The Single Parents' Association, Finland
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The Single Parents` Association is a Finnish child welfare organisation providing activities and services for single parent families. Single parents founded the association in 1968. It is a member of Finnish Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters.
The main task of the association is to engage in preventive child welfare among single-parent families, and organising group, family and individual activities for the membership and for child welfare client families pursued it.
The visions of the association include:
A creative child - a stronger parent
And
Trust in the future
The aims of family work included:
- To support the establishment of social safety networks.
- To improve parental skills among single parents.
- To support viable interaction between the child and parent.
- To reinforce self-confidence and problem-solving ability in children and parents.
- To help families find new resources.
- To prevent crisis situations.
- To act as an interest group for single parents and to communicate information about the everyday life of families to decision-maker.
- To promote the equality of various types of family.
- To disseminate information about social and health services and, when necessary, to guide families to seek professional help.
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Our services include:
- The Evening and Saturday CARE CENTRES (4) for single parents` children, providing parents with personal time and children with a place where to learn interpersonal skills.
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- The MEETING PLACE, where a separated child and parent can meet under controlled circumstances, if the visiting rights cannot be otherwise implemented for lack of suitable place. The aim is to make the parents realise that parenthood does not end at divorce.
- FAMILY CENTRES, engaging in individual and family work among families, which need support in parenthood.
- ALVARI family work in two suburbs. This work is done in the homes of child welfare clients, with the aim of supporting the families in everyday situations.
Single parents may join the association by paying the annual membership fee. Every second month the members receive a letter on the activities provided cheaper than the market price.
DROP-IN SERVICES
Adults` growth groups
For example divorce groups, course of life groups, game and creative groups, creative motherhood and forgive groups.
Children’s growth groups
For example Boys’ clubs, physical exercise groups for schoolchildren and children’s intrepidity groups.
Family groups
For example adventure groups for mothers and children, adventure groups for fathers and children, physical exercise groups for pre-school-age children with parents and courses on the fine arts.
Therapeutic groups
For example interpersonal dependence groups and camp, feeding mothers, NLP groups and art therapy groups for children and mothers.
Self-help groups
For example course on well being and handicrafts groups.
FAMILY CENTRES
These centres are meant for families with children who need support in parenthood. They provided group activities and individual support for families. The purpose is to teach single parents how to love themselves and to be responsible parents for their children. The social services may refer 10 child welfare client families to a six-month intensive period, if it is believed that preventive work will help the families, whose problems include depression, mental health problems, intoxicant abuse, marital crises, parental fatigue and need for support in upbringing and discipline or in finding a daily routine for the family.
The family centres have 3-4 social welfare professionals who engaged in group activities tailored to suit the needs of the families (parents’ groups, physical exercise groups, open-door days, cooking clubs, excursions, camps, etc.) and visited homes, giving individual guidance to families.
ALVARI family work
ALVARI family work involves long-term and intensive support to families who are child welfare clients, at their own home, where the family workers are visited 1-2 times per week for six to twelve months. This work is done in close collaboration with the social welfare and other authorities.
ADVENTURE TRAINING
Families are offered a lot of adventure excursions and one-week camps in Finland and Estonia.
Goals
- To give new experiences.
- To offer positive experiences of interaction in the family and between the families.
- To encourage families towards co-operation and autonomy.
RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Five day or weekend excursions, theatre excursions and camps are provided for families. In addition, the members could rent the two summer cottages owned by the association and located on the Gulf of Finland.
VOLUNTARY ACTIVITIES
The association train persons as support persons for families in need of this type of assistance. Other volunteers are men who acted as role models for boys without a father, matrons at Meeting places, children’s nurses, nannies at Care centres, group leaders and other voluntary workers foe example fundraisers, excursion leaders and persons responsible for events.
LOBBYING
In collaboration with child welfare organisations, the association continued its efforts to safeguard children’s interests.
CO-OPERATION
The most important collaborative partners included the Finnish Slot Machine Association, the Finnish Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters and the City of Helsinki, along with child welfare organisations.
ADMINISTRATION AND PERSONNEL
The seven-member Executive Committee and Executive Director are responsible for the operations of the association.
The personnel include 15 full-time employees. The number of volunteers is about 200.
FINANCES
The Finnish Slot Machine Association support the drop-in services. Contracts on purchased services are signed with the City of Helsinki. In addition, the Social Board and several foundations support the activities.
The Single Parents` Association
Hämeentie 130 A
00560 Helsinki
Finland
Phone: +358 9 7206 810
Fax: +358 9 7206 8130
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