Project Fiche for Phare / Pre-accession Instrument 2005

1.  Basic Information

1.1  CRIS Number (Year 1):

1.2  Title: “Children First” – “Modelling Child Protection Mechanisms at Provincial Level”

1.3 Sector: Political Criteria

1.4 Location: Adana, Ankara, Batman, Bursa, Diyarbakır, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli, Mersin, Samsun, Şanlıurfa, Trabzon.

1.5 Duration: 15 months

2.  Objectives

2.1  Overall objective(s):

The overall objective is to strengthen the capacity of institutions for the protection of children, especially children in contact with the law or at risk of coming into contact with the law, from deprivation of their rights including liberty and education, and from violence, abuse and neglect, as foreseen in the Child Protection Law No. 5395 of July 2005.

2.2  Project purpose:

The purpose of the project is to establish effective, coordinated working mechanisms including monitoring and evaluation for the delivery of effective and integrated preventive and protective,child-centred protection services in twelve priority provinces selected in consideration of education participation rates and the prevalence of children working and living on the street and in conflict with the law.

2.3  Accession Partnership (AP) and NPAA priority (and implementing measures envisaged by the Action Plan for AP priorities related to strengthening administrative and judicial capacity)

The Accession Partnership requires the “improvement of the general level of education and health, paying particular attention to the younger generation and the disadvantaged areas”[1] as both a short term and a medium term priority. In addition, the NPAA states the requirement to make “preventive health services more effective”[2].

The NPAA includes as a medium term objective that the “coordination between competent ministries and other public institutions will be enhanced”[3].

2.4  Contribution to National Development Plan (and/or Structural Funds Development Plan/SDP)

The project will support the aims of the Ninth National Development Plan for 2007-13. It will have a direct impact on at least two of the five main development axes identified in the Plan, namely axis 3 “strengthening human development and social solidarity” and axis 5 “increasing quality and effectiveness in public services”. With respect to strengthening human development, for example, paragraph 624 of the Plan envisages an expansion of parenting education, and paragraph 628 states that “collaboration of all segments, including primarily the central administration, local administrations and non-governmental organisations, will be ensured in the implementation of policies targeting the prevention of poverty and social exclusion as well as in the provision of services such as education, accommodation and employment for those under the risk of poverty and social exclusion.” Under paragraph 717, “arrangements that will protect the rights of those unjustly treated in the framework of contemporary criteria will be put in place and judicial assistance services will be increased to a sufficient level.”

2.5 Cross border impact

Not applicable.

3.  Description

3.1  Background and justification:

Achieving the aims of the Child Protection Law No 5395 of July 2005 requires better quality information about the children targeted, enhanced capacity among the institutions with responsibilities towards them and among parents, and greater coordination among these institutions. In August 2005, the project “Towards Good Governance, Protection and Justice for Children” (TR0404.01/01), being implemented by the Gendarme General Commander, has been initiated in order to contribute to the implementation of the Child Protection Law. Since then, progress has been made in several respects:

-  Capacity has been developed among judiciary staff and social workers for the implementation of the Child Protection Law.

-  Pilot service models have been established in the areas of education for children and families, including life skills based education, catch-up education for out of school children and parenting education.

-  Minimum standards have been developed to improve and eventually monitor the care and protection of children living without parental care.

-  Needs analysis has contributed to awareness of the need for increasing and improving the quality of child protection services and the deficiencies of the services currently provided.

-  Data on child abuse and domestic violence calls for putting in place protection and preventive measures, especially for children at risk.

At the provincial level, the agencies concerned do, within the limits of their capacities, provide additional instruments and ad hoc means of support for children who are victims of neglect and abuse, or in contact with the law, or at high risk.

Nevertheless, the provisions of the Child Protection Law have not yet been fully implemented. Outstanding needs which have been identified in the light of current information and as a result of research and implementation under the Gendarme General Commander led project are as follows:

-  The need for better coordination between children’s courts, schools, correctional facilities, the social services and children and their parents/caregivers persists. A referral system is needed to enable the judiciary to make better use of alternative measures, thereby reducing the average length of court cases related to children. For probation and alternative measures to be successful, and for re-offending to be reduced, better arrangements need to be made to monitor the children concerned and to ensure that they are enrolled in school and actually attending and receiving psychosocial support and where necessary extra tutoring. A mechanism also has to be put in place whereby parents of these children accept their responsibilities, receive parenting education and become part of the solution. This in turn requires mediation services since conflicts between children and parents are often part of the problem.

-  With respect to capacity building, many of the relevant ministries and other national agencies do provide in-service training to personnel working with children. However, not all the training provided by the various institutions is fully consistent with EU standards and provision is not comprehensive. Trainings have not been fully institutionalised. Needs assessment with SHCEK staff has revealed a need for them to increase their skills and knowledge on communicating with children and on access to mechanisms for effective use of alternative measures. The capacity of social workers to produce social enquiry reports needs to be strengthened.

-  With respect to children who suffer from violence, abuse and neglect, preliminary focus group discussions with children carried out during the child abuse study has indicated that counseling and family mediation services are not readily available to either the child victim of abuse or his/her parents. There may also be no channel for access to health services. There is also a need at the provincial level for a confidential and accessible system for children to be able to report violence.

-  With respect to the protection of vulnerable children, coordination is needed among the various agencies with responsibilities under the Child Protection Law in order to set up an identification and early warning system at the provincial level.

