Safe Environment for Confident Children

SOS Children's Villages Association implements a new project: "A Safe Environment for Confident Children: Introducing into the various forms of alternative care practices for working with children, tailored to experienced trauma". Some children experience separation from their parents for various reasons. They experience trauma as an emotional response to this separation and if not healed, it can become a serious risk to their future development and growth. Children placed in various forms of alternative care face many difficulties, including neglect, and physical or emotional abuse. Caregivers and professionals working with children in alternative care need to be aware of the concept of trauma in order to meet children’s needs. They should be well prepared to work with children experiencing trauma and to pay sufficient attention to the child's traumatic history. Otherwise, these professionals could misinterpret the child’s response to the trauma. Children suffering because of trauma cannot fully respond to interventions, care and education until they first go through a recovery process and their trauma is worked through. Therefore, creating a safe care environment is vital. This is the aim of the project "A Safe Environment for Confident Children" to present and introduce a trauma-informed care approach in children's services so that children and young people are better supported and given opportunities for unfolding their potential. What we plan to achieve through the project: • Provide a series of training to apply a trauma-informed approach for professionals and caregivers. The training involves between eighty and ninety professionals from the child protection system in Bulgaria. • Raising awareness among stakeholders and implementing an organizational developmental process to introduce trauma-informed care in several programs and organizations that provide alternative care to children, with the goal of achieving sustainable systemic change. We fundraise for: - psychotherapeutic work with children - art studios - speech therapist - sports - medical therapy - games and learning tools for child development - healthy nutrition - training for specialists - supervision - group and individual - Advocacy campaigns for organizing social services to trauma-oriented care.