Kind en GezinWe care about small children!!

1. About Kind en Gezin

1. Mission and Values

2. Our assignment

3. Organisation

4. History

1.1 Mission and values

Kind en Gezin,

along with its partners,

is committed to creating a maximum

of opportunities for every child,

wherever and however

it was born and raised.

1.1 Mission and values

• Attention for:

Diversity

Children’s rights

• Kind en Gezin staff are committed to being:

1.2 Assignment

Contributing to the well-being of young children and their families in an active way

Through 3 policy areas:

• Preventive family support

• Childcare

• Adoption

1.2 Assignment

• Preventive family support

Free guidance for parents (to be) from pregnancy until the child is 3

• Childcare

No organiser but general director of childcare (Flanders and Brussels)

• Adoption

Information to and guidance of adoptive and birth parents

Kind en Gezin: Internally autonomous agency with legal responsibility

1.3 Organisation

1.3 Organisation

• Central divisions

Coordinating services: management and development, internal support

• Provincial divisions

Implementation of the services provision

1.3 Organisation

Kind en Gezin contact centre

Internal and external communication

Complaints dept

Covering the 3 policy areas

• Kind en Gezin – Contact centre

Questions and counselling (3 policy areas)

Making/changing appointments for house calls, consultations

• Complaints department

Complaints about the Kind en Gezin services provision

Complaints about institutions or individuals employed within the Kind en Gezin sector

1.3 Organisation

1.3 Organisation

• Internal and external communication

External communication addressed at parents and partners

- One-to-one consultations

- Website (per theme/stage in infancy)

- Newsletters on pregnancy, the evolution from baby to toddler, childcare, adoption and family support (per age/ad hoc)

- Brochures, leaflets, posters, accounts, annual reports

- Video material

- Social media

- Campaigns

- Information evenings and fairs (pregnant women) , starters markets (childcare)

1.3 Organisation

- Training sessions and refresher courses (childcare)

- Online learning modules (professionals)

External communication for doctors

- Extranet

1.3 Organisation

Internal communication

- Intranet, news items

- De Schakel (staff magazine)

- Website

- Online learning modules

- Accounts, annual reports, in-depth information

- Training sessions and refresher courses

1.3 Organisation

Advisory committee

Advisory committee on adoption

• Advisory committee

Issues advice (request by the Administrator General – own initiative)

Touchstone of policy implementation

• Advisory committee to the Flemish Centre for Adoption

Issues advice to this organisation

1.3 Organisation

• 1904: Start organised child care

First efforts by volunteers

• 1919: National Work for Child Welfare (NWK)

Organised at national level

• 1984: Kind en Gezin

Organised at Flemish-Community level

• 1987: Kind en Gezin as a Flemish public institution (VOI)

• 2006: Kind en Gezin as an internally autonomous agency with legal personality

1.4 History

2. PreventiveFamily support

1. Assignment

2. Target group

3. Prenatal services provision

4. Postnatal services provision

5. Partners

6. Innovation: Huizen van

het Kind (one-stop

shops)

2.1 Assignment

Kind en Gezin guides parents (to be) from pregnancy until the child is 3.

• Characteristics of the services

Preventive

On a voluntary basis

Free of charge

Demand-driven customised care

Supportive of a positive attitude

Acknowledging parents’ possibilities

Reaching out to socially vulnerable groups

2.1 Assignment

• Key themes

Healthy food and exercise

Body care and hygiene

Health and full set of vaccinations

Safe living and sleeping environments

Optimal development

Positive parenthood

2.1 Assignment

• Organised in district teams

District team managers

District nurses

Family support workers

Supported by provincial consultants, lactation specialists and provincial consulting physicians

In infant welfare clinics too: physicians and volunteers

Districts in Antwerp

Districts in Limburg

Districts in East Flanders

Districts in West Flanders

Districts in Flemish Brabant and Brussels

2.2 Target group

• Parents to be

(prenatal services

provision)

• Families with children aged 0-3

(postnatal services provision)

2.3 Prenatal services provision

• Info evenings and maternity fairs in cooperation with maternity clinics

• Information

Pregnancy booklet

Brochures

Kind in Beeld: information conveyed through pictures and pictographs

Website

Kind en Gezin – contact centre

Newsletters on pregnancy

Social media

2.3 Prenatal services provision

• Guidance of (socially) vulnerable pregnant women

E.g. teenage pregnancies, addiction, financial problems, individuals without identity papers, disabled individuals, …

• Prenatal support centres in some of the bigger towns

Prenatal consultations and house calls

Referral to mainstream services provision

Smaller towns and municipalites: house calls by the district nurse

2.4 Postnatal services provision

• Introductory visit (in maternity clinic or at home)

• House calls

• Hearing test

• Provision of services on education

(incl. Consultation on Education Support)

2.4 Postnatal services provision

• Consultations at infant welfare clinic

Weighing and measuring (volunteers)

Preventive medical examination by a physician

Vaccinations

Eye test at 12 and 24 months

Discussion of questions

2.4 Postnatal services provision

• Information

Child booklet

Brochures

Kind in Beeld: information conveyed through pictures and pictographs

Website

Kind en Gezin – contact centre

Newsletters ‘Van baby tot kleuter’ (from baby to toddler)

