Despite all the difficulties, she graduated from college, acquired a profession as a cook and met a young man. They became a couple and dreamed of starting a family. But when Gulnur became pregnant, her partner began to deny paternity and left her. The pregnant girl was left alone, without support from her family.

Gulnur gave birth to a girl and decided to move to Almaty to provide her daughter with a better life away from her hometown. But the money she earned was barely enough to cover rent and food – for four years the family barely survived. Meanwhile, Gulnur’s daughter grew up with significant developmental delays and needed special care. And then came the fateful November: Gulnur was unable to pay for the last month of renting a rented apartment, and they were left on the street.

Gulnur turned to the ASAR crisis center, and was immediately accepted for support. Four years of backbreaking work, financial problems, difficulties in her daughter’s development and a complete lack of support plunged the girl into a devastated state. ASAR specialists placed the family in the center for free, provided them with food, medicine and hygiene products and drew up a route out of the crisis situation.

First of all, they helped Gulnur to get her daughter into a kindergarten, and the nanny-educator of the center began to help with the development and upbringing of the child. This allowed the mother to get a stable job, with the search for which they also helped in ASAR. In addition, Gulnur began to receive support from a psychologist, which gradually improved her emotional state.

The center’s specialists did a lot of work with Gulnur’s relatives and the father of her child, with whom the girl decided to establish contact. The ACAR center organized several meetings for Gulnur and her ex-boyfriend, carefully monitoring the girl’s condition and safety. The couple managed to establish contact again: the child’s father repented of his mistakes and suggested that Gulnur start all over again. Together, they left for another city.

In her new place, Gulnur got a job in her specialty and feels like a happy wife and mother. And her little daughter is growing up in a family that can provide her with warmth and care, and is no longer afraid of being left homeless.

Сообщение Story 4 появились сначала на SOS Children's Villages Kazakhstan.

She began to leave the children alone for long periods of time or send them to different relatives. Sveta and her brother often missed school: there was simply no one to take them there. The girl was too young to cope with the burden that fell on her shoulders. The guardianship authorities were forced to deprive the mother of parental rights, and the children ended up in the Children’s Village.

At first, the mother-educator had difficulties with the girl, because Sveta had a wayward character. She loved cleanliness very much and often reproached her younger sister and older brother for their habits that did not meet her expectations. Having quarreled with her adopted brothers and sisters, Sveta went to her room, locking herself there for long hours. She was afraid to go out, expecting punishment — out of habit.

But the teacher-mother never criticized Svetlana. Instead, she tried to understand her, supported her and praised her for the purity that the girl so persistently adhered to. The teacher-mother understood that in this way Sveta tried to maintain stability and control over her life.

After six months, the girl found contact with her brothers and sisters and trusted her mother-educator. Sveta began to see how difficult it was for her to adapt to everyone, find time for everyone and understand the children — and she began to appreciate it. Sveta began to actively participate in helping her mother-educator and gradually realized that she could become a support for her new family.

Now Sveta often proudly tells her friends that she is very lucky — her new mother loves cleanliness and order as much as she does! The girl has finally found her real home, full of care and understanding.

Сообщение Story 3 появились сначала на SOS Children's Villages Kazakhstan.

When the husband returned from prison, they decided to start life anew. The husband had just received a lucrative job offer in another city – the couple was happy to take advantage of it. But upon arrival at the new place, they realized that they had ended up in slavery: the “employer” placed them in a small village far from the regional center, deprived them of money and forced them to do hard physical labor. The payment for the work was food, often quite meager, and when they tried to leave, the owners beat them.

Six months later, Olga and her son managed to escape slavery and found themselves in Temirtau, completely penniless. For a while, they managed to stay in a crisis center, but what to do next? Olga had no idea.

The Center for Support of Children and Families came to the aid of the family. Its specialists helped Olga find a job and permanent housing – a room in a social hostel, which she rents with her friend and her son. Thanks to the Center’s support, Olga joined the queue for state social housing and filed a claim for alimony from her now ex-husband. And her son began to talk, stopped being afraid of people and went to first grade – a psychologist and speech therapist from the Center helped him with this.

