Family Centres in Flanders
Partnerships towards better services for children and their families Leentje De Schuymer, Kind en Gezin
Nele Travers, EXPOO
Welkom - Welcome - Bienvenue
Agency of the Flemish government Expert centre for parenting &
family support part of
Active on 3 policy area’s the agency ‘Kind en Gezin’
- Family Support
- Child Care Main task: collect knowledge and
- Adoption support professionals
Currently, we’re working on the implementation of family centres in Flanders
Our role in this workshop:
• Presenting the implementation of family centres in Flanders
• Facilitating discussion
• Writing a short report
Content
• ‘Tour de table’
• Introduction on family centres in Flanders
• Added value of family centres in other countries?
• Discussion– in two smaller groups:
• Participation
• Proportional universalism
• All together: Which key messages/ examples/ … do we take home? What have we learned from each other?
Tour de table
From which country you come from?
Which link do you have with family centres?
Do you have specific expectations of this workshop?
Nele (EXPOO) en Leentje (Kind en Gezin), Belgium
Understanding
Learning
Content
• ‘Tour de table’
• Introduction on family centres in Flanders
• Added value of family centres in other countries?
• Discussion– in two smaller groups:
• Participation
• Proportional universalism
• All together: Which key messages/ examples/ … do we take home? What have we learned from each other?
Family Centres in Flanders
Partnerships towards better services for
children and families
Family Centres
in Flanders
Building blocks
1. Interprofessional collaboration at the local level
2. For all (future) families with children and youngsters (aged to 24 years)
3. Network-based and/ or centre-based (a hybrid model), combined with outreaching services
4. Accessibility, adaption to the local needs, integrated services, user participation
Interprofessional collaboration
at the local level
Interprofessional collaboration at the local level
A wide range of organisations is involved, on top of ‘Kind en Gezin’ services (eg. Infant health center, child care), such as:
• Local authority and its services
• Libraries
• Poverty organisations
• Playground activities
• Youth work
• Education related services
• Mental health services
• Parenting support services
• Midwives
• …
That is its strength!
NGO’s, private and public sector are starting to collaborate!
Local governement often in the ‘managing’
role
Flemish government supports and facilitates.
Also financial incentives.
A lot of differentation
Building blocks
1. Interprofessional collaboration at the local level
2. For all (future) families with children and youngsters (aged to 24 years)
3. Network-based and/ or centre-based (a hybrid model), combined with outreaching services
4. Accessibility, adaption to the local needs, integrated services, user participation
For all (future) families with children and youngsters (aged to 24 years)
Invest in young children (Heckman curve) ánd sustain (Heckman equation)
+
Proportional universalism
Building blocks
1. Interprofessional collaboration at the local level
2. For all (future) families with children and youngsters (aged to 24 years)
3. Network-based and/ or centre-based (a hybrid model), combined with outreaching services
4. Accessibility, adaption to the local needs, integrated services, user participation
Network-based and/ or centre-based (a hybrid model),
combined with outreaching activities
Building blocks
1. Interprofessional collaboration at the local level
2. For all (future) families with children and youngsters (aged to 24 years)
3. Network-based and/ or centre-based (a hybrid model), combined with outreaching services
4. Accessibility, adaption to the local needs, integrated services, user participation
Accessibility, adaption to the local needs, integrated services,
user participation
Questions?
Question to coordinators of the family centres:
Dream about your family centre… When will you
describe it as succesfull?
What do we want families to say? What do we want to achieve?
A ‘Huis van het Kind’ brings people together, it facilitates interactions and social support.
When we have a question about the upbringing of our child, we now where to go to.
It is normal to go to a ‘Huis van het Kind’. Everyone goes there.
It is a place to discover new activities and it is a place for children.
Without the help of the people in the ‘Huis van het Kind’ my life, and foremost the life of my child, would be less positive. They helped my family a lot by taking into account the whole context in which my child had to grow up, without
judging.
Content
• ‘Tour de table’
• Introduction on family centres in Flanders
• Added value of family centres in other countries?
• Discussion– in two smaller groups:
• Participation
• Proportional universalism
• All together: Which key messages/ examples/ … do we take home? What have we learned from each other?
Added value of family
centres in other countries
Content
• ‘Tour de table’
• Introduction on family centres in Flanders
• Added value of family centres in other countries?
• Discussion– in two smaller groups:
• Participation
• Proportional universalism
• All together: Which key messages/ examples/ … do we take home? What have we learned from each other?
Participation
Partnerschip between professionals and families
FC
Profes- sionals
Ciitzens Local
authori ty
Parents
Partners Volunte
ers
Neighb ours
5. DECIDING 4. WORKING TOGETHER
3. ADVISE 2. CONSULT
1. INFORMATION
* Vrij naar Edelenbos en Monnikhof
Time to work
• Step 1: Participation in your country?
• Step 2: Inspiring practices
• Step 3: Issues
• Fathers
• Parents of youngsters
Participation in your country?
Participation is succesfull if…
Participation with children is possible if..
Practice: Ouders/kids in huis: tool for participation
• https://vimeo.com/132816716
• Professionals and parents think together about issues:
• Parenting support
• Possibilities to meet other parents
• Health services
• Leisure time, child care, …
• Children version
Practice:
Toekomst-Ambassadeurs
Other practices
• Focus groups with parents
• Interviews about user satisfaction of the services
• Volunteer of poverty organisations collaborates with the professional team
• Parents can use the FC for own activities
• Enquiries about needs
• Pop-up FC on events for parents
• Meet the parents-panel
Proportional universalism
Proportional universalism
= supporting all children and families in proportion to their needs
Aiming at the
same (universal) goals for every child, does not mean doing the same for every child.
Aiming at the
same (universal) goals for every child means that an approach in proportion to the needs of the child is needed.
Why?
Because every child matters +
“The most succesful strategies in addressing child poverty have proved to be those underpinned by policies improving the well-being of all
children, whilst giving careful consideration to children in particularly vulnerable situations” (European commission, 2013, 20 february)
Time to work
• Step 1: Look at your own organisation: Targeted verus universal approach? How and why?
• Step 2: Proportional universalism as the alternative?
• Step 3: Experiences?
Proportional Universalism
! Infant Health Centre !
Look at your own organisation: Targeted verus universal
approach? How and why?
“There is a third way. You invest in every family by offering a universal service with special attention to those who have more needs. Proportional universalism doesn’t mean that everyone enters your front door and that afterwards one can go to the dining room and the other one has to go to the attic. Proportional universalism
means that everyone can enter the dining room. That there are several
things to offer to people in this dining room. Those who signal to have more questions/
needs should find additional services. Independently from the target groups we have in mind…”
Translated quote of Michel Vandenbroeck (professor in Family pedagogy at Ghent University Belgium)
Proportional univeralism as the alternative
Experiences?
Content
• ‘Tour de table’
• Introduction on family centres in Flanders
• Added value of family centres in other countries?
• Discussion– in two smaller groups:
• Participation
• Proportional universalism
• All together: Which key messages/ examples/ … do we take home? What have we learned from each other?
Questions
• What are the most important issues that have been raised during the discussions?
• What are the key messages that were the most inspiring and insightful?
• Which idea/ quote from the worshop debate has inspired you the most?
Do we want to learn more
from each other?
Create a Family Centres Network
• Aims:
• Exchange experiences
• Identify common challenges
• Results
• Brochure
• Thematic exchange workshops
• Study visits
• Kick-off event with country delegations
Feel free to contact us:
leentje.deschuymer@kindengezin.be nele.travers@expoo.be
