CRITERIA FOR QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF THE SERVICE “PATRONAGE OVER A CHILD”

Abstract

Short-term emergency fostering (“patronage over a child”) is assessed by the specialists as one of the most effective models for rehabilitation and socialization of a child in difficult life circumstances or deprived of parental care, a child that has experienced traumatic or socially unpredictable events while in family environment. Normative and methodological preconditions for wide introduction of patronage as a social service in Ukraine are already in place. However, criteria for quality assessment of the mentioned service are not defined and effectiveness of the service needs empirical evidence. Therefore, authors of the present research discuss the criteria and indicators for carrying out assessment of the service. Methods of their research include traditional analysis of normative and methodological documents, systemic, structural and functional analysis. The analysis carried out leads the authors to define the main objectives for introduction of patronage as a social service, namely: – providing conditions for satisfaction of the basic needs of a child, their education as well as physical, psychological and mental development, socialization; – protection of the rights and interests of the child; – overcoming effects of difficult life circumstances experienced by a child and restoration of the physical and psychological state that was distupted by traumatic experience; – overcoming or minimization of the effects of difficult life circumstances experienced by the child’s family and development of preconditions for return of the child or selection of an alternative placement based on best interests of the child. Building on the goals of patronage, a set of quality assessment criteria is found well-justified, namely: - providing care for a child, base on its needs, providing safe environment; – improvement of child’s physical and psychological development indicators, education and development of social skills; – incorporation of the rights and interests of the child into the process of making decisions regarding its further destiny; – normalization of physical and psychological state of the child, its behavior and interactions; – provision of necessary medical and rehabilitations services; – overcoming or minimization of the effects of difficult life circumstances by the biological family and establishment of necessary conditions for development and education of a child by this family; – timely and well-argued decision regarding reuniting the child with the biological family or placement of the child in other forms of family care, which takes best interests of the child into account. For each of the mentioned criteria authors define a set of indicators, based on which fulfillment of the criteria can be assessed, as well as methods that, when used in the environment of amalgamated communities, will allow for identification of benefits and opportunities for introduction of the patronage over a child services, as well as shortcomings and risks and the ways for minimizing them.