Social media

2.5 Partners

• Partners registered and subsidised by Kind en Gezin

Authorities organising infant welfare clinics and prenatal support centres

'Inloopteams‘ (supplying educational support to deprived families)

Childcare and family support centres

Education shops

Maternity care expertise centres

Confidential centers on child abuse and neglect

2.5 Partners

‘EXPOO' (expertise centre on education support)

'Opvoedingslijn' (contact centre for eductional issues)

Initiatives geared at enhancing play and encounter

Local projects

- E.g. Domo volunteers (helping with education through support)

- E.g. Enhancing schooling opportunities

2.5 Partners

• Other partners

Maternity clinics

Gynaecologists

Self-employed midwives

Maternity and family care services

Paediatricians and GPs

Centres for General Welfare

Women’s shelters

Centres for Overall Family Care

Partnership

• Kind en Gezin • Local organisations committed to assisting (future) families and young people

2.6 Innovation: Huizen van het Kind

2.6 Innovation: Huizen van het Kind

Open to all parents (to be)

One-stop shop for education and growing-up

Preventive health care, education support and promotion of encounter and social cohesion as a minimum services offer

Local offer geared to local needs and harnessing local opportunities

3. Child care

1. Assignment

2. Types of child care

3. Functions of formal child care

4. Central and local policy

5. Monitoring and inspection

6. Subsidies for child care

7. 1 April 2014: new parliament

act on child care

3.1 Assignment

Contributing to the well-being of young children and their families in an active way through high-quality childcare

Preparing the Flemish policy on childcare

Implementing legislation

Supporting parents and childcare

In Flanders and Brussels

3.2 Types of childcare

Kind en Gezin oversees:

• Formal childcare for babies and toddlers

Informal childcare – formal childcare

- Informal: voluntary childcare taken up by grandparents, relatives, neighbours,…

- Formal: regulated, organised childcare

Home-based childcare – centre-based childcare

- Home-based childcare: max. 8 children

- Centre-based childcare: starting from 9 children

3.2 Types of childcare

Fee: related to income – ad hoc

- Fee related to income: parents pay according to income

- Ad hoc: fixed fee, fixed by the childcare provider

• After-school childcare

Initiatives for after-school childcare

Self-employed after-school childcare

3.2 Types of childcare

• Childcare provision likely to be extended

Inclusive childcare (for children with specific care needs)

Flexible childcare (early in the morning, late in the evening, during the week-end, …)

3.3 Functions of formal childcare

• Economic function

Parents can take a job and earn an income

Child care = job opportunities for lots of people

• Social function

As a means of combatting the exclusion of disadvantaged groups (both children and parents)

As a means of promoting integration

3.3 Functions of formal childcare

• Pedagogical function

Provides care and security

Enhances children’s physical and psychological development

Is a space for interaction with other children

Teaches how to interact respectfully with other children

3.4 Central and local policy

• Kind en Gezin = Central director

• Local authority (municipality and OCMW): responsible for local childcare policy

• 3 instruments

Local Childcare Policy Plan

Local Childcare Consultation

- Municipality can organise its own childcare Local Childcare Desk

- Supports parents in their search for childcare

3.5 Monitoring and inspection

• Kind en Gezin doesn’t carry out ANY inspections

• Inspections are effected by the Flemish Care Inspectorate, which draws up an inspection report with recommendations

• Kind en Gezin makes decisions based on the report and recommendations of the Flemish Care Inspectorate

3.6 Subsidies for childcare

Level 3

Subsidy ‘plus’

Subsidy on income-based fee

Base subsidy

Level 1

Base subsidy

Level 2

Subsidy on income-based fee

Base subsidy

– Vulnerable families– Priority rules

– Fee based on income– Priority rules

– Use of Dutch– Open 220 days a year

Individualspecial care zorg

Individual and/or structuralspecial care

4. Het Vlaams Centrum voor Adoptie (Flemish Centre for Adoption)

1. Assignment

2. Legislation

3. Domestic adoption

4. Intercountry adoption

4.1 Assignment

Supervises all adoptions of minors, both domestic and intercountry adoptions

The Hague Convention (1993) and Belgian legislation

• 2 major principles:

Adoptability(free and fully informed consent)

Subsidiarity(Intercountry adoption as a last resort: after adoption by own relatives and domestic adoption)

4.2 Legislation

Child resident in Belgium adopted by parents resident in Belgium

• Unknown child (through adoption agency)

Procedure:

Information session and preparation for parents as required

Social enquiry into prospective adoptive parents –guidance and support for birth parents – placement of child and after-care through adoption agency

Adoption verdict pronounced in court

4.3 Domestic adoption

• Known child (stepparent, co-mother, foster child)

Procedure:

Applications through VCA

Preparation by ‘EVA-vorming'

Adoption proceedings before the juvenile court

Adoption verdict following a social enquiry, if required

4.3 Domestic adoption

Child resident abroad is adopted by parents resident in Belgium

Procedure:

Info session (Adoption Support Centre) or individual meeting with VCA (intra-family adoption)

Preparation after management of candidate parents inflow (Adoption Support Centre)

Social enquiry (3 accredited services)

Suitability judgement by the juvenile court

4.4 Intercountry adoption

Mediation by adoption service (3 accredited services) or independent adoption (via VCA)

Accreditation by Federal Central Authority

After-care (adoption services, Adoption Support Centre, meeting groups)

4.4 Intercountry adoption