News

Two booklets were created as part of the project:
1. Challenges of adopted children – What is expected?
2. Challenges of Children in Foster Care – What to expect from the unexpected?

They are available on our website for viewing and downloading!

Erasmus+ programme’s project implemented by partnership from three countries (Lithuania, Poland, Portugal) where My Family Academy is one of official partnership institution “Conscious Parent Academy – Replacement parent urgently needed!” is coming to an end and at this stage presents the results and a lot of experiences.

On the 1st of July, at the National event dedicated to guardians and their children “Children are children”, held in Vingio Park, and we had the opportunity to have separate place for project “Conscious Parent Academy – Replacement parent urgently needed! ” presentation (tent, stand, table where we put all the material) and we presented the project during the entire event by communicating with the families of guardians, with guardianship centers, we personally communicated and presented products in detail to more than 15 groups of representatives of guardianship centers.

On the 1^st of July, 2023, the outcomes developed in the project were presented widely for more than 60 foster care centers who support foster families and prepare them to foster the child. The staff from My Family Academy had the great opportunity to present to the representatives of foster care centers based in various cities and districts of Lithuania all outcomes we developed in the project during 3 years. We presented them for more than 150 people and what is more for than half a dozen of target auditorium we shared developed outcomes via e-mails they gave during Multiplier event.

More information and all translated results will be shared as well at the end of the project.

During the event on the 1^st of July, we presented not only achieved results, structured material for guardians and those who dream of becoming guardians and/or adoptive parents, but also shared experiences and good practices gain during the project lifetime. This we did having talks with every centre’s group personally, as well we shared leaflets and brochures of the books dedicated for guardians.

The main results of the project that we share and will share with everyone who wants to, and especially with the project’s target group:

• a help desk document which was published and which contains the experiences of 3 European countries (Lithuania, Portugal, Poland), relevant legal issues, advice on how to prepare to be guardians and how to raise children with difficult behavior in the family who come from families with various social backgrounds. • 2 booklets “What to expect and what not to expect” when becoming a foster parent and/or adoptive parent. Books are full of illustrations, which can also be discussed with the children and thus establish common rules in the family.
• Information about webinars for guardians.

During the event, we distributed project flyers and a stand was also set up, which also attracted visitors who had many questions and were interested in the project results.

During the event, the President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda, Minister of Social Security and Labor Monika Navickienė gave a speech of welcome, as well the President visited stands and had talks with participants.

Indeed, a very instructive, revealing experience of the subtleties of life accompanied us for the entire 3 years, and cooperation with foster families, representatives of institutions that take care that children have families, prepare to be foster parents and adoptive parents brought impressions, knowledge, and experiences.

The international training for guardians “The system of social norms functioning in the family in relation to the child admitted to foster care”, which took place on May 8-12 in Vilnius, gathered a large target audience from three partner countries.

These trainings were organized for the third time in the international project of the Erasmus+ program ” Conscious Parent Academy – Replacement parent urgently needed!” and every time they include different interesting and relevant topics dedicated for guardians.

This time, the organizer of the training was VšĮ “My Family Academy”, which is one of the four partners institutions. The purpose of partnership is to contribute to the development of the competences of the families of guardians and those intending to become guardians.
The trainings held in Vilnius were aimed at exchange good practices and to deepen the knowledge, as well as to learn new things for foster families from Portuguese, Polish and Lithuanian institutions. Some of the guests visited Lithuania for the first time and were happy to have the opportunity not only to grow in terms of the content of competences, but also to get to know the country’s culture, communicate with locals, visit famous places, and to admire the capital.
It is very gratifying that the participants were engaged, active and curious from the first day of the training.
At the beginning of the training, the representatives of the social services department of the Vilnius city municipality administration presented an interesting report on the organization of child care in Vilnius using informative material (quiz) about the history and culture of the city of Vilnius.
Later, the participants listened to an informative report about the foster care system in Lithuania, which was presented by an expert on the activities of the foster care centers project. Project participants had the opportunity to compare the guardianship system in their countries. Portuguese guardians noticed more differences between the guardianship system, while Polish representatives found many similarities with the system operating in Lithuania. The participants had theoretical and practical training about the family system, the influence of its members on each other, and social norms. They were invited to share their personal experiences and insights.
A lot of attention was paid to researching the situations of the child’s entry into the family. There was a discussion about the arrival of a child in the family: how to help him/her adapt, integrate into the new family culture and become a part of it.
We know that every child has a need to belong to a group. This need is human, and children who end up in foster care often have this need violated. The participants had a practical workshop where they experienced how a child feels in a family with different parenting styles. It was very useful to see the different results and the feelings expressed by the participants.
There were many discussions about the traumatic experiences of children and the possibilities of helping them. The participants received knowledge about the types, symptoms and effects of childhood trauma on the further development and psychology of the child. It is very important to draw the participants’ attention to available resources, so the training was supplemented with a practical part about strengths and how they help to deal with various challenges that arise in everyday life.
We are very happy that the training participants were active, engaged and motivated. Caregivers willingly shared their experiences and insights. This helped other guardians to enrich their knowledge and experience. The success of the training was also contributed by the fact that the participants were guardians with various experiences – from “newbies” who only recently started caring for children, to experienced ones who have already had 98 wards. It was very gratifying to observe the sincere support that the participants expressed to each other.
Those guardians who are new to looking after children received a lot of support, encouragement and motivation. The success of the training was greatly contributed by the Lithuanian partners, who were very involved in the organization of the training. We sincerely thank our partners – Vilnius m. to the municipal administration, which took care of the training facilities.
We would like to thank the Association of Lithuanian Guardians and Adopters, the State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service under the Ministry of Social Security and Labor, VšĮ SOTAS, LPF SOS Villages Association in Lithuania, who contributed to the organization and implementation of the training. This training showed once again that great results can be achieved in a great team.

On May 9-10, 2023, a working meeting was held on the “Conscious Parent Academy – Replacement parent urgently needed!” project. The meeting took place in Vilnius, Lithuania. All partners met on site, i.e.:

• Foundation for education SMART,
• Municipal social welfare Center from Żory,
• Instituto de Apoio à Criança,
• Viešoji įstaiga Mano šeimos akademija.

On the first day, the Foundation SMART presented all the achievements to date, then the upcoming events were discussed. After the coffee break, we managed to discuss the budget and all the required project documentation, we also talked about the final report and the most important issues related to it. At the end of the day there was a summary and a question and answer session.
On the second day, the Foundation SMART presented the final graphic versions of the helpdesks, it was time for a fruitful discussion and exchange of views on the visual version of our project results.
After the coffee break, the following webinars were presented:

•  psychopedagogy of trauma,
• professional burnout,
• legal aspects of foster care,

The partners had the opportunity to evaluate the final version of the materials. At the end of the day there was a summary of the meeting.

As part of the conference that took place on April 26, 2023 in Żory, Poland, special posters and leaflets promoting foster care were created.

On April 26, 2023. a conference was held in the Municipal Public Library in Żory, which was organized as part of the project “Academy of a conscious parent – A substitute parent urgently wanted!”

The organizers of the training were the Municipal Social Welfare Center in Żory. The conference was attended by about 100 people, including Waldemar Socha – Mayor of Żory, Jacek Świerkocki – Plenipotentiary of the Mayor of Żory for social affairs, representatives of the Żory City Council, employees of the Żory City Hall, representatives of public and private educational institutions, local government units, District Office in Żory, Municipal Police Headquarters in Żory, representatives of the Social Welfare Center in Rybnik and Jastrzębie Zdrój and professional foster families operating in our City.

The conference was devoted primarily to the promotion of foster parenthood and issues related to the implementation of tasks resulting from the Act on supporting the family and the foster care system, including family assistants. Speeches in the conference were given by Cezery Podsiadlik – President of the District Court in Żory, Ewa Bartosińska – representative of the SMART Foundation from Opole, Katarzyna Koszykyła-Hus – Deputy Director of the Municipal Social Welfare Center in Żory and Joanna Zgoda – Coordinator of the Environmental Assistance Department of the Municipal Social Welfare Center in Żory. The conference was led by Weronika Cębrzyna – Director of the Municipal Social Welfare Center in Żory.

The tasty gastronomic setting during the event was provided by the Oberyba Restaurant run by the Wspólna Pasja Vocational Activity Center in Żory and the Social Integration Center operating as part of the Żory Center for Non-Governmental Organizations.

The event took place as part of the project “Academy of a conscious parent – a substitute parent urgently wanted!” – project number 2020-1-PL01-KA204-082283.

Training for foster families on “Working with children with special/specific needs” was held in Lisbon, Portugal, from February 27^th to March 3^rd, 2023. The hosts of the training were the Portuguese partners from Instituto de Apoio à Criança (IAC).

The training started with a brief presentation of IAC, as well as a presentation of the foster families.

During the week the following subjects were addressed:

• Foster Care in Portugal.
• The role of foster families: Competencies and success in Foster Care.
• Management and promotion of Children’s and Youth’s needs and well-being.
• Management and promotion of Children’s and Youth’s relationships with others.
• Management of personal competencies and emotions as a Foster Family/Caregiver.
• The challenges of Children in Foster Care: What to expect from the unexpected?

The theoretical presentation was complemented by a workgroup and several videos to encourage reflection and debate.

On the last day certificates confirming participation in the training were handed out.

All participants rated this training as very good and gave positive feedback.

On January 23, 2023. foster families started a training course entitled “Training – Initial building of good relationships between foster parents and children.” implemented within the project
„Conscious Parent Academy – Replacement parent urgently needed!” project number 2020-1-PL01-KA204-082283.

Thanks to the Municipal Social Welfare Center in Żory acting as a host organization, foster families from Lithuania, Portugal and Poland have the opportunity to expand their knowledge on building relationships between foster parents and children. Each of the participants takes the classes very seriously, because they are aware of the importance of creating a positive relationship with the child. In the case of a foster parent, the relationship between him and the ward requires special care to be strong and durable.

We hope that the training will be fruitful, and that the families taking part in it will gain a lot of useful knowledge that they will be able to use and share with their loved ones.