The European Platform for Investing in Children (EPIC) presents a round-up of the latest developments in child and family policy in EU member states in November 2018.

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Croatia: Local representatives to receive training on youth counselling

The Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy now offers ‘Youth Advice' workshops to local and regional representatives, who are in charge of supervising the work of youth councils.

The training scheme aims to

• encourage the involvement of young people in politics and social activities as well as
• foster more confidence in public authorities.

These one-day workshops will cover topics related to youth counselling, youth councils’ activities and opportunities to further include young people in policy-making.

Denmark: Social interventions for vulnerable children and young people available to municipalities

The National Board of Health and Welfare has published an updated version of their Socio-Economic Investment Model (SØM). SØM is a tool for municipalities to implement social interventions. It consists of 

• a database of effective practices and
• a calculation framework to determine the implementation costs.

The first version, published in January 2018, included adult target groups only. The model has now been updated to include vulnerable children and young people, aged 6 to 17, and will soon include children aged 0 to 5.

Estonia: Study shows that more than half of parents want additional support in raising their child

A study on the rights of the children and parents by the Ministry of Social Affairs provided insights on children’s needs, child-parent relationships, and parenting in Estonia.

According to the results of the survey, 53% of Estonian parents feel the need for additional support in raising their child but do not know where to seek advice.

In light of the results, the Minister of Social Security encouraged parents to use the website tarkvanem.ee, developed by the Estonian Institute for Health Development, which covers topics such as nutrition, online prevention and parenting skills.

France: Government aims to tackle violence against children

On World’s Children Day on 20 November, the French government launched an awareness campaign to help reduce violence against children.

On the same day, the Minister for Solidarities and Health announced a national strategy for child protection, which should be launched at the beginning of 2019. The strategy will focus on health, education and fighting violence against children. A high commissioner in charge of child protection will lead the strategy.

Germany: Consultation on the modernisation of child and youth welfare services

On 6 November, the Federal Youth Minister launched a dialogue process on the modernisation of child and youth welfare services at a conference involving practitioners and specialists from the field of child and youth welfare.

This process should lead to a legislative initiative to reform the current child and youth services. An online consultation is also planned ahead of the legislative initiative.  

Malta: A platform for collaboration in the sector of adoption

The Minister for Family, Children’s Rights and Social Solidarity announced that the government is currently building a platform to encourage key stakeholders to collaborate and consolidate recent developments in the field of adoption.

The Social Welfare Standards Authority will coordinate the platform and encourage professionals to share their experiences and practices and work closely with prospective parents in order to make existing processes smoother.

Spain: Campaign launched to promote tolerance on the Internet

On the International Day for Tolerance on 16 November, the government launched the campaign '10 Steps to Tolerance on the Internet'. It consists of a series of animations aimed primarily at young audiences.

The material will be disseminated on social networks and will also serve as an audio-visual resource for both formal and non-formal education.

European Union: ‘Europe Kids Want’ survey results presented at the European Parliament

On World’s Children Day on 20 November, the President of the European Parliament hosted 40 children and young people from across Europe.

At the event, organised by UNICEF and Eurochild, the participants discussed the results of a survey called 'Europe Kids Want' with decision-makers. Almost 14,000 children from 23 different countries participated in the survey over a period of four months.

This news item was developed for the European Platform for Investing in Children (EPIC).