Open Center for Children in Thessaloniki Region
The services of the MdM Open Center for Children’s Centre provide comprehensive psychosocial care support to preschool and school-aged children up to 14 years of age, who belong to highly vulnerable and deprived households, facing complex psychosocial problems and special learning difficulties or developmental disorders and live in the Regional Area of Thessaloniki. Through a wide range of actions provided directly to beneficiaries, social cohesion is promoted and personalised assistance is provided to address potential social exclusion and ensure the fundamental rights of children.
The service aims to establish a social framework providing children with direct access to appropriate services for dealing with issues they encounter in the school environment and in their interactions with peers. This includes the following specific objectives and services::
- Increasing mental resilience and addressing frustration among children and adolescents belonging to the target group.
- Psychosocial support and counselling to empower parents in dealing with the psychological, emotional and social impact (burden) of caring for children with special psychosocial needs, learning difficulties, developmental disorders and various forms of disability.
- Prevention of mental disorders and social exclusion.
- Promoting socialisation, communication skills development, active participation of children and adolescents in addressing social problems, and strengthening networking between stakeholders and civil society in the broader local child protection system of the Region of Central Macedonia.
- Systematic referrals to specialised services – strengthening networking and cross-sectoral coordination.
- Strengthening the skills of care professionals in providing comprehensive support to families with members belonging to vulnerable groups.
The main objective of the service is to fill the gap in psychosocial care for children from highly vulnerable and deprived households who face complex psychosocial problems and specific learning difficulties or developmental disorders. Early diagnosis/differential diagnosis, appropriate information and counselling in the family environment, and appropriate planning through the Case Management methodology are often lacking for children whose families do not have the necessary financial resources.
Expected results
The expected results of the MdM Open Center for Children are:
- Accessible social care services and improved access to specialised therapies for socially and economically vulnerable children.
- Increased mental resilience of children and adolescents with learning difficulties and belonging to vulnerable groups/people with disabilities.
- Strengthened local social care service network in the Region of Central Macedonia and in particular in the Metropolitan Area of Thessaloniki to adequately address the needs of the target group and mitigate the psychological, emotional and social impacts.
- Strengthened local community of care and education professionals in the comprehensive support of families with members facing learning difficulties and at risk of social exclusion.