-  With respect to children out of school, more efforts need to be made to prevent children from dropping out of school. Among those at risk are children in urban areas who are both working and attending school. The Child Labour Survey conducted by the Turkish Institute of Statistics in late 2006 shows that the number of such children has increased in absolute terms. These children are at high risk of dropping out of school. In this context, the capacity of teachers and school administrators to resolve conflicts with and between children needs to be enhanced. Meanwhile, catch-up education needs assessment carried out under the Gendarme General Commander led project shows that it is not easy for children who have dropped out of school to make a successful return to the school environment unless they receive extra psychosocial support and their parents receive parenting education.

-  As the access to pre-school education and services to improve parenting skills have not yet reached to necessary levels, children’s attendance to and learning achievements in schools are negatively affected. So, there is a need for expansion of quality pre-school and parenting education in the context of prevention efforts.

-  With respect to children in institutions, a system is needed for monitoring the implementation of the minimum standards for the care of children deprived of parental care and expansion of foster care for children living in institutions when applicable.

-  With respect to the capacity of children and adolescents to counter difficulties in their lives, the development and implementation of life skills-based education is still at an early stage. Schools and child care institutions need to provide children with life skills and basic values.

3.2  Sectoral rationale

Not applicable.

3.3  Results

Result 1: The implementation of the Child Protection Law is strengthened through the increased capacity of at least 600 professionals working with children at risk, in contact with the law , and deprived of their liberty.

Measurable Indicators: Midline survey shows that professionals working with children at risk of coming in contact with the law display understanding of how to put the Child Protection Law into practice; project monthly report indicating number of professionnels trained and monitored; trainings on child right and child protection related issues for all relevant personnel are included in regular in-service and pre-service training programmes of their respective institutions; number of child rights commissions under Provincial Bars providing child friendly reporting services for children who are victims of violence, neglect and abuse and number of social mobilization and awareness raising activities conducted by NGOs on child related legislations and child rights increased; a measurement and assessment system and management model related to institutional services provided for children conflict with the law established.

Result 2: A total of 75,000 vulnerable families with children aged 0-19 report practicing positive parenting behaviour with their children after completing the parenting education training and at least 500 families/caregivers with children in contact with the law report using family mediation and counseling services.

Measurable Indicators: Midline survey shows that parents/caregivers who completed parenting education are using their newly acquired skills and avoid using violence and abuse against children of all ages as a mean of discipline; SHCEK reports indicates the number of families/caregivers with children in contact with the law who used family mediation and counselling services; number of provinces which report availing quality family mediation and counselling services to families with children at risk increased; Project Monthly report indicating number of SHCEK personnel trained and monitored on how to provide family mediation and counseling services

Result 3: At least 10% of children at risk of dropping out of the education system as a result of violence and abuse in and around of schools, child labour, street life and contact with the law is reduced in the project provinces and at least 50,000 children who droped out or have never enrolled are back to school.

Measurable Indicators: MONE reports indicate that children (including children victim of violence, abuse and neglect, children on the street and children in contact with the law) at high risk of dropping out from primary school continue their education; MONE reports shows that at least 50,000 out of primary school aged children returned to school and are completing their education; MONE and the child rights commissions under the provincial bars reports indicate that an increasing number of children have the confidence to report cases of violence or abuse in and around schools; midline survey report shows that children especially adolescents (10-19 yrs) demonstrate the capacity to reduce and deal with violence in and around schools as a result of life-skills based education and the work of provincial children’s rights committees; MONE assessment reports shows that school administrations have acquired the skills and knowledge on how to reduce and deal with violence in and around schools as a result of the school management violence reduction programme.

Result 4: Model coordination mechanisms at the provincial level to support the implementation of the Child Protection Law established.

Measurable Indicators: At least four provinces report having established and have functionning model coordination mechanisms; project monthly reports indicate that an early identification database on children at risk is in place in at least half of the project provinces; project monthly report and provincial bars reports shows that accessible, gender sensitive and child-friendly model mechanisms are established in at least four of the project provinces for children to report violence against them confidentially and obtain access to counselling; midline survey shows that a gender sensitive model referral system is in place and functioning effectively; Child Rights Commissions, under Provincial Bar reports and MOJ reports indicate that both procecutors and judges are increasingly when feasible applying alternative and probabtion measures .for children in contact in law . MOJ and the Child Rights Commission, under the Provincial Bar shows that the average duration of trial in child penal courts is reduced as a result of better use of coordination mechanisms and referral for alternative measures; MOJ reports shows that the number of children in detention pending the outcome of appeals to the Court of Appeal and the number of children deprived of their liberty is reduced.

Result 5: A model for coordination, monitoring and evaluation system established at the national level with related institutions and supported by empirical evidence and data monitoring system.

Measurable Indicators: Project monthly report informs that policy makers have access to data to monitor the effective implementation of the Child Protection Law; project monthly report shows that empirical data is available to support policy and programme formulation for children at risk; project monthly report shows that provincial monitoring and evaluation system on children is available, including functioning database.

3.4 Activities (including Means)

1.1 Develop a measurement and assessment system and management model related to institutional services provided for children conflict with the law for improving the institutional capacity and conduct capacity building training and review meetings on child rights and on how to implement the Child Protection Law with at least 600 personnel working with children contact with the law

1.2 Conduct advocacy meetings and capacity building trainings with at least 12 provincial bars child rights commissions and other lawyers handling children’s cases for the establishment in the project provinces a child friendly and gender sensitive reporting systems and services.