Mondo
Italy: Quality4children, best practices in foster care
A three year project to develop standards in the care of foster children, Q4C, has come up with 18 best practices. The project was coordinated by 3 international NGOs
di Staff
Three international NGOs, SOS Villaggi dei Bambini, International Foster Care Organisation (IFCO), Fèderation Internationale des Communaoutés Educatives (FICE), have joined forces to launch a programme called Quality for Children (Q4C), aimed at developing a set of standard practices for foster care.
Following three years of work, the project has developed 18 new standards to regulate the care of thousands of children who, for one reason or another, are unable to live with their biological parents. The standards were drawn up based on the experience of storytellers and worked out so as to really take into account the quality standards that children need to be appropriately cared for.
A total of 32 European countries participated in the project, each one appointed a national coordinator to lead a team of experts (doctors, psychologists, educators) dedicated to collecting real life case studies. Over 320 case studies were collected, 159 of these from foster children. The case studies also give voice to the concern of the biological parents, and it is on the grounds of findings drawn from the case studies that the standards were identified.
The standards will become a practical tool for the three organisations that led the project, although other countries and organisations have expressed their interest in using them. Further, Switzerland, the Low Countries and Malta will all launch similar programmes in the near future based on the results gained from the NGOs.
More info:
www.quality4children.info
