In Hungary, social exclusion often goes hand in hand with poverty; this phenomenon is even more present in disadvantaged districts and settlements where services are also lacking. Finding solutions to this is a matter of societal interest.
The project titled ” From the beginning hand in hand,” implemented with EU co-financing under the Human Resource Development Operational Programme, provided psychological, physical, and health support to marginalised families living in the Kunhegyes district, with a particular focus on young people under the age of 25.
The Kunhegyesi Micro-Regional Social Association’s activities, which operate on a very wide spectrum, directly concentrate on disadvantaged children and young people living in the area, as well as their families, but the development also affected the professionals working here. Alongside legal counseling and social mentoring, the range of family and child welfare services and solutions to assist families has expanded. Several methods aimed at protecting children and preventing crisis situations have been developed that can be applied at the local level.
Summer day camps and also education, learning and free-time programmes were organised for children during school breaks and on weekends. In the case of local professionals, the sensitisation of the members of the signaling system, workshops, as well as supervisory activities and mentoring networks provided outstanding professional support. Donation points, the activities of the social information service, and primarily the labor market services provided by the Community Point have played a significant role.
The success of the project is demonstrated by the fact that nearly 1,800 individuals under the age of 25 were successfully engaged. In the case of younger children, the program positively influenced school readiness, and in addition, the continuation rate of children completing primary school increased. Through the positive outcomes of the interventions, it has been possible to mitigate the difficulties and challenges caused by the living environment and sociocultural disadvantages, thereby further strengthening the feeling among families and young people in difficult situations that they are also important in society, that they are not alone with their problems, and that help is available to them locally.
The development was implemented from EU funding in the project EFOP-1.4.2-16-2016-00029 under the Human Resource Development Operational Programme.
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