Olga is no longer afraid of tomorrow: now she is confident in her strength and resources, and can take care of herself and her child.

Сообщение Story 2 появились сначала на SOS Children's Villages Kazakhstan.

During his life with the family, Timur had to endure a lot: he was repeatedly beaten and pulled by the ears, and slaps on the back of the head were a constant method of education. Physical violence pushed the boy to try to end his life — but his sister saved him.

The children did not tell anyone about this for many years. And only in the Children’s Village they were able to confide this secret to their new mother-educator. She became a significant adult for the children, who returned their childhood to them.

Their lives changed in the Children’s Village: Timur and his sister had a caring environment and reliable friends, classes, clubs and activities. But they really missed their relatives, with whom they often communicated before. The Village specialists did everything so that the children could continue to communicate with their aunts and uncles.

Little by little, the children adapted to their new life, their emotional wounds gradually healed, leaving behind fear and tears. They felt that their fate was in the hands of caring and reliable adults.

“A sad story with a happy ending,” is what our specialists say when they see the happy eyes of a child after what they have experienced.

Сообщение Story 1 появились сначала на SOS Children's Villages Kazakhstan.

Charity project

Center for Support of Children and Families

Family problems do not always mean unreliability of parents. Often, it indicates the need for support that will help parents survive the crisis and get tools to cope with life’s difficulties. Such help can be obtained at our Child and Family Support Centers.

Child and Family Support Centers work not only with biological families, but also with foster families. We help them resolve difficulties in order to avoid the removal of children from families or secondary orphanhood. In addition, the Centers’ specialists also work with people who are just preparing to become foster parents. For them, we conduct Foster Parent Schools.

Almaty, Astana, Temirtau

18 months

The main principles of the activities of the Child and Family Support Centers are a comprehensive approach and individual work through case management. Families receiving assistance at the center go through the following path:

Identification of families and children in difficult life situations.

Legal and psychological assistance to families in difficult life situations and foster families.

Development of individual plans to overcome a difficult life situation for the family and child.

Support for families and children at every stage of the implementation of an individual assistance plan.

Correctional and rehabilitation work with parents, assistance in identifying and realizing their own abilities to overcome difficult life situations.

Current assessment and achievement of changes in the family.

After the family emerges from the crisis, specialists remain in touch, providing the necessary social services and monitoring their progress.

If separation from the family is inevitable or more favorable for the child, then we help find a foster family for him/her to protect the child from the traumatic experience of placement in an institution.

At each stage, the CPDS team actively interacts with colleagues from various government and non-governmental organizations. This includes joint work on cases and active educational and methodological support with the transfer of knowledge and experience.

Target groups of the project:

• orphans and children left without parental care;
• children in the care of SOS Children’s Villages
  children and families in difficult life situations, including families based at the ASAR center;
• families wishing to adopt or take a child into foster care (adoptive parents, guardians (trustees), foster parents, adoptive parents and host families);
• families that have already adopted or taken a child into foster care (adoptive parents, guardians (trustees), foster parents, adoptive parents and host families);
• candidates for foster parents and foster parents;
  specialists of support services and placement of children in families
  volunteers wishing to work with orphans.

Planned activities:

The project envisages a comprehensive interdepartmental approach, including:
1. Implementation of existing technologies for early detection of family problems and timely assistance to the family and the child to prevent children from losing their place in a biological family;
2. Stimulating the development of family forms of placement of children left without parental care;
3. Creation of infrastructures that provide support for foster families;
4. Creation of living conditions, upbringing and education for children who, for various reasons, cannot be transferred to be raised in families.
5. Creation of a network of project partners: state, non-governmental and international organizations.

