Providing expert advice
The process of closing down institutions and replacing them with a family-based care system takes time.
It is a highly complex process, for the children, their families and carers. At Lumos, our primary concern is to ensure that every child is moved with care to the individual family based placement they need; we make sure they are safeguarded and protected throughout this major change in their lives. The process of change must focus on the long-term needs of the children in institutions. We have the expertise necessary to contribute to that process, wherever it is taking place across Europe.
Our expertise has been recognised by the European Commission. They asked us to chair an ad hoc group on deinstitutionalisation and to provide advice to their deinstitutionalisation programme in Bulgaria. We have discussed the issue with a number of European governments, and have been instrumental in supporting the development of the National Action Plan for reforming services for vulnerable children and their families in the Czech Republic.
Our Chief Executive, Georgette Mulheir, is the author of a widely recognised, and often used, guide to best practice in deinstitutionalisation1. Kate Richardson, our Director of Programmes, has 21 years' experience of working with children and young people, including work in residential social care, children and families' local authority teams and specialist child protection work. Our heads of country programmes are recognised experts in their fields. We also call on a pool of specialists to provide support to our country programmes, including educational specialists, children’s rights lawyers, social work experts, senior government policy advisors and child psychiatrists.
Through our Remote Expert Support Service (RESS), our country programmes are provided with specialist advice from experienced practitioners to help them through every step of the deinstitutionalisation process. From the provision of professional tools for assessing children’s needs, to planning programmes to prepare children to move to their new placements, to retraining personnel, the RESS is there whatever query one of our country teams may have.
1 Mulheir, G et al (2006), Deinstitutionalising and Transforming Services for Children and Families. A Guide to Good Practice, Birmingham, UK
