Between January and June 2019 , 8,236 children arrived in Greece, Spain, Italy and Bulgaria, of whom 2,794 (34%) were unaccompanied or separated children (UASC); According to the annual Report on Children in Migration published by the EU Agency for fundamental rights (FRA), in 2019, about 33,000 children, including over 5,000 who were unaccompanied reached EU’s external land or sea borders. Some countries, like Greece, Italy and Spain received significantly more children than others, highlighting the urgent need of ensuring a proper reception system to this specific target. Reception capacity for all asylum applicants, particularly for unaccompanied children who have special protection needs, resulted to be insufficient. Children in migration are more vulnerable than adults, particularly when they are unaccompanied. Upon turning 18, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children face particular challenges, as they often have to leave their child-specific accommodation and experience a significant reduction in social support. The significant presence of UASC and the growing number of UASC who have turned 18 (around 60,000 over the last five years) have highlighted the need to better understand the measures and opportunities for the protection and social inclusion of this specific population group in their transition to adulthood. To provide UASC and youth with the necessary tools for achieving a successful life and work towards their integration, it’s crucial the role of professionals working mainly in reception centers: cultural mediator and social workers are the first close relationship UASC tide with, they are a strong reference point for their legal and social integration process and it results thus important they have the best skills and competences to support and respond to UASC specific needs. Social workers, mediators, psychologists have to face several challenges arising with the work with UASC, in consideration of the variety of topic to be taken into consideration, such as: national and international legal framework, knowledge of the migration context, psychological condition, medical issue, social and cultural background… To address the needs and gaps of knowledge and skills of professionals, the consortium wants to develop a training program whose objective is to offer the professionals (the right tools to: Support the integration process (legal barriers, administrative challenges); ii)Fill the gaps in professionals’ skills and competences in foster/alternative; iii) Providing psychosocial support (traumas, stress...), including the capacity to detect early sign of distress; Iv)Support in a successful acculturation and integration process; v)Support in the transition to adulthood and in their path toward independence: housing, job, education, vi)Support in finding and choosing education path and learning opportunities, vii) Informing the surrounding population to facilitate the inclusion of the UASC through promoting communication and awareness campaigns, to dismantle the prejudices and fears that exist around them, which contribute to discourage their acceptance into society. OUTPUT DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY - IO1- Gap assessment and roadmap which will lead to a strategy for the training development - IO2 Development of training program: Training programme for employees working with UASC - IO3 E-Learning Training Development: Open access web platform. TARGET GROUPS: Professionals of the sector, meaning: cultural mediators, social operators, psychologists, head of departments, responsible of local social services, legal consultants or any other professionals to be targeted depending to the structure of the national reception system. RESULTS, IMPACT and LONG TERM BENEFITS: -Address the specific needs of UASC and strengthen their resilience -Better tackle and facilitate the active participation of UASC in their path for Integration and inclusion in the hosting communities -Ensured proper, specific and UpToDate information provided to UASC -Facilitate peer to peer collaboration -To contribute to dismantle the prejudices and fears that exist around UASC, which contribute to discourage their acceptance into society.
The primary aims were to identify specific needs of the UASC (by empirical assessment) and to better inform and educate professionals working with the minors (by developing the eLearning platform). The project aimed to identify key concepts and fundamental rights of unaccompanied minors, as laid out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child. Furthermore, this project portrayed and addressed challenges of UASC through the European lens and acknowledged the legislative procedures for asylum seeking as part of EU’s Common European Asylum System (CEAS). It aimed to identify key challenges that accompany the acculturation and societal integration of UASC as well as violations of children’s rights through case studies, good-practice examples within EU countries and important concepts and tools for enhancing the personal development and the social inclusion of the UASC. The eLearning platform aimed to address self-reported gaps in professionals’ skills and competences (made visible via data collection) and to provide additional information useful for UASC in choosing their education path, their transition to adulthood and in their path toward independence.
Europe is facing a severe migratory challenges, the arrival of refugees and irregular migrants made deficiencies and gaps in policies on asylum and migration visible. While effective multilevel support systems are crucial, professionals are not always in a position or enabled to adequately address their needs, neither exists a common practice to apply in Europe. Reports have shown the difficulty to pay adequate attention to their needs. The consortia aimed to learn about the needs of unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) and UASC turning 18 to systematically improve their acculturation and inform future policy making for inclusion and social cohesion. In addition, it is important to understand and support skill development of the professionals working within the national reception systems to help UASC effectively in their transition to adult life. Reports describe support options, however, without applying a scientifical in-depth approach. Therefore, the project aimed to develop and offer tailored know-how and training to professionals working with UASC in cross-border consortial cooperation based on a systematic analysis of the current situation.