Planned activities:

• Identification of families and children in difficult life situations
• Consultation of children and adolescents, their parents (legal representatives) on social, legal, psychological and pedagogical issues;
• Development of individual plans for the family and child to overcome a difficult life situation, their support;
• Implementation of correctional and rehabilitation work with parents, assistance in identifying and implementing their own capabilities to overcome a difficult life situation;
• Implementation of patronage over a child in the family
• Current assessment of the family, achieving changes in the family
• Provision of reception, maintenance and upbringing of children in cases that cause concern for the life and health of children, as well as when establishing the status of an orphan and a child left without parental care.
• Permanent placement of a child in a family if it is impossible to return to the blood family

Planned activities:

Prevention of removal of children and families

• Identification of families with children and families with adopted children in difficult life situations, threatening abandonment of the child or his/her temporary placement in an institution for orphans through educational and health care institutions, guardianship and trusteeship authorities, juvenile justice (juvenile affairs inspectorate), the public, etc.;
• Comprehensive support for families with adopted children in difficult life situations;
• Assistance to children left without parental care to restore relationships with biological relatives.

School for Foster Parents

• Primary psychological assistance to citizens wishing to take in a child left without parental care, who will be referred by the guardianship and trusteeship authorities;
• Organization of work on the search and selection of potential adoptive parents, guardians (trustees) and foster caregivers;
• Comprehensive assessment of the readiness of candidates for guardians (trustees), adoptive parents and foster caregivers to accept children to live in a family;
• Training of candidates for adoptive parents, guardians and foster caregivers according to developed programs;
• Submission of recommendations to the guardianship and trusteeship authorities based on the results of work with candidates for adoptive parents, guardians (trustees) and foster caregivers;• Comprehensive support for families with adopted children in difficult life situations;
• Helping children left without parental care restore relationships with biological relatives.

Comprehensive family support services

• Monitoring the adaptation process of orphans, children left without parental care, in foster families;
• Step-by-step management and supervision, psychological and legal assistance to the child and foster parents;
• Organization of rehabilitation and leisure programs for families with foster children and pupils of institutions for orphans.

Short-term accommodation services for children

Providing care for children whose families are in a crisis situation, as a temporary solution before the subsequent return/reintegration of the child into the birth family, or after the removal of the child from the family where there is a threat to his or her life and health, preparation before placing him or her in alternative forms of care (guardianship, adoption, foster care or SOS family care), as well as a temporary measure for children in the process of establishing their status or searching for their parents, and the child requires temporary placement.

Short-term guardianship

Short-term guardianship is provided:
1. to children and teenagers whose families are in a life crisis situation.
2. to children and teenagers when the whereabouts of their parents are unknown, and the child needs temporary placement until the parents are found and the situation of the possible return of the child to his own family is resolved.
3. including children whose parents may have been deprived of parental rights, the children before that period were in other institutions for orphans and children left without parental care, and were sent for placement in the Children’s Village, but an in-depth assessment of the children’s needs and the capabilities of his biological family was not carried out.
4. short-term guardianship is also provided to all children sent by guardianship and trusteeship authorities for placement in the Children’s Village, as temporary placement before placing them in SOS families.
Short-term guardianship can be organized in the form of a center designed to accommodate up to 8 — 12 children / teenagers, where their guardianship and upbringing services will be provided by professionally trained shift educators. But the best option, taking into account the needs of children, is placement in a family home based on a professional SOS family/foster family, specially trained to provide care to children in crisis situations. The duration of short-term care is from several days/weeks to six months. The maximum duration of a child’s stay in short-term care should not exceed 1 year.

Services for children

• Pedagogical and rehabilitation work with a child who requires placement outside the family of biological parents, in order to prepare him/her for placement in a family for upbringing.
• Development of a plan for the protection of the child’s rights in order to prepare him/her for placement in a foster, guardianship or patronage family;
• Participation in preparing a child for transfer to foster, guardianship or patronage families;
6. Methodological activities services:
• Improving the professional competence of specialists — holding seminars and trainings for specialists working in the field of prevention of social orphanhood and family placement of children deprived of parental care
• Accumulation and dissemination of scientific and methodological materials on the problems of family upbringing, promotion of the experience of positive family upbringing in guardianship, foster and patronage families;
• Dissemination of developments and gained work experience, holding seminars and conferences on the protection of children’s rights and the organization of the work of guardianship and trusteeship authorities.

