The Counselling and Support Centre for Parents and Children (CCS) social service was created in response to the needs identified throughout the implementation of the project “The development and promotion of educationally inclusive and sustainable programmes for Roma children through integrated community efforts , by founding the Roma Education Centre in Bihor county”, financed by the Roma Education Fund. Throughout the project’s activity, during the school year 2006-2007, having taken place in 11 towns in Bihor County, the reasons of school un-attendance or even school drop out were analyzed and frequent social causes were found for them.

The proceedings of establishing the social service began by requesting the help of the National Authority for Children’s Rights Protection (ANPDC) for a recommendation of the most appropriate type of service needed in relation to the reported cases, respectively the solicitations for disability aid, medical problems, poverty problems, limited access to medical care for children with severe health issues, child placement requests, problems of an educational nature etc. Following the identification of the Counselling and Support Centre for Parents and Children as a solution best fitting for assisting the social cases identified in the fieldwork, the Ruhama Foundation filed the documentation for accrediting CCS as a social service provider to the Department of Work and Social Protection Bihor.

• counselling people on a variety of problems;
• counselling parents in order to suit the needs of their children;
• strengthening the abilities and knowledge of parents regarding child care and education;
• counselling parents to overcome difficult situations: divorce, job loss, family conflicts, chronic illnesses, the death of a spouse / that endanger the development of children or that generate risks of separating children from their family environments;
• assisting people in proceedings of acquiring documents;
• help for receiving facilities or legal rights;
• counselling parents on themes of interest for the child’s well being;
• facilitating proceedings that target institutions, authorities or service providers;
• aiding and counselling children with difficulties in development and/or integration in family, school or social and professional groups.

CCS identifies clients with a background from the following family categories which present a high risk for children separation:

• homeless families;
• families with low incomes that benefit from social aid;
• families with one or both parents unemployed, deceased, illiterate, working abroad, imprisoned, or suffering from severe or chronic mental illness, or severe or chronic bodily illness;
• families that have abandoned children, institutionalised children, children with behavioural problems, children with frequent health issues or mental issues;
• families in which one or more children have dropped out of school;
• monoparental families;
• divorced families or families with children from other marriages;
• families with a history of alcohol or drug abuse, families in which prostitution, violence, begging, running away from home is practiced or where there is a risk of abuse;
• families that reject under-aged mothers;
• families that neglect the health, personal hygiene and education of the child;
• families with a history of physical, emotional or sexual abuse.

Annual monitoring of the beneficiaries

2008

In 2008, CCS received a number of 46 new requests, counting a total number of 100 assisted people. Of the total number of registered cases, 7 are self-identified cases, 37 are requests from the extended families, 2 are cases submitted by other institutions. Of the total requests, 65 have been admitted for intervention, corresponding to CCS’s fields of activity.

2007

Within the time period of June to December 2007, CCS received a number of 71 new reports with a total number of 198 people assisted. Of the total number of cases reported, 48 are cases observed by the CCS itself, 20 brought forth by the extended family, 2 reported by other institutions and 1 reported by the case manager for another institution. Of the total reports, 65 were admitted for assistance corresponding to CCS’s fields of activity.   Upon registering the received reports, the CCS commenced case assistance involving the following county and local public authorities in these proceedings:

• The Department of Work and Social Protection;
• The Health Insurance Department;
• The County Pension Department;
• The Department for Social Assistance and Child Protection;
• The Oradea Realty Administration;
• The Neurology and Psychiatry Clinical Hospital in Oradea;
• The Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital in Oradea;
• The County Ambulance Service;
• The resident Town Halls of the solicitors.

The cases registered by CCS include the following types of requests:

• Obtaining the handicap certificate
• Information regarding adoption procedures
• Support to obtain emercengy aid
• Support to obtain social house
• Support to obtain treatment ticket
• Support to obtain the invalidity or age limit pension
• Support to obtain Romanian citizenship
• Obtaining material support
• Health issues
• Obtaining wheelchair
• Obtaining financial support
• Counselling for parents to develop parental skills, improved communication with children

The total number of social cases recorded by the Counselling and Support Centre for Parents and Children until 2009 is 232 social cases, affecting a number of over 600 people. In order to solve the social cases registered by CCS, we initiated 152 legal procedures with the public authorities and institutions and 40 counselling sessions with beneficiaries and their families. A number of 57 cases are constantly monitorized to detect changes that can occur after CCS interventions, and 11 cases are closed as the beneficiaries have been fully assisted to solve the problems addressed to CCS services.

The cases assisted by the Counselling and Support Centre for Parents and Children cover a wide spectrum of problems: fixing a house that ran the risk of collapsing over a 6 month year-old, acquiring wheelchairs for a 26 year-old man and a 20 year-old woman, support given to a family with eight and one family with three children after a fire burnt down their home, counselling numerous poor families to encourage school participation of their children.