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Children's lifestyle in Kid's Centre of Southern Region
ŠIMEČKOVÁ, Irena
Growing up in a loving family is important for every child. Where the family is for any reason unable to provide the necessary background, the child is placed into substitute care, either in a family setting or an institution. The state prefers surrogate family to institutional care. The beginning of the theoretical part of my thesis focuses on the child?s rights contained in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and under Act 359/1999 Sb. on social and legal protection of children. I?ve described types of substitute care ? in a family setting (foster care, temporary foster care, adoption, committing the child into the care of a person other than his parent, guardianship) and in an institution ? and gave an account of the sequelae of childhood institutionalisation. I explained how the CAN syndrome manifests itself and what kind of children fall most frequently victims to abuse. I explained the importance of a family for a child and what does family recovery mean, what are the needs of children, and the ethnic group. The theoretical part concludes with a description of the South Bohemian Child Centre. The Child Centre is situated in the town of Strakonice. It?s a non-governmental health-care facility that can accommodate a maximum of 25 children. The South Bohemian Child Centre was established in 2005. Under Act 359/1999 Sb. on the social and legal protection of children, as amended, the Centre runs a facility accommodating children who require immediate help. The facility is primarily intended for 6-year-olds and younger; upon agreement, an older child may be admitted as well, in particular if he or she is a sibling. The help provided to children by the facility includes healthcare and social, legal, educational and psychological care and counselling. Under Act 108/2006 Sb. on social services, the Centre runs social rehabilitation intended for mothers and family members in need of help to be able to manage caring for their child, and also for future adoptive and foster parents. Parents have 5 dwelling units at their disposal. I divided the research into two parts. The first objective was mapping the life situation of children in the South Bohemian Child Centre between 2009-2011. The second objective was to establish how the social rehabilitation scheme has been utilised since the South Bohemian Child Centre was established. In order to achieve these objectives, a quantitative research had been designed, with secondary and content data analysis. I followed 9 criteria in the first research group: 1. reasons of admission to the CC, 2. age at the time of admission to the CC, 3. age at the time of leaving the CC, 4. the average length of the child?s stay in the facility, 5. ethnic group, 6. their state of health, 7. their mental state, 8.contact with their biological family, 9. reasons of termination of their stay. In the second research group dealing with social rehabilitation where parents stay with their children, I followed 4 criteria: 1. reason of admission into the social rehabilitation scheme, 2. the parent, 3. length of stay in the facility, 4. success. The results of this thesis will serve for the purposes of the South Bohemian Child Centre and be of use to anyone interested in these issues.
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