Expected results of the implementation of the CPDS project:

1. Improving the quality of life and upbringing of orphans and children left without parental care
2. Reducing the number of children in orphanages and boarding schools, as well as the length of time children live in boarding institutions.
3. Children remain in biological families
4. Creating a new model of an educational institution — a professional center for placing children in families.
5. Creating a multi-level system of assistance to various types of foster families (foster, guardianship, patronage families, families of Kazakhstani adoptive parents).
6. Creating a single educational, information-methodological, information-communication space in the field of assistance to foster families and orphans.
7. Creating an effective state system of support for foster families and monitoring the living conditions and upbringing of children in families.
8. Creating a sustainable partner network of state and non-governmental organizations working in the field of prevention of social orphanhood to provide comprehensive support to project beneficiaries.

Сообщение CSCF появились сначала на SOS Children's Villages Kazakhstan.

Сообщение Name Surname 2 появились сначала на SOS Children's Villages Kazakhstan.

Сообщение Name Surname 1 появились сначала на SOS Children's Villages Kazakhstan.

Charity project

School for Foster Parents

The purpose of this project

Adopting a child left without parental care is an important step that needs to be prepared for. Often, adoptive parents do not fully understand how their lives will change with the appearance of a new person in the family. This leads to the fact that children return to children’s institutions, facing even more severe psychological trauma. To prevent such situations, we conduct Schools for Adoptive Parents, which allow you to prepare for accepting a child into a family. SOS Children’s Villages of Kazakhstan is one of the few organizations in the country that conducts Schools for Adoptive Parents in person and in two languages, Kazakh and Russian. Classes are free.

Almaty, Astana, Temirtau

Tasks

Providing children participating in the Project with access to the basic services necessary for their full development.

Strengthening the capacity of families to care for children; assisting families in acquiring pedagogical knowledge, in obtaining a stable source of income in order to meet the needs of children.

Strengthening the community’s capacity to respond to children’s needs so that it can develop and maintain its own ways of meeting the needs of disadvantaged families

Building an active network of partners to ensure that children grow up in a nurturing family environment

How to become a foster parent?

The path of any candidate for foster parenthood begins with the School of Foster Parents. Since 2020, the School of Foster Parents has become mandatory for anyone who would like to take in a child left without parental care.

Before classes, the School’s specialists conduct testing and psychological consultations for candidates. Together, they study the candidates’ motives and expectations regarding foster parenthood, their psychological characteristics, intra-family relationships and attitudes towards raising children.

Having received a positive conclusion based on the testing results, candidates begin training at the School. Upon attending all classes, they receive a confirmation certificate and are invited to a final consultation. Based on its results, the School’s specialists issue a recommendation — if it is positive, the candidate can apply for adoption of the child into the family.

How does the training at the School for Foster Parents work?

Classes include not only lectures, but also trainings, brainstorming sessions, role-playing games and practical work in groups. Our experience shows that practical formats help candidates better absorb the necessary knowledge, maintain interest and motivation.

The curriculum prepares candidates for various aspects of foster care, such as:

1. Age crises
2. The impact of previous traumatic experiences on the behavior and development of children
3. Consequences of abuse
4. Features of emotional support for children from the adoptive parent
5. Adaptation of a child in a new family
6. Establishing boundaries and rules for a child
7. Features of school behavior
8. Relationships with biological parents and relatives
9. Features of interaction with teenagers
10. Sex education
11. Difficult behavior
12. Legal framework for adoptive parenting.

The topics that our program includes allow most candidates to make an informed decision about whether they are ready to accept a child into a family, as well as get rid of myths about children without parental care, prepare for possible difficulties and know how to cope with them.

What happens after the School for Foster Parents?

The next step for candidates for foster parents is to register as a candidate for adoption through Egov.kz. After this, the candidate gets access to the Database of Orphans, where he can view profiles of children for adoption.

Families who have adopted children after our School for Adoptive Parents receive support from our specialists during the adaptation period.

Сообщение School for Foster Parents появились сначала на SOS Children's Villages Kazakhstan.

Charity project

Protecting children from abuse

Child safety is everyone's concern.

The purpose of this project

SOS Children’s Villages Kazakhstan bears full responsibility for the health, safety and future of the children and young people we work with. Our task is to take all necessary measures to ensure that our staff, representatives, programs and work formats do not cause harm to children and do not expose them to any risks.

We believe that neglect or abuse of children is unacceptable. This is set out in our Child and Young Persons Protection from Abuse Policy. This document is based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children and the Keeping Children Safe standards for protecting children from abuse.

The SOS Children's Villages protection policy clearly states:

The Child and Young Persons Protection from Abuse Policy sets out the standards that every employee, partner, contractor and visitor to Children’s Villages must meet to ensure the safety and well-being of the children and young people with whom we come into contact. It also sets out the procedures for responding to incidents of abuse.

SOS Children's Villages has a zero tolerance policy towards abuse because:

Children are very vulnerable. Any child can be at risk of neglect and abuse;

Cases of abuse can often go unreported because the child may not have the resources or strength to tell anyone what is happening to him or her;

Many girls and boys are most often subjected to violence and bullying because of their illness or disability; because they look different or speak different languages, etc.;

Often children are bullied or mistreated by those they previously trusted or lived with;

The hurt and trauma caused by abuse or cruelty are not always visible, but they can cause problematic behavior in a child later in life, and everything must be done to ensure that the child can again live a happy and fulfilling life, confident in his or her safety and security.

What does SOS do to protect children from abuse and neglect?

SOS Children’s Villages Kazakhstan commits to:

Respond promptly to any concerns or potential incident of abuse, particularly within the organization.

Provide a safe environment for every child at the slightest risk of possible violence

To examine every case and every piece of information concerning violation of children's rights and to take measures to prevent violence and neglect of the child's needs.

- Train each employee of the organization in methods of interaction with children that exclude violence and violation of children's rights.

- Ensure high standards of personnel selection, protection of personal data and children's privacy

- Inform the community about the need to implement a system for protecting children's rights at every level.

What should you do if someone becomes aware of a case of mistreatment of children from SOS Children's Villages?

Children or third parties can report a possible case of abuse to any SOS Children’s Villages staff member. Each Children’s Villages staff member is trained to respond to such requests: upon receiving information, they will respond according to the algorithm and pass the information on to the Child Protection Team.

The Child Protection Team is a working group that exists in each Children’s Village. Any child or adult can contact them to discuss something that worries them or to report a case of abuse. These people ensure that all information is considered and that everything possible is done to ensure that the child whose rights have been violated is protected and protected from any further harm.

In addition, each Children’s Village has a Trust Box. Anyone who has learned anything about a child’s rights being violated in any of the Villages can write a note about it and drop it in the Trust Box.

You can also write to child.no@sos-kazakhstan.kz about possible cases of abuse.

Сообщение Protecting children from abuse появились сначала на SOS Children's Villages Kazakhstan.

Charity project

Crisis Center ASAR

Step-by-step transformation of children’s villages, through the organization of a family and childhood support center aimed at preventing social orphanhood, returning children from foster families, supporting and accompanying children and families in difficult life situations, and providing special social services to foster families (adoption, guardianship, patronage, host family)

Almaty

Tasks

Providing mothers with children with the opportunity to live for 6 months until the difficult life situation (DLS) is resolved;

Ensuring the healthy development of the child in a family environment;

Creating access to basic services: medical, legal, psychological, educational, as well as providing support in the form of food and hygiene kits in individual cases;

Strengthening the capacity of mothers to provide proper care to their children;

Improving the psychological state of parents;

Creation of an active network of partners (government, public, business organizations) to ensure access to a comprehensive package of services for each family.

Target groups of the project:

A single-parent family with children from 1.5 to 10 years old who found themselves in a difficult life situation, such as:

• Risk of child removal
• Lack of housing
• Lack of a place of work and/or professional education
• Lack of documents
• Income below the subsistence minimum
• Loss of a breadwinner, family ties.

Accommodation and receiving services

Coverage for 6
months

6 families
12 children

Coverage for 12
months

6 families
12 children

Coverage for 18
months

6 families
12 children

Coverage for 6
months

18 families
36 children

Project implementation mechanism:

The project is implemented in close cooperation with government partners. The target group is directed by employment departments, education authorities (guardianship and trusteeship department), public organizations, and civil society.

Evaluation of the compliance of referred clients with the project target group

Assessment of needs and requirements of the CG (individual approach)

Signing the Agreement on the receipt of services

Case management

Exit of the accommodation service CC (max 6 months)

Family support for effective exit from the project (additional 6 months)

The project is implemented in close cooperation with government partners. The target group is directed by employment departments, education authorities (guardianship and trusteeship department), public organizations, and civil society.

The following activities are being implemented within the framework of the project:

• Short-term/crisis placement center for the target group. Placement will take place at the Children’s Village in Almaty. A house with 6 separate rooms, a separate bathroom, a shared kitchen and a recreation room will be provided for 6 families. The duration of temporary placement can range from several weeks to several months, but not more than 6 months. The main goal of short-term placement is to provide housing and support to a family in a situation that threatens the safety and well-being of the child and weakens the ability to manage the family. During this period, the family needs immediate support to maintain or restore the functioning of the family.
• Educational support is aimed at expanding children’s access to preschool (kindergarten), school and extracurricular activities. Typically, this type of support can range from helping families connect with educational institutions, paying for kindergarten or inclusion in the Balapan program, as well as referral to tutoring and additional classes for school-age children, which are provided in the village. Children are referred to these services free of charge for the family, and some of these services may be provided by volunteers.
• Medical support is aimed at preventing and improving the health of children and parents. If necessary, families can receive first aid kits, which include general first aid medications (not requiring a special prescription), thermometers and other means (e.g. bandages, etc.) that allow families to provide first aid to their children. Medical support is provided on the basis of consultations; if consultations with narrow specialists are needed, beneficiaries are referred to the city territorial polyclinic, to which the family will be temporarily attached.
• Social support is provided for children and parents in the form of individual social counseling and group activities. Social workers work with parents and advise on how to access state social services and empower children to defend their rights before the government and other authorized bodies. This involves developing participatory skills and training in children’s rights. In addition, parents are trained to develop skills to encourage and guide their children to participate in decision-making processes that affect their own lives, in their family, school, community and other levels of society.
• Psychological support is aimed at improving the psychological climate in the family, creating emotional stability in children and parents, and strengthening their abilities and resilience to cope with difficult life situations. This type of support is provided to children and parents in the form of individual and group counseling.
• Parental support is aimed at increasing the level of knowledge and practical skills to improve the quality of child care, meeting the needs for physical, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual development of children. This type of support will usually be provided in groups as part of trainings to improve parenting skills. Parents will have the opportunity to share their experiences in raising children, listen to other participants, and expand their social networks by communicating with other participants.
• Establishment of a Mothers’ Club to empower women to take control of their lives and have a voice, enabling them to overcome inequalities in the family, work and society. Specific activities, which include providing information and raising awareness on women’s rights; legal information on gender-based violence and inheritance rights; women’s economic empowerment; and sexual and reproductive health, will be covered within the framework of the Mothers’ Club.
• Vocational training for parents. In partnership with government organizations, project staff will refer unemployed parents to courses for subsequent employment.
• Legal support is aimed at helping families protect and defend their legal rights and interests. This type of support includes referral to professional individual legal advisory services. In addition, families are assisted in collecting documents necessary to defend legal rights in courts and other authorities, documentation (identity card, birth / death / marriage / divorce certificate, etc.).

A special role in the implementation of the Project is given to building partnerships and cooperation. The project adheres to the concept of sharing knowledge, resources and expertise. For this purpose, the project establishes formal and informal partnerships with strategic partners who can provide additional services, so that beneficiaries will have access to a comprehensive package of services. Within the framework of partnership and inter-agency cooperation, the project can help create or participate in various forums, alliances, networks that help ensure the visibility of the project, exchange information and resources, effectively coordinate activities and avoid duplication of services. In addition, strengthening a strong and expanded network of organizations can have a beneficial effect on the well-being of children of the target group through advocacy activities, raising public awareness of children’s rights, including work on revising or developing legislation.

Сообщение ASAR появились сначала на SOS Children's Villages Kazakhstan.