Family Strengthening IS Economic Stimulus

While there was a sense of relief when the EU managed to reach agreement on the Recovery Fund, which is to help EU economies fund economic stimulus to prevent the post-pandemic recession from becoming a bottomless pit, and the next EU long-term budget, there was disappointment too. There had been a lot of hope among people like me who work for child protection and child rights coming up to these talks. This was because there was to be a requirement for EU member states to spend at least 5% of the resources allocated to them from the European Social Fund Plus on addressing child poverty. In the text of the final agreement, this requirement was not mentioned.

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Careleaver's Perspective

At the IFCO seminar in London, early last month, Billie-Jo McDowell, who is a social worker, an IFCO Youth Member, and someone who has personally experienced being in alternative care, gave a presentation to provide insights from a different perspective. Although everyone involved in setting up and running social and child protection systems does their best to ensure that children’s needs are being met and that their best interest is kept at the centre of their care, in the end they do not have the same understanding of what it is to be in alternative care as someone who has actually experienced it.

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The New Online Alternative Childcare Community

The moment has arrived. As I mentioned already before the summer and at the start of the month, part of Why Family-Based Solutions’ plan is to provide a platform where people who are involved in alternative care, in transformation of care and in child protection, from all over the world, can come together and exchange knowledge, experiences and ideas. That platform is now available on this website: www.familybasedsolutions.org/community/

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