Strategic objectives
Strategic objectives for reforming child welfare
The European Social Fund’s Safety Nets for Young People’s Futures programme has four strategic objectives, and projects receiving funding are required to address at least one of them. The strategic objectives aim to focus child protection development efforts particularly on themes where previous knowledge has identified challenges. At the core is strengthening the resilience and agency of young people and their close networks by renewing the working and operating culture of support systems. The Safety Nets for Young People’s Futures programme offers an opportunity to boldly—and even radically—reform child protection through socially innovative approaches supported by development project funding. What is essential is that we do not reform without those whom the issues concern: children, young people, and families. Co‑creation is one of the defining features of social innovation.
The starting point of child protection is the best interests of the child—the solution that is best for the child—which must always be the central basis for all child protection measures concerning them. Child protection is value‑based human rights work, guided and mandated by numerous laws and international human rights treaties (including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child). Protecting children is everyone’s responsibility.
As a service system, child protection is a broad entity with one shared goal: to support and safeguard the child’s growth and development. Supporting parents and guardians in their child‑rearing responsibilities is also one of the system’s key tasks. The service system is a large ecosystem—a sphere of care—that collectively influences the wellbeing of children and families. For this reason, the whole must be viewed with radically new perspectives. Traditional methods may no longer work in a world where social and health‑related phenomena have changed and economic resources are a concern. A change of direction is needed, and new, open‑minded solutions must be sought to respond to and help with the challenges faced by families, children, and young people. Social innovation is an excellent way to test new kinds of solutions to the key challenges of child protection and to find remedies for various pain points.
The strategic objectives for the Safety Nets for Young People’s Futures programme (Specific Objective 5.1), funded during the European Social Fund Plus period, are:
1) reducing the number of placements through high-quality preventive and non-residential services and support measures;
2) strengthening parenting and support for the entire family so that no one is left without support during taking into care;
3) reforming aftercare services within child protection into a multidisciplinary support system for the transition to adulthood
4) addressing children’s mental health and substance use problems during periods of out-of-home care.
