ALLIANCE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH

ALLIANCEFORCHILDRENANDYOUTH BULGARIA 16+ YOUTH DAY CARE CENTER

B U D A P E S T H U N G A R Y Transnational Good Practices and Experiences Exchange on Drug Dependencies within the Roma Community NIKOLA NIKOLOV

INTRODUCTION AllianceforChildrenandYouth (ACY) is an association between: • Free and Democratic Bulgaria Foundation (FDBF) • Sofia Municipality (SM) • Bulgarian Red Cross (BRC) NIKOLA NIKOLOV

ACY is aimed at improving the lives and defending the rights of street children and homeless youth in Sofia and the rest of the Bulgaria. NIKOLA NIKOLOV

TheACYimplements its programs in Sofia, BULGARIA at the: • Faith, Hope and Love Center for Street Children • 16+ Youth Day Care Center NIKOLA NIKOLOV

THE PROBLEM AND THE LEGACY • Most of the street children and youth in Bulgaria are of Roma origin numbering several hundred in the capital city of Sofia alone. • The exact number in the country is difficult to establish as their number constantly changes – evaluations vary between 2500 and 5000. • In the early 90’s, the responsibility of caring for Bulgaria’s street children and youth was taken over mainly by NGOs due to the respective responsible state institutions’ insufficient resources and readiness to deal with the problem. NIKOLA NIKOLOV

THE PROBLEM AND THE LEGACY Every day, street children and youth face: • Homelessness • Hunger and malnutrition • Illness and disease, with lack of medical care • Lack of adult support and advice NIKOLA NIKOLOV

THE PROBLEM AND THE LEGACY Street children and youth are often subjected to: • Violence • Exploitation • Discrimination NIKOLA NIKOLOV

CENTERS AND PROGRAMSFaith, Hope and Love Center • FHL Centerwas established in 1995 by the FDBF with the British charity ChildHope, UK as its partner. • FHLC is a night shelter and a day center for temporary placement of street children in Sofia aged between 3 and 16. • The capacity is 20 – 30 children per day. NIKOLA NIKOLOV

CENTERS AND PROGRAMSNational Information Center on the Problems of Street Children( NICOPOST ) • NICOPOST was established in 1997. This is a national data-bank that collects and disseminates info on runaway, abandoned and homeless children from all over the country. • A monthly newsletter, books and brochures dealing with the issue of the homeless are distributed or e-mailed to over 400 social workers, members of parliament and various governmental and non-governmental institutions. • The Center also conducts training seminars and organizes Round Tables on these problems. NIKOLA NIKOLOV

CENTERS AND PROGRAMS16+ Youth Day Care Center • The 16+ Center was officially opened on 29 September 1999. Till the end of May 2002 it functioned together with the FHL Center within the framework of the St. Sofia Bridge Project and FDBF but now is a separate entity under the Alliance for Children and Youth. • The 16+ is an open center for street children and homeless youth aged 16 to 25 and offers social assistance, domestic and medical services and a range of programs for the positive development and youth’s social reintegration. 16+ can attend to some 30 youths per day. NIKOLA NIKOLOV

Medical and Social care for homeless Roma Youth 16+ YOUTH DAY CARE CENTER NIKOLA NIKOLOV

PROJECT 16+ The project aims to expand and enrich the services and activities in 16+ by developing 10 programs in4 modules: JOB HEALTH EDUCATION SOCIAL SKILS NIKOLA NIKOLOV

PROGRAMS16+ Youth Day Care Center • Pledge for Personal Growth • Outreach • Advocacy Clinic • Stories From The Street • Market Basket Study • School for Parents and Single Mothers • Tackling Tuberculosis • Arts and Entertainment Club • Staff Training • Youth Committee NIKOLA NIKOLOV

PROGRAMS Program One -Pledge of Personal Growth This is a personal ‘contract’ or ‘pledge’ signed by all young people in the Center. The pledge could contain anything as it is intended to be a social exercise to get the young people to start thinking responsibly and to take positive actions to help themselves. Pledges could be revisited on a quarterly basis and the parameters should be flexible and set as per the needs of each young person. Program Two –Outreach/Street Work 16+ is offering basic services and assistance to youths that don’t visit the Center or have been banned due to bad behavior or other problems. Program Three – Advocacy Clinic The team arrange law students to visit the Center on a regular basis and give assistance to youth with legal, social benefits and personal identification problems. Without identity and proper registration in the community, these young people are entitled to nothing. NIKOLA NIKOLOV

PROGRAMS Program Four – Stories From The Street These stories would focus on the lives of the young people and their roles in the 16+. This is designed to showcase the human side and to raise public awareness of the homeless problem. Program Five – Market Basket Study It is designed to teach youth some basic life skills such as financial and time management and the basic principles of a market based economic system. Program Six - School for Parents and Single Mothers These youth have a demonstrated need for support during pregnancy and with newborn babies between 1-6 months. 16+ team provides training for young parents to-be regarding basic care and proper treatment of babies, baby products, health, laws, registration and so on. The idea is to include both male and female participants in the hope to encourage more cooperation between mother and father, safe sex, family planning and proper child care. NIKOLA NIKOLOV

PROGRAMS Program Seven – Tackling Tuberculosis We test all the visitors and staff members for TB on a regular and on-going basis, professionally clean and disinfect the entire 16+ Center and provide training to youths to help them identify the symptoms and what to do about getting treatment. Young people who have been exposed to TB but do not have active cases is treated with medication and those with active cases referred to the TB Hospital in Sofia. Program Eight – Arts and Entertainment Club The painting of the walls proved to be very popular and allowed the youths an outlet for artistic freedom and a chance to ‘decompress’. The artistic freedom and development is very important to growth of the young people and very positive to the healing process. NIKOLA NIKOLOV

PROGRAMS Program Nine - Staff Training In order to provide the staff and young people with the most up to date training methods and newest information, we conduct occasional seminars, hosted by local experts in the field of child and youth care and protection. Program Ten – Youth Committee We are working towards empowering young people to participate and take an active role in the running of the 16+ Center. They are encouraged to take responsibility in the design, implementation and evaluation of the Center’s activities. The Youth Committee is used for peer training, maintenance of the Center, group leaders, and surveying to gauge the effectiveness of a particular program. It is our hope that through the work of the Committee, our young people can gain vital life skills. NIKOLA NIKOLOV

Questions? ADVICES…and MORE …are WELCOMED! e-mail:Tel./Fax children_youth@abv.bg+359 2 936 0535 16plus@mail.netplus.bg+359 2 946 1156 FHLcenter@mail.netplus.bg+359 2 936 0011 NIKOLA NIKOLOV

ALLIANCE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH