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project info
Start date: 1 March 2024
End date: 28 February 2027
funding
Fund: European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)
Total budget: 245 550,00 €
EU contribution: 233 273,00 € (95%)
programme
Programming period: 2021-2027
European Commission Topic
European Commission Topic

Jäkälä – Developing the aftercare services in Lapland

The main goal of the project is to create equal, high-quality and better than before aftercare services in the wellbeing services county of Lapland, in order for them to meet the support needs of young people in aftercare. To achieve this goal, in the project: 1. We will increase and strengthen the skills of the professionals working in aftercare, as well as other professionals who provide aftercare support. 2. Clarify the division of duties and roles of different professionals, especially for the social counselors and social workers working in aftercare. 3. Clarify and harmonize the multidisciplinary cooperation structures, service processes and work practices of the various professionals working in the scope of aftercare support, as well as describe the service paths according to the needs of young people. 4. Create and develop operating models and practices related to new services needed in aftercare, such as peer group activities for young people, youth experience activities and supported housing service for young people in aftercare. The implementators of this group project are the wellbeing service county of Lapland, the University of Lapland and the Lapland University of Applied Sciences (main implementator). The implementation of the project is based on the idea of joint development. The project utilizes professional experiential expert knowledge that the employees working with young people in aftercare, as well as the young people themselves and their loved ones, have. The development work of the project will be piloted in the southwestern service area of the wellbeing service county of Lapland, and after the end of the project, good and effective practices will be implemented in the entire wellbeing service county of Lapland. As a result of the project, the following objectives will have been reached: 1. The functioning capacity of the young people, who are participating in the activity and are in aftercare, will have been strengthened and they will have the knowledge and ability to find the help and support they need for their situation, in order to promote their own well-being and prevent marginalization. 2. The division of duties and task descriptions of social counselors and social workers working in aftercare will have been clarified to meet the support and needs of young people in the region who are in aftercare. 3. During the project, service paths will have been renewed and built to support young people's independence and transitions in services. Cooperation structures between foster care operators and those doing aftercare work, as well as between operators in different areas of the wellbeing service county, will have been reinforced. In addition, new cooperation practices will have been formed between professionals, young people and their loved ones. 4. Young people, their loved ones and professionals will have handbooks at hand, which will explain and clarify the aftercare practices, services and service paths. 5. Models of the aftercare service paths will have been made in the project. The models help aftercare workers and their partners, as well as young people, to clarify the progression of service processes. 6. Young people’s opportunities of influence will have been increased with the cooperative development created in the project, along with the creation of developer-client and expert-by-experience activities. 7. The service menu of the aftercare services will have been renewed and developed, and thus, the services will be equal and of equal quality, and they will consider the individual needs of young people. Peer group activities, organized expert-by-experience activities and housing-related support will have been made available as new services for young people in the area in aftercare. 8. The project has implemented education, publications (including possible theses) and service models to clarify the work. With the help of the aforementioned, the professionals’ and their associates’ (who work in aftercare) expertise and know-how about the special support and needs of young people - and how to respond to them - will have been increased. Social worker students’ and Bachelor of Social Services students’ knowledge and expertise in aftercare will have also been increased. At the end of the project, a final publication of the project, which compiles the models, descriptions and results made in the project, will be published. The final publication, which will be published in Innokylä, enables the wide dissemination and utilization of information.

Flag of Finland  Lapland, Finland