it is already functioning well at the "Perspective" Center.
As a positive feature we can mention the work within the schools because the class teacher is more closely connected to the students than an outsider. More and more children become interested and enroll in the preventive groups. The smallest children spend the most part of their time in the so-called "Theatre workshop" where through the methods of art therapy a puppeteer teaches them humane behavior and better integration in the society. It would be beneficial if specialists from other organizations were to participate as well; however they are interested in the number of children in the groups. Due to the different school shifts and the activities of the students, usually a group comprises of 5 or so children which obviously is not sufficient. The tendency for these groups is to gather on weekends.

Projects:

1. Currently a program with the National Center for drug addictions is in process. The work of the "Perspective" Center is related to the parents of addicted children undergoing treatment. After their discharge a family therapy aimed at reintegration in the society is conducted.
2. Another project which is already being developed is work with the personnel in kindergartens since it is at that early age that preventive training should start according to "Perspective